Mission Statement:
The hematopathology fellowship at UPMC-Presbyterian is a broad-based experience in all aspects of both clinical and anatomic hematopathology. The Fellowship is fully approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The program stresses a multiparameter approach to both bone marrow and solid tissue diagnostic hematopathology combining standard morphologic techniques with data obtained from ancillary immunohistologic, in situ hybridization, flow cytometric, molecular and cytogenetic investigations. Bone marrow sign out includes review of peripheral blood and marrow aspirate smears, marrow histologic preparations and other ancillary studies.
The fellowship includes rotations in the following areas: lymph node (and related tissue) sign out, adult bone marrow sign out, flow cytometry, molecular diagnostics, cytogenetics, pediatric hematopathology, general and special laboratory hematology, coagulation and immunohistochemistry. The precise duration of each rotation is flexible. After their first six months, fellows also participate in the on-call schedule (with faculty back-up). The fellow is expected to actively participate in a variety of hematopathology teaching conferences. The fellow is also expected to participate in the teaching of medical students, pathology and non-pathology residents, hematology/oncology fellows, and medical technologists. He/she will also interact with hematologists, oncologists, and other interested clinicians. Fellows are expected to undertake at least one investigational project and are strongly encouraged to present at national meetings. The nature of the project will depend on the fellow's interest, the amount of time they wish to devote to it and whether they intend to spend one or two years in the division. Fellows are expected to perform marrow aspirates and biopsies in the Internal Medicine Hematology Section.
Conferences include a Hematopathology Case Conference (weekly), a biweekly Journal Club, a monthly Unknown Case Conference, a monthly Patient Safety and Risk Management Conference, a microscopic slide review with clinical fellows (weekly), a Molecular Diagnostics Conference (weekly), a pediatric hematopathology slide conference (weekly) and other departmental AP or CP oriented conferences. Fellows take advantage of the department's informatics resources including image archiving, electronic medical record and the World Wide Web.
