Hello pathology community! I am a US IMG graduating in June 2023. My heart is set on pathology and I cannot imagine myself doing anything else. I’m looking for any advice on how to better my CV/ advice in general since I have at least 2 red flags.

I failed step 1 last summer (red flag 1), and haven’t retaken it. I’m still really upset by it, but I know what I did wrong. I feel I’ll be able to succeed the next time around.

After graduation, I plan on taking a one year gap year (red flag 2). During this gap year, I want to retake step 1 and complete step 2. Ideally I’d also like to finish step 3 but one year for all 3 exams doesn’t seem reasonable. However, I heard it’s frowned upon to take a year off only to study for exams, so I was thinking I’d volunteer/ find a part time job. I really want whatever I’m doing to be based around pathology, but I’m not too sure what options there are. Anything to be a part of the pathology community.

I plan on applying for Match 2025 so I will only have 1 year to get my exams/ CV in order before I apply in September 2024.

As a US IMG, I feel so far removed from the US pathology system and I’m not sure where to start. My school had my pathology course online so I feel like I missed a big chunk of clinical experience from that. I have applied for a shadowing position at a university in my home state, and I am hopefully to get some experience there.

I really want to be a part of the pathology community and do everything I can to match. However, I’m just not sure how I can get my foot in the door. Another area that concerns me if that I know many pathology programs are not too forgiving with a failed Step 1 attempt. Am i setting myself up for failure pursuing this field? I really can’t imagine myself doing anything else. I know there is always hope but I’m feeling a bit hopeless right now.

Any advice/ help would be much appreciated :)