Pathology Clinical Fellowship Programs

Surgical Pathology Fellowship

INTRODUCTION

University of Washington offers a one year surgical pathology fellowship, a rich and diverse experience in diagnostic surgical pathology that is designed to engage the trainee in all facets of current anatomic pathology practice. The program provides the fellow with the experience necessary to successfully bridge to independent practice in either a community-based or academic environment, by building on core competencies achieved in earlier years of training. This level of professional growth is accomplished through an integration of several key elements: exposure to complicated surgical pathology cases; experience with teaching and supervision, both within the pathology residency program and within the broader UWMC medical community; practical application of laboratory management skills; responsibility for critical elements of program administration; and enhanced exposure to a subspecialty of their choosing.

OVERVIEW

Surgical pathology fellows at the UWMC have a varied experience throughout the year. For 2 months of the year they are on the general surgical pathology service. During this time they cover frozen sections, gross in cases, and sign out these cases with an attending pathologist. Fellows are expected to have more independence than the junior residents who are on the same rotation and are allowed to call preliminary results to clinicians. As the fellows gain further experience and demonstrate increasing competence and confidence in gross and microscopic pathologic assessments, they will be granted increased responsibility, primarily in the final six months of the program.

For 3 months of the year, the fellows serve in the role of gross room supervisor. This is an intense supervisory and administrative experience, especially early in the fellowship year. Gross room supervisors are responsible for ensuring that all cases that come through the gross room are handled in an appropriate manner. They work closely with junior residents (especially first year residents, who will, at the beginning of the year, have little or no practical experience in specimen handling), supervising, teaching and assisting as needed. They are responsible for distributing workload equitably, independently handling cases as needed and for supervising the pathology assistants when they are evaluating large cases. In addition they are responsible for helping first year residents with formulating and dictating microscopic diagnosis and completing all their cases as needed. The gross room supervisor will work closely with all faculty members, particularly with Drs. Garcia and Allison (who have assigned supervisory roles as gross room/histology Medical Director, Residency Program Director and Service Chief in breast pathology, respectively). During the latter half of the year, this role is less intense (in large part because of the evolving efficiency and confidence of the junior residents) allowing the fellow to focus on a subspecialty area of pathology. During this period, the gross room supervisors work with the Gross Room and Histology supervisory and technical staff in addressing quality assurance of the specimen handling process, addressing any quality issues that may arise.

For 3 months of the year, the fellows review all outside consult material submitted to the general surgical pathology service at UWMC, and they also co-ordinate the immunohistochemical evaluation of routine and consultative cases submitted to UWMC under the supervision of Dr. Swanson and other faculty members. In addition, they are expected to prepare and present cases at the weekly multidisciplinary tumor board.

For 1 month of the year fellows are on conference rotation. During this time they prepare for and present the multiple multi-disciplinary conferences and tumor boards including gyn, bone and soft tissue, breast, GU tumor board, and autopsy (if there is no junior resident). Additional conferences that are sometimes covered include liver tumor boards, liver transplant conference, and endocrine conference.

2 months of the year are devoted to elective time in which the fellow is expected to select an area in which to focus. Ideally this will include presenting conferences pertinent to the area, assisting junior residents on rotation in the area, going through study sets and performing a clinical-pathologic research project.

FACULTY AND ORGANIZATION

Dr. Rochelle Garcia is the director of the Surgical Pathology Fellowship and the Residency Director. The fellowship is based entirely at UWMC within the Division of Anatomic Pathology. The faculty of UWMC Anatomic Pathology provide an extensive knowledge and experience base for the teaching of general surgical pathology and its associated subspecialty areas. The teaching faculty include:

Rochelle L. Garcia, MD
Associate Professor, Pathology
Adjunct Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Director, Surgical Pathology Fellowship
Director, Breast/Gynecologic Pathology Fellowship
Subspecialty: Gynecologic, Cytology, Breast

Suzanne Dintzis, MD PhD Assistant Professsor, Pathology Subspecialty: Breast, GI, Gynecologic	Evan George, MD Clinical Assistant Professor, Pathology Acting Director, Dermatopathology Fellowship Subspecialty: Dermatopathology,	Benjamin Hoch, MD Associate Professor, Pathology Director, Residency Program Director, Bone & Soft Tissue Pathology Fellowship Subspecialty: Bone & Soft Tissue,
Mara Rendi, MD PhD Acting Assistant Professor, Pathology Subspecialty: Breast, Gyn	Rodney Schmidt, MD PhD Professor, Pathology Director, Medical Informatics Subspecialty: IHC, Informatics, Pulmonary	Paul E. Swanson, MD Professor, Pathology Director, Anatomic Pathology Subspecialty: GI, IHC,
Kyi Tham, MD Clinical Associate Professor, Pathology Subspecialty: GI	Lawrence True, MD Professor, Pathology Adjunct Professor, Urology Subspecialty: Genitourinary,	Melissa Upton, MD Associate Professor, Pathology Associate Director, Anatomic Pathology Subspecialty: GI, Liver
Maria Westerhoff, MD Acting Assistant Professor, Pathology Subspecialty: GI, Liver	Matthew Yeh, MD PhD Associate Professor, Pathology Subspecialty: GI, LIver

Program Goals and Objectives

Typical Schedule

Requirements

Applicants are expected to have completed at least 2 years of Anatomic Pathology.

Stipend & Benefits

Appointment is for one year. Stipend and benefits are based on the schedule for residents at an equivalent level. Fellows are encouraged to apply for extramural funding if additional years of research training is desired.

For More Information

Dr. Rochelle Garcia
Department of Pathology
University of Washington
Box 356100
Seattle, WA 98195-6100
Telephone: 206-221-1384
Fax: 206-543-3644

Candidates need to submit electronic documents for their application packet. We accept .doc, .jpg, .pdf and .tif documents as attachments to our fellowship email address. Letters of reference can be sent by email attachment as well as long as they are on department letterhead and sent directly from the writer's office email OR administrative office email. Click the link below for specific information about our requirements and applicable forms.

Application & Instructions for Pathology Fellowships
We do not accept the APC Standard Application Form

Application Email Address: fellowship@pathology.washington.edu

Include fellowship year and name in subject line.

If you have questions or problems, please contact our Academic Programs Coordinator.