Post-Sophomore Year Fellowship in Pathology
The Department of Pathology at Stanford offers a 12 month fellowship for up to two medical students between their pre-clinical and clinical years of medical school. A key feature of the program is that it is flexible and can accommodate the individual interests of the students; however, the typical program consists of 6 months of research time and 6 months of clinical service work. The goal of the program is to offer fellows a broad exposure to the practice of pathology in an academic medical center.
Typically, six months will be spent in anatomic pathology (AP). This ordinarily will include one month on the autopsy service, during which the fellow will work under the supervision of pathology residents and autopsy faculty. During this time, the fellows will learn how to perform an autopsy prosection and to formulate a final anatomic diagnosis. The remaining five AP months will be spent on the surgical pathology service, where the post-sophomore fellows will help to accession and examine surgical resection specimens and biopsies, and will learn how to construct a surgical pathology report, all under the supervision of the faculty.
One of the clinical months is elective. This month may be used to explore an area of subspecialty interest. Possible areas of elective study in anatomic pathology include dermatopathology, neuropathology, renal pathology, lymph node pathology or cytology. Students interested in gaining exposure to clinical pathology (also known as “laboratory medicine”) may elect to rotate through clinical laboratories focusing on “wet” hematopathology (peripheral blood smears, bone marrow aspirates and biopsies), flow cytometry, cytogenetics, fluorescence in situ hybridization, molecular medicine, clinical chemistry, transfusion medicine, microbiology and virology.
For Stanford medical students, the 6 months of research performed during the Pathology fellowship may in part satisfy the requirements of an approved scholarly Concentration (SC). Students are strongly encouraged to identify a research mentor and develop a research proposal that may be submitted to the Committee on Medical Student Scholarship (CMSS). If approved, the student is awarded funds which can supplement the Pathology stipend. The CMSS meets once a quarter to consider proposals. It is recommended that students apply at the deadline (usually in April) in the quarter prior to the beginning of the post-sophomore year fellowship on July 1. The research mentor need not be in the Pathology Department.
General Information
Applicants must have satisfactorily completed the preclinical curriculum and be interviewed by the faculty prior to starting the fellowship. The usual starting date is July 1. The Department of Pathology will provide $30,500 to cover the living expenses of the enrolled students. In addition, the students will have $1000 to spend on books/educational expenses. Health insurance will also be covered by the department. In order to apply, please submit a coverletter together with a curriculum vitae to John Higgins (email: ), Department of Pathology, Room L235, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford CA, 94305. Applications should be received prior to February 15 for fellowships beginning the following July but will be accepted until positions are filled.
