You get to study and research the causes, processes, and effects of diseases that start in the mouth or jaw. There is also great potential to go into academia.
What are the challenges faced in pathology?
The residency is about 3 years long so you are sacrificing income during that time, although some programs do pay a stipend. The nature of the discipline may drive one towards institutional settings so that is something that should be keep in mind. Oral pathologists may see live patients, although this is not overly common in this discipline.
What makes a good applicant?
A GPA of 3.5 and getting to know your school's oral pathologist should make for a very strong candidate.
Things we wish we knew before applying:
Talk to people about applying to the right program. A program can change every year depending on is the program director, and the residents in the program play a huge part in your experience in residency. When you interview, see if you can envision yourself at that program and if you'd enjoy it because it is a long commitment.
Things we wish we knew before interviewing:
Talk to people about applying to the right program. A program can change every year depending on is the program director, and the residents in the program play a huge part in your experience in residency. When you interview, see if you can envision yourself at that program and if you'd enjoy it because it is a long commitment.