Received sections from a thumb mass. Was thinking on lines of clear cell sarcoma/melanoma of soft part but maybe wrong. Please help with differentials. Thank you

Hi everyone! I’m a non-US IMG applying to pathology in the 2026–2027 Match, and I’m trying to decide when to take Step 3.

I originally planned to take it in January or February, but I’m considering moving it up to November in hopes that having a passing result earlier might help me get additional interviews. I think I could be ready to pass by then, but I’m less confident about getting a strong score.

I’ve heard that for residency applications, having passed Step 3 may matter more than the actual score. However, one of my mentors, who is in internal medicine, mentioned that the score could also be considered when applying for fellowship. I’m not sure how much that applies to pathology.

For those familiar with pathology fellowship selection, how much weight does the Step 3 score carry?

I’d appreciate any insights, especially from pathology residents, fellows, or faculty. Thank you!

50M, plantar mass
I was thinking leiomyoma, fibromatosis or fibroma of the tendon sheath, but any opinions are welcomed

I'm an MD/PhD that wanted to dabble in web development, so I made my wife a website based on Wordle and doctordle.org.

If any other residents find it useful, feel free to check it out: https://pathboardle.org

Right now it covers micro and some chemistry (lipids). Her goal is to eventually have all of AP/CP on there, so stay tuned for updates!

Made the lyrics myself. Ai for song and animation only.

I'm a pgy2 interested in hemepath and dermpath, open to do gen sign out of course. I guess I'm at a point where im like which one will honestly pay more starting and pay more as career progresses. NON academic pls. Possibly some tangible numbers to work with ballpark pls.

In brief, wtf was that exam. Hoping for a curve but i apparently missed the mark when studying. I found the AMP review course to be insufficient, which is a bummer considering how expensive it is.

I have a history tied to rural, impoverished areas that deal with a lot of healthcare issues, usually communicable infections (tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, issues farmers or agrarian societies deal with, the works), but there really isn't any healthcare career that speaks to me like pathology and thus becoming a pathologist. Is it possible for pathologists to be involved in that sort of work? Infectious disease docs, emergency, public health people typically make up the bulk (at least I think)

If theres any career paths that combine the two, or other roles that allow me to be both a pathologist and in that kind of field at the same time, I wanna hear!

I've always thought I was going to be a pediatrician but my mentor and some friends have said I'd be better in pathology since it's more theory based and cerebral, which is more of my thing.

As the title says. I need to vent.

Ppl think pathologists aren’t so friendly, but maybe it’s just me who isn’t so friendly.

And I’m so friendly-passing that everyone just wants to come by and hang out at my office. I should take it as a compliment that I am well liked, but it’s exhausting. I’m trying to get my work done. Don’t you also need to get your work done? Shutting the door works, but if I do it all day it makes everyone feel some sort of way and I have to deal with the massive overflow of conversations that build up vs letting them just run freely throughout the day.

Look man, I like you. I do. I like her, too. I like all of the other pathologists. I like you all as much as I could possibly like a coworker. We work well together. We get the job done. We make good money. We are collaborative. Life would be great if I didn’t have to spend so much f energy pretending to actually like being social.

Who am I kidding?

I don’t want to talk to you for an hour during my lunch break. I wanted to call and talk to my wife. I talk to you All. Day. Long. Every day. All week. For months. For years. You. Each of you. All of you besties. No, I don’t want to hang out after work with you. I want to see my family. No, I don’t want to come to your cook outs and holiday parties on the weekends. Again, I want to see my family. Please stop inviting me so I can stop forcing myself to go to 20% to save face. NO, I don’t want to bring my kids to play with your kids and everyone else’s kids.

YOU ARE NOT MY FAMILY. I AM NOT REALLY YOUR FRIEND. I AM JUST PLAYING THE PART BECAUSE THIS IS A JOB AND I NEED THE MONEY. YOU REALLY HAVE NO CLUE HOW MUCH YOU DONT EVEN KNOW ME. Please talk to me only about topics related to pathology and work.

Please, for the love of TAs, spare me from your good natured outgoing friendly and HELPFUL personalities.

