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Your plan sounds good. I would also suggest trying to do your away rotation prior to interview season. Try to rotate where you'd ideally want to go before your interview. And those spots fill up quickly, so plan now. If you want to stay at your home institution because of location or the program, go tell the PD now! I would definitely schedule time with the PD for advice (depending on the PD the may be well or poorly received) and off the books evaluation. Be upfront with your PD that you want to goto X, Y, or Z for residency, or that you want to stay. When you're rotating tell the residents where you want to go. Its never wrong to admit you're not sure where you want to go. Just FYI, I was asked by a few people why I didn't rotate at their institution if thats where I wanted to go. That sort of thing.

I was able to finagle 4 months of path during med school (I got my derm path listed as a medicine elective), and the amount was well received during interviews, so doing 3 elective will definitely let people know you're interested. Scores are still pretty critical though, so study study :)

well ahead of starting your one month of surg, ask to do one week of clinical path (our residency program had rotators for AP, but for 5 days did Micro, Blood bank, chemistry, Heme, and Molecular/cytogenetics). During your one month of cyto, ask to go look (maybe a day) at the molecular lab (e.g. HPV testing, CG chlam). If you can't get time off during these months, honestly, drop the cyto and do a Clin path elective. You'll have 4 years to do cyto, but showing you're interested in clin path (there are many choices) can go a very long way during interview season. Remember, unless you're gonna do AP-only (dont do this!) ~50% of the people interviewing you are going to likely be CP.

Since path is basically not med school, your background knowledge will be limited at first. During your rotations don't be afraid to be wrong. Be on time, don't be disrespectful or look bored, speak clearly as possible without the umms and uhhs, and remember don't be afraid to sound dumb.

Since you're sure about doing path, you might as well buy some pretty easy books to digest. Start with Molavi, The Practice of Surigcal Pathology. Other relatively cheap books that help you hit the ground running are the Quick Reference Handbook for Surgical pathologists (not really reading material, as much as it is something you memorize), The washington manual for surg path (thick pocket book, no pictures), and since you're doing a cyto, your program likely has the two Bethesda books on cervical and thyroid cytology on hand for the month or you could get those as well. Up to you, as buying books gets expensive quickly.

Hello. I'm from Australia so the books we use might be a bit different to what's in the US, but I've found Knight's Forensic Pathology to be of great help when I was doing my forensic rotation. It's full of pictures with succinct, to-the-point prose, and is written with a kind of dry British humour. Dolinak's Forensic Pathology is also full of amazing photographs, but to me seems rather haphazardly put together and not as instructive.

Spitz and Fisher is too detailed and excessive for a four-week rotation, during which you should just get your head around what a "routine" autopsy case entails. I don't have much experience with Di Maio unfortunately.

Just show up, be interested and ask to get involved. Prereading is probably of minimal help to be honest - reading around each case you see will be more instructive.

AP: (um, we have anatomic and clinical pathology divided in the USA)

Can't recommend Molavi enough. I think the best thing to read after Molavi is to read it a second time.

The real question is, one you've read that, what to read next. I agree with u/frogamazog, a big book like Rosai would be helpful. I always liked Fletcher's histopathology of tumors but I can't tell you it's superior to the alternatives.

But what I was after, and didn't always find, was a book that WASN'T comprehensive, that was readable by someone in their first 2 years. I found the biopsy interpretation series to be helpful as a first and second year as they were pretty readable, and...I was quite bad at pathology. Show me a low power image when I was a first year, I didn't know what I was supposed to see. The 20x and 40x photos sorta forced me to look in the right places.

My short list, which should be debated; I mean, maybe I just suck:

-lung: biopsy interpretation of the lung. for non neoplastic, new katzenstein

-liver: biopsy interpretation, mike torbenson's version is great

-derm, elston and ferringer. for non neoplastic, this one

-gi I'll go biopsy interpretation again before the tome that is odze

-thyroid: I actually don't know what's best here and would appreciate advice as any diagnostic skills I had here are rapidly being lost

-head n neck: biopsy interpretation aerodigestive was fun.

-heme: whew. I don't know a good starter book. Thoughts? Once WHO 2016 2017 update drops I'd be tempted to tell people to just start there. Jaffe's book is pretty readable but it gets dense.

-neuro: prayson's is pretty readable. There's an old smears book that's good for smears.

eyes: if you're gonna write an intro book on a niche field, here's the template

-BST: khurana's essentials in bone and soft tissue pathology. not too heavy.

I use this Solomark adapter with a Galaxy Note 4 in an Otter case. None of my co-residents have used an iPhone 6 with it, but it's fairly adjustable, and there isn't much of a size difference between those phones. It does depend a little on how thick your case is, but hey, it's only $13 and it's Amazon, so return it if you don't like it. Here's a sample image on a slightly older slide. When I take pictures on my phone, I usually zoom in to "crop" the photo.

Pros:

• Easy to use
  
• Cheap
  
• Adjustable to the point where I haven't been unable to get a good image
  
• Portable/storable (not sure how much that matters to you)
  
  Cons:
  
  
• Adjusting it takes some practice, and it is sometimes difficult to get it situated just right
  
• With my phone case's thickness, it is sometimes difficult to get the phone situated just right to see the whole field.
  
