Representing Histopathology are Dr Alan Stockman, Dr Rebecca N. Young and Dr Yasin Dhonye.
Dr Alan Stockman, Consultant Histopathologist
I am the training programme director for cellular pathology in south east Scotland.
I graduated in medicine from Queen’s University Belfast and trained in pathology in Northern Ireland. I am a consultant pathologist based at the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh with a special interest in gastrointestinal pathology. I’m happy to answer any questions about life as a pathologist.
Dr Rebecca N. Young, ST1 Histopathology
I started histopathology training in NHS Lothian at ST1 in August 2022, as soon as I had completed the Foundation Programme. It was the only training programme I wanted to join. When I applied for medical school I had psychiatry in mind, but early in my degree I recognised that what I enjoyed most was being in the anatomy and histology labs and seeing for myself the effects of the disease processes we studied.
During my degree programme and foundation training I sought out opportunities to trial different pathology specialties and ended up working or interning in forensics, general histopathology, microbiology, and haematology, which helped in three ways: I was confident I would enjoy a career in histopathology; I could prioritise building a competitive application for training; and I was able to connect with trainees already working in the specialty which prepared me to move away from the bedside to the lab bench.
My daily work is varied; time is divided between examination and dissection of biopsy and resection specimens in the laboratory; reviewing microscopy slides and discussing diagnoses with senior trainees and consultants; and building a basic understanding of MDT decision-making. I don’t meet my patients face to face, but I still feel the same sense of compassion and duty of care to make an accurate diagnosis.
Please feel free to come and talk to me about histopathology training and how to apply.
Dr Yasin Dhonye, ST3 Histopathology
I am an ST3 pathology trainee based at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. I am a relative latecomer into the specialty, having pursued further medical training initially.
I graduated from UCL, and completed my foundation years in the Peninsula deanery, South Devon. During this time, Histopathology was something that hadn’t occurred to me as an appealing specialty. Feeling somewhat disillusioned and unchallenged towards the end of core medical training, I decided to retrain. I spent a year as working as clinical teaching fellow where I was lucky enough to ‘trial’ histopathology alongside my educational duties before I took the plunge.
Moving away from clinical medicine and into histopathology has been an excellent decision for me. It’s an unbelievably fascinating specialty and the job is hugely satisfying, for me much more so than clinical medicine. We cover a broad range from surgical cases, to non-neoplastic pathology and autopsy work. The training programme is challenging, but immensely well supported. Unfortunately it’s a rather shielded specialty and most students (and doctors) don’t really know what we do. Every day you are genuinely learning new things – if you enjoy getting to the crux of a problem and enjoy the investigative side of medicine, then histopathology may be right for you too(!)
Please feel free to come and talk to me about histopathology training and how it compares to clinical work.