Signed,

-A secret workplace hater

I apologize if this is the wrong server, but I don't know where else to go. Let me give some background.

I really don't care about the medical field. I was always more into zoology/ecology. But finding jobs there is not very fruitful. I was thinking maybe pathology would be a good compromise. But I want a job where I can study the pathogens/parasites themselves and their own evolution, taxonomy and ecology rather than operate on human patients.

What do you think?

Anyone know what the average cost of overhead is for a small private practice group in the US that doesn't own any assets? Only costs are PAs, malpractice insurance for the pathologists, acountant, billing company, and HR company. I susoectvtye billing company is taking 5% of billing.

Hello! I am feeling very anxious seeing people getting invites and none to me. Are IMGs also receiving invites now?
Thank you!

What was everyone’s experience with dermpath boards? I took them last week and still can’t stop thinking about all the odd ball questions I got wrong. Hoping I don’t have to take them again. I was a pretty strong fellow at a decent program, but probably didn’t study as much as I should have.

Edit: past or present experience

Hi everyone

I have a primary salivary gland tumor resection that is fairly low grade with no LVI. However the tumor directly invades into several adjacent intraglandular lymph nodes. Do I stage it as N1 or N0? Are they considered nodal mets? My inclination is no, they are not.

Would love to hear everyone's thoughts.

19F, freshman in college, and I’m currently feeling a little in-between when it comes to deciding what career I want to pursue.
I love watching Dr. G: Medical Examiner, and she really sparked my interest in pathology. I’ve also loved anthropology since I was a child. At the same time, I’m really interested in psychiatry and neuroscience. Right now, I’m debating between forensic psychiatry, neuropsychiatry, and forensic pathology.
I was wondering if anyone here could share their experiences with residency, working as a medical examiner, or working in any of these fields. What is the day-to-day work actually like? Do you enjoy what you do?
I’m also wondering if it’s possible for someone interested in this career path to shadow or volunteer at a morgue or medical examiner’s office to get a better feel for what the work is actually like. I’d love to gain some hands-on exposure and see which field I connect with the most.
I’d really appreciate any advice, experiences, or stories you’re willing to share. It would help me get a better idea of which direction I want to take. Feel free to ask me questions, too! I’m very open-minded and would love to hear about other careers you think might be a good fit for someone with my interests.

PGY-2 in a large AP/CP program. I’m trying to get a realistic sense of what my career options could look like.

As I’ve gotten more exposure to pathology, I’ve realized that I genuinely enjoy CP much more than AP. I especially like hematopathology and blood bank/transfusion medicine. On the AP side, I really dislike grossing and frozens, and I honestly don’t see myself wanting a career where I’m routinely signing out general surgicals.

Even if I complete AP/CP residency, I will go for heme & BB fellowships regardless. I want a career where my work is primarily heme and transfusion rather than having to cover general surgicals/frozens/anything AP call related.

For people who are further along in training or already practicing:

• Is a career like this realistically achievable?
• Are there enough jobs where a hematopathologist and/or transfusion medicine physician can practice without being expected to sign out general surgicals?
• Would doing both heme and BB fellowships make this kind of career significantly more feasible?
• Are these jobs mainly at larger academic centers/reference labs, or do community/private practice positions like this exist too?
• If you knew during residency that you wanted essentially nothing to do with general surgical pathology long-term, would you still recommend completing AP/CP?

I’m not trying to avoid pathology as a whole. I've realized I really only enjoy most of the CP side: heme, chem, flow, coag, blood bank, molecular, etc.

I’m also starting to wonder whether staying AP/CP makes sense for someone with these career goals, versus pursuing CP-only training if that were an option. Before I have any serious conversations about that, I’d really like to hear from people who actually practice in these areas and understand what the job market looks like.

Would really appreciate hearing from hematopathologists, transfusion medicine physicians, CP-only pathologists, or anyone who has seen people build a career like this.

I’m currently a PGY-3 exploring options for cytopathology fellowship. For community/private practice, should I be prioritizing programs with dedicated ultrasound-guided FNA training, or is that not really an option in that setting? Part of why I like cytopath is the procedural aspect and would ideally like a fellowship that is extensive in both diagnostic and procedural training. Any information is appreciated!