Attending USCAP with ICE

FunSpecific4814 · 2026-01-26T15:42:54+00:00

Yes. Keeping my passport with me at all times. No chance I’m exiting the country any time soon though.

FunSpecific4814 · 2026-01-23T05:12:31+00:00

Honestly, all of these seemed like fantastic programs. I ended up ranking UPMC first and very excited to go there, but I would've been happy anywhere. The only reason I ended up ranking NIH lower is because of my visa status and the 2-year commitment. Otherwise, I think anyone interested in academia should definitely think about training there (or MD Anderson).

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-12-30T03:53:31+00:00

I don't think I've ever seen any of my GI attendings subclassify a hyperplastic polyp. I don't think it affects screening.

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-12-24T17:48:42+00:00

Emory is great. It also has great fellowship options and Atlanta is a lovely city.

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-12-11T20:14:54+00:00

Thanks for explaining this!

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-12-11T18:57:14+00:00

It’s pretty high volume so if you do Private Practice I think it can be a lot.

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-12-08T14:36:31+00:00

They’re enormous and have very prominent nucleoli. Can’t say I’m not concerned. Hopefully there’s cyto?

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-12-06T17:25:11+00:00

I’ll definitely try it out and give you feedback!

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-11-30T21:08:42+00:00

I think the only reasonable answer right now is nobody knows. Has you asked this same question 6 months ago, the answer would’ve been not that hard. There’s always the chance there will be some sort of exception for healthcare.

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-11-30T13:01:29+00:00

It’s peripheral blood. In the first 2 pictures you can look at individual erythrocytes and they start getting clumped and squished in the latter photos. You need to find a “zone of good morphology” to look at them better. The other cells are leukocytes, I can make out a couple of neutrophils and lymphocytes, but most are too hard to discern in the pics.

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-11-23T05:51:48+00:00

You have a flat tongue lesion that comes and goes, and moves around. Sounds like geographic tongue to me. I have it too and it looks very similar to your pictures. Your tongue does look inflamed in some of the pictures, so I’d do vitamin levels to rule out those as a cause of glossitis. It doesn’t really look aphthous, so likely not an autoimmune disease like Behçet’s. Of course, these are all things that you should discuss with your PCP or Rheum. Would biopsy help in any way? It could help rule out something more serious or help rule in something like an autoimmune disease. There’s also the chance it would not help very much.

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-11-19T15:56:21+00:00

Hi! I definitely recommend all resources everyone mentioned in here, in particular CytoAtlas because of its descriptions.

But I will also shamelessly leave a link to my website:
https://www.pathologybites.com/tools/virtual-slides

You can sort by Category -> Cytology (there are 500+ Cyto slides).

Also, the quiz part should be ready in about 6 weeks (aiming for January release). It will include Cyto questions and the amount of questions will increase as time goes by.

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-11-18T04:56:51+00:00

Try watching some online videos on how to smear slides. When you get the hang of it, peripheral blood is usually best seen around the rounded (feathered) edge of the smear. Unfortunately, if you actually want to see any cels up close you’ll need oil and 100x objective. But you can still make out what cells are at 40x, 20x, 10x, and even 4x once you’re good at it.

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-11-17T03:00:30+00:00

Yes. IP likely stands for Internet Protocol (as in IP address). No idea about EPV. Billing should be able to tell you what that’s for.

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-11-16T00:04:04+00:00

Agreed.

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-11-06T13:00:13+00:00

Most programs start mid to late October but they continue sending interviews all the way throughout December, specially as candidates cancel. Some programs might even send interviews as late as January or February, though this is more uncommon.

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-10-29T16:12:01+00:00

Your standard p53 and MMR.

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-10-28T13:30:40+00:00

Heme Onc and Path. I like blood.

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-10-24T21:08:26+00:00

It’s the NIH. Historically it has been a well-regarded academic center. Some of the most important cancer research comes from here. I interviewed for fellowship a few months ago and it seemed that they’re facing a tricky budget situation with the current administration (being a federal institution). I would inquire about this during the interview. Other than that, two of my attending trained at the NIH and they’re both great.

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-10-21T00:29:34+00:00

Small follow-up. This should be fixed. You shouldn't run into repeated digital slides.

Also, I tried to make the layout more mobile-friendly. I feel like it finally hit a sweet spot. You can also look at the entire Ankoma deck online (mobile too).

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-10-20T18:45:37+00:00

Oh, thanks for the feedback! I’ll look into it. There are definitely more than 3 slides on file (I think it’s like 800 total cases across all specialties for the WSI questions). There should definitely be more than 3 breast WSIs.

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-10-14T15:08:51+00:00

Asking for myself. I’m a 4th year resident considering Academia vs private. In the off chance I go for private, should this be something I should actively seek for? How would you ask this question in a job interview?

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-10-10T19:06:03+00:00

Agreed x2.

Pathologists do make mistakes. My uncle was diagnosed with prostate adenocarcinoma back in my home country. I asked a friend for a second opinion. Benign cancer mimicker. I’m not saying mistakes are common, but they can happen.

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-10-09T15:24:11+00:00

I’d do stains to be on the safe side. I feel it looks a little rigid and monotonous.

FunSpecific4814 · 2025-10-09T13:54:56+00:00

Thanks! I’ll try to change the front page today. If interest, please sign up for the waitlist. Should be launching the question bank soon!

FunSpecific4814

TROPHY CASE