Applying to the Pathology Residency

Applying to the Pathology Residency

Application Process

The Department of Pathology participates in the ERAS program for the residency application process. A completed ERAS application includes:

  • Personal Statement
  • Dean's Letter
  • Transcript
  • 3 letters of recommendation
  • USMLE scores
  • Photo
  • ECFMG Certification

Application Requirements

Baystate's Pathology Residency Program requires:

  • USMLE scores: Score of 210 or higher on Step 1 & 2, with no more than 1 fail/attempt. COMLEX scores are also accepted for DO students.
  • Graduation from Medical School: Must be within the past five (5) years.
  • Clinical Experience: Does not include observership within past two (2) years.
  • Visa: J-1
    H-1B accepted only with:
    • Successfully passed all USMLE steps 1, 2, & 3.
    • approval from Residency Program Director
    • approval from DIO
    • All residency candidates must fulfill Baystate Resident Appointment Requirements.

Interviews

Virtual Interviewing

Consistent with recommendations from the AAMC and the ACGME, UMass Chan Medical School-Baystate GME programs will conduct interviews virtually for all applicants.

Contact

Kerry Hayes, GME Program Administrator
phone: 413-794-5085
email: Kerry.Hayes@baystatehealth.org

The 3 most important factors when choosing a pathology residency

#1 Experience of the pathologists that actually train residents

Make sure you are going to be training to practice for the next 40 years, not the last 40 years.

For example, if a pathologist has so much experience in a specific malignancy that they can make a diagnosis by merely holding the H&E slide up to the light, that is little more than a parlor trick with little value to you. In addition, skills of pathologists in the department who are not involved in training may be of little use to you.

Focus on getting the experience needed for your future, not what someone needed for their future a generation or two ago.
#2 Breadth of diagnostic training

You cannot afford to be defined by your tools.

Make sure you will be training on the full complement of tools in the field of diagnostics, not just on a specific set of tools currently in favor. A care provider is concerned about the patient in front of them and typically just wants your help in making a diagnosis. They don't care whether you used formalin, immunohistochemistry, hematoxylin or impedance waves to make your diagnosis.

You are entering a world of medicine that needs diagnosticians who will readily embrace any tool that improves their diagnostic product. You need to have multiple tools in your skill set and the intellectual plasticity to add tools as needed.

#3 Economic model that drives the program

How faculty are incentivized will affect many aspects of your training.

All departments are driven by some economic engine—RVUs, grants, publications, outreach, etc. What is considered the coin of the realm will color your training—how much time is spent on interdepartmental meetings, multidisciplinary consultations, "Part A" activities, research endeavors, quality assurance programs, LEAN projects, CAP inspections, etc.

A trainee in an environment focused on the third decimal place of a sodium assay is simply not going to appreciate the true value of a point-of-care test to the bedside clinician. Likewise, a program that seeks to maximize RVU generation may not properly encourage quality improvement activities.

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