Dr Natasha Prosser studied and completed her junior medical officer (JMO) years in Western Australia, deciding to make a move to Sydney when the time came for her to apply for a pathology training position. Now in her final year of training, Dr Prosser is a member of the RCPA Trainee Committee and is passionate about advocating for her fellow Trainees. Speaking recently on the RCPA’s Microwaves podcast, Dr Prosser explains the training pathway to become an Anatomical Pathologist.

“To become an Anatomical Pathologist, you need to have a medical degree and a minimum of two years working in the field – at the moment, that’s an intern year and a resident year (or registrar year depending on what you’re doing). You can apply for training after that and, if you secure a position, it’s a five-year training program with several examinations to check your competencies. There is also a portfolio that you must submit which is a combination of elements, incorporating research as well as teaching.

“After completing these components, you are eligible to become a Fellow of the RCPA and seek a placement as a consultant or a staff specialist. I personally spent a lot more time in the different specialties. For me, having some extra time working in the field really helped with my study and understanding of the holistic, biopsychosocial model of health care which is taught in medical schools. The experience made me really aware of the patient at the end of the journey.

“Anatomical Pathology is one of those odd specialties that no one really knows about. At university, you learn basic pathology that comes out of Robbins textbook – that’s the bread and butter of medicine. However, we didn’t really get exposed to working in Anatomical Pathology. Every now and again, we would see a pathologist showing their slides, but we didn’t really get to see what that field was like.

“I was lucky because I majored in histopathology in my undergrad degree, so I had an understanding of what the field was but didn’t really think about that translating into a job as a doctor. However, when I started to think about what I wanted to do, I was flicking through the handbook and things like general practice, obstetrics, gynaecology, or surgery came up – all these other lifestyle-unfriendly fields – and I just kept coming back to Anatomical Pathology. After a lot of soul searching, I took a leap of faith, and I was really happy when I got the position.

“I think we all do medicine because we like that intellectual challenge and we like helping patients, and that’s what pathologists do every single day. You can really carve a direction for yourself with Anatomical Pathology, depending on what you want to do. One of the benefits, especially as a registrar, is that you get to see so many different things and this can be anything from a little skin biopsy for a rash to complex pelvic exenterations for locally aggressive malignancy. We also deal with soft tissue and bone tumours that may involve the amputation of an entire leg or arm. That’s quite a significant procedure, often in a young person, so being involved in the care of these patients is quite significant – I get a huge amount of job satisfaction knowing I am involved in part of the care.”