Courses & Conferences
I did taster days in Histopathology at my hospital to get a good understanding of my speciality. I attended a number of national Histopathology conferences organised by the Royal Colleges, where I learned more about the Speciality Training programme and the application process for Histopathology.
I would recommend junior doctors to do taster days in Histopathology (at least three if possible) to get a better insight into the speciality and to learn more about the application process from the Histopathology Speciality Trainees. It would be useful to attend a number of national conferences on Histopathology or Pathology that are organised, where they give further guidance. At these conferences, you can network with other junior doctors who are interested in Histopathology and later on, you can revise for interviews together.
How to Maximise Your Portfolio
I would recommend that you start early, get involved in opportunities or projects in medical school if possible, and try to get organised by keeping evidence of all the stuff that you are involved with. It would be great to teach medical students or other healthcare staff for a longer period of time (over many months) and get regular feedback from them about these teaching sessions. In addition, doing a national or regional teaching session and getting feedback for it will look excellent during Speciality Training Applications. It is also a good idea to do a Teach the Teacher course or a Postgraduate certificate in Medical Education before applying for Speciality Training.
If you are interested in Histopathology, doing a Histopathology audit or Histopathology research project would be great, and when you are doing Histopathology Taster Days, ask the Histopathology Consultants if they are doing an audit or research project and get involved. You will get the opportunity to get involved in audits or quality improvement projects in other specialities during your Foundation Years, and, if possible, it would be great to develop these further into national presentations or publications.
Making the Most of Your Day Job
During your day job, I would recommend that you ask your consultant if there are any Quality Improvement Project (QIP), Audit or research projects to get involved with and aim for the following: either completing at least one cycle for the audit or QIP or getting the project selected for a national presentation or publication. If it is partially completed, ask your consultant to give you a letter about your involvement in the project or audit.
Take the opportunity to provide teaching for medical students or other healthcare staff (whether it is bedside teaching or a journal club) and try to get written feedback as evidence. If you plan to do an F3 year, you can do a Medical Education Fellowship to develop your teaching skills.
For individuals who are passionate about Histopathology, doing many Histopathology taster days (three or more) is an easier way to get points for your application. Try to attend a number of events or conferences in Histopathology, and, as discussed earlier, if you are able to complete a Histopathology audit or present a Histopathology project, then that would be perfect. Always ask your seniors in the Histopathology department if these projects are taking place.
Making the Most of Histopathology ST1 Placements
It’s very rare to get a Foundation rotation in Histopathology, which is why many people do Histopathology Taster Days or Taster Weeks. If you get to work in Microbiology or Haematology, you could ask your seniors to see if you can do a Pathology-based project or audit.
For other specialities like Paediatrics, if you get a rotation in your Foundation Years, try to gain as much experience as you can to see if it is something that you would be happy to specialise in, such as shadowing the Paediatric Speciality Trainee after completing all the jobs allocated to you. You can also get involved in audits or research projects to gain further experience.
What About Non-Histopathology ST1 Placements?
This might be the last time you work in this different speciality, so try to gain as much experience as you can, ensure you work in a supportive team and make sure you book Taster Days in the speciality of your choice.
Top 3 Tips for Getting Into Histopathology ST1
- Early Portfolio Preparation
Try to get organised with your portfolio early on.
- Building Pathology Experience
Make sure you do taster days and attend Pathology-related conferences.
- Monitoring the Application Process
Keep an eye on the details for the Histopathology Application Process for your year, just to make sure that there are no last-minute changes.