• You have to make really really sure that the eyepiece is squeaky clean
  
• It can be difficult, if your phone is heavy, to keep it stabilized on the eyepiece. My eyepiece has a little groove for rubber o-rings to protect your glasses, and this adapter hooks onto those nicely to support the weight of my beastly phone, but your mileage may vary.
  
  The one you linked looks really nice because it's a pain to get the Solomark holder situated just right to get the entire field, and you wouldn't have to worry about keeping the eyepiece clean for images. But this one is really cheap, and it works.
  
  EDIT: more stuff.

Currently doing BB/TM fellowship. Hopefully your program has copies of the AABB technical manual floating around you can borrow. I wouldn't buy it now, as there will definitely be a new edition before you would be a fellow. I'm liking this book a lot:

https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Blood-Banking-Transfusion-Practices/dp/0803668880/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

It's geared toward training medical lab scientists, which is actually an appropriate level for most pathology residents. You can grasp the principles pretty easily, and understand what your techs are doing/thinking (important for a potential medical director!).

​

As for hemepath, WHO is useful for classification/report writing, whereas a textbook like Jaffe will have more background--depends what you're looking for.

I'm not a resident, but I did a PSF and did 2.5 blocks of blood bank/transfusion medicine (and loved it). I used this text and thought it was superb: "Blood Banking and Transfusion Medicine: Basic Principles and Practice", link so you can see what it looks like https://www.amazon.com/dp/0443069816/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_HyqnDb6448B8K

If you're in AP/CP, then you'll need a hemepath book--and my favourite, for CP residents, is Practical Diagnosis of Hematologic Disorders. It's terrific: easy to read, straightforward, great content, well organized.

Very institution dependent, so it’s hard to give general advice. Some places you carry a pager and field clinical questions. Other places it’s pretty much self-taught and you show up for didactics once a day. Just show up and be interested, and you’ll be fine. If you’re looking for something to read, start with this book for an overview of clinical pathology.

Also, love the username.

My favorite AP reference is Silverberg's Principles and Practice of Surgical Pathology and Cytopathology (https://www.amazon.com/Silverbergs-Principles-Practice-Pathology-Cytopathology/dp/0443066221/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467142262&sr=1-2&keywords=silverberg+pathology), although most people prefer the one from Rosai.

I would also go over your histology again - this might be a good book to check out:
https://www.amazon.com/Histology-Pathologists-Stacey-Mills-MD/dp/145111303X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467142209&sr=1-1&keywords=histology+for+pathologists

Also, I never realized how small of a community pathology is until I graduated from residency - don't make any enemies :)

Top picks from me-

Foucar- Blood and Bone Marrow

Shaz- Transfusion Medicine and Hemostasis

​

Two books I used most for the Australian RCPA haematopathology exams. Foucar is in dot point form, doubles as an atlas. Has malignant and non-malignant chapters though only- as the name suggests- blood and bone marrow topics. There is a Lymph Node version in the Diagnostic Pathology series- in Australia that's the realm of Anatomical Pathologists so can't comment on it. If your lab has ExpertPath access it's largely the same content I believe.

WHO book is essential though hopefully already 100 copies floating around your lab. Jaffe's Hematopathology is more comprehensive in terms of explanations behind the WHO diagnostic categories, though of course heavy going.

Blood Bank Guy lecture series and podcasts are quite well regarded.

http://www.amazon.com/Clinical-Pathology-Board-Review-1e/dp/145571139X/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463627730&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=spitlatnik

This book is great for CP review

I got it on Amazon. I have since grossed five fresh mastectomies, three of them today. I have hit a few metal clips and the blade has dulled slightly, but it's still better than the disposable metal knives by a mile.

Vancrown V-213 Ceramic Knives with Sheaths 2 Pieces 6 Inch Ceramic Knife and Peeler (Red) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RD04LO6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_rAY3xbTWN4Y1V

I've had the same problem on and off for years due to certain light triggering migraines. Only 2 solutions that I know:

1. Less light: Have you dialed the light source of the microscope down as low as possible? It really doesn't have to be bright. When I had to look on the "group" microscope and had no control over the light, I actually used sun glasses when I was feeling a migraine coming on. Reducing the light helps a lot.
   
   
2. Adapter: There are adapters for the microscope eyepiece so that you look at a screen instead. Ask the path prof if there is a professional one within the path dept. that you can borrow for your lab time. If that is not possible, you maybe can buy the amateur variety for your cellphone for about $200, but you MUST ask the path department permission before you buy it, and ask then them to place it on their microscope so you don't damage the 'scope placing it.
   
   Here's one: https://www.amazon.com/LabCam-Microscope-Adapter-iPhone-Plus/dp/B00ZW6Z9EE

The new Jaffe Hematopathology has the updated criteria the revised WHO book will use. Good book too. Technically the next one is revised 4th edition as the 4th edition for every organ system isn't out yet so they can't go to the 5th. Only a few changes were made already for terminology so far (we started calling CD4 small-medium a lymphoproliferative disorder with a comment of how it was recently reclassified, etc) here, but a bunch of things were already adjusted based on interval recommendations from myeloma group etc that had already been adopted and are also going to be in WHO 4th revised.

edit: This is the book in question. I can vouch for the quality of the inkling ebook which is how I usually read it.

AmazonSmile Link: Practical Clinical Pathology

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