Overview
The Department of Pathology offers a one year fellowship program in gastrointestinal pathology. The fellowship is fully approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). A second year focused on research may be arranged upon special request.
The mission of this training program is:
- To teach the fellow the proper means of examining a comprehensive spectrum of gastrointestinal surgical specimens, including specimens from the luminal GI tract, liver and pancreas, ranging from small biopsies to extended radical procedures.
- To gain confidence in performing operating room consultations (frozen sections) and interacting with surgeons.
- To understand the necessity of clinical-pathological correlation of surgical pathology specimens in order for the pathologist to become a respected member of the "health care team".
- To be aware of and provide new techniques and methodologies that might impact on patient care and prognosis.
- To improve their presentation skills.
- To integrate information technology into the practice of pathology.
The fellow spends nine months on clinical service. The rotations during these nine months include "GI Bigs" ("GIB" = large resections), "GI Quicks" ("GIQ" = GI biopsies), Transplant/Liver Pathology (biopsies and resections; 4-6 weeks) and Molecular Anatomic Pathology (4 weeks; optional). In the remaining three months, the fellow is encouraged to participate in at least one research project and educational activities; there is also an option to spend this time non-GI related elective rotations within the department. Numerous teaching, clinical and research conferences are held both within the department and within the institution. Extensive clinical and research collaborations exist with other members of the pathology department as well as members of Gastrointestinal Medicine, Transplant Surgery and the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.
