The Division of Informatics offers several fellowships in Pathology Informatics designed to produce leaders in this important and growing field of medicine.

The DFD Information Services fellowship

DFD Information Services, a medical information services company based in Pittsburgh PA, sponsors this fellowship in General Pathology Informatics oriented towards the development of state for the art pathology information systems. Appointments are for one to two years and are open to pathologists or engineers. Fellows will work on ongoing, technically aggressive, informatics projects at DFD and UPMC. The fellowship is tailored to meet individual interests and therefore may include some service work in clinical or anatomic pathology, if desired.

The UPMC Information Services Division fellowship

Sponsored by the UPMC Information Services Division and the UPMC Center for Biomedical Informatics, this fellowship is oriented towards academic pathology informatics. Appointments are for one to two years and are open to pathologists or engineers. The fellowship is tailored to meet individual interests and therefore may include some service work in clinical or anatomic pathology, if desired.

Engineering Fellowships

Sponsored by the UPMC Information Services Division this is a fellowship in General Pathology Informatics designed for professional engineers. Appointments are one to two years and is open engineers of all backrounds. Fellows will work on state of the art informatics projects at UPMC while while learning the clinical and organizational aspects of biomedical informatics.


Fellows, regardless of sponsorship, are expected to develop research, managerial and administrative skills in informatics by:

  • Being actively involved with and managing ongoing developmental efforts in Laboratory Information Systems, Clinical Imaging, Telepathology, Pathologist's Workstations, medical uses of the Internet, distributed digitalized oncology databases, computer-aided education, synoptic data entry, image analysis, human/machine interactions and enhanced pathology reporting.
  • Taking responsibility for development and implementation of at least one major, state of the art informatics project.
  • Becoming an expert in all developmental and production Laboratory Information and Clinical Imaging Systems resident in the department.
  • Writing specification documents, RFPs and collaborating in original articles in the research and development literature.
  • Teaching residents informally and in a structured pathology informatics curriculum.
  • Attending all pathology teaching conferences.
Fellows may apply for an Informatics Certificate or enroll in courses leading to a Masters Degree in Medical Informatics through UPMC's UPMC Center for Biomedical Informatics.

Fellows work closely with clinicians, computer scientists, managers, engineers, consultants and members of the informatics industry during the development of multiple projects. The creation of robust, state of the art, solutions for real world pathology practice is stressed.

The Division of Informatics has formal, active associations with the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Information Services Division, the UPMC Center for Biomedical Informatics, the University of Pittsburgh School of Library and Information Systems, the Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, DFD Information Services as well as leading companies in medical informatics.

Senior Residents, Pathologists and Engineers interested in these fellowships should contact Michael J. Becich MD PhD, Director of Pathology Informatics.