Pathology Residency & Fellowship Training Program

Residency Curriculum

Thank you for inquiring about our Pathology Residency Training Program. Each year we appoint five physicians to positions at PGY-1 level. These positions are filled through the National Resident Matching Program. We have a total of 22 positions in our AP/CP program, spanning PGY levels 1 through 4 and will reach 24 by 2025. AP and CP only tracks are available. Fellowships are available in Surgical Pathology, Forensic Pathology (Travis County Medical Examiner's™ Office), Clinical Chemistry (certification through AACC for MD's and PhD's), Medical Microbiology (certification through ASM for MD's and PhD's), Cytopathology, and Dermatopathology. We also offer the Physician-Scientist track, as described by the American Board of Pathology. Click through the "Menu Links" on the left of the webpage for details about the program. We wish you good luck and hope that you choose to visit us.

Anatomic Pathology (80 weeks)

  • Surgical Pathology: 48 weeks
  • Hospital Autopsy Pathology: 12 weeks
  • Forensic Pathology: 4 weeks
  • Cytopathology: 16 weeks

Clinical Pathology (84 weeks)

  • Hematopathology and Flow Cytometry: 16 weeks
  • Clinical Chemistry: 16 weeks
  • Transfusion Medicine: 16 weeks
  • Clinical Microbiology: 12 weeks
  • Coagulation: 8 weeks
  • Cytogenetics/Molecular Diagnostics: 8 weeks
  • Laboratory Administration/Informatics: 4 weeks
  • Histocompatibility/Transplant Pathology: 4 weeks

Electives available at UTMB (28 weeks)

  • Pediatric Pathology
  • Renal Pathology
  • Dermatopathology
  • Neuropathology
  • Research
  • Any of the core rotations

Outside electives: Available upon request

Our Department has advanced and developed the concept of Diagnostic Management Teams (DMT) which provides comprehensive diagnostic interpretation of complex anatomic and clinical pathology data to our clinicians. Information comes from our diagnostic experts as a personalized, expert driven narrative about the differential diagnosis for a patient evaluation. Personalized interpretations that are disease-specific and have input not only from the pathologist, but also from investigators studying that particular disease are also provided. Pathology residents are exposed in real-time to active clinical cases and play a meaningful and important role in the DMT (video link). The following DMT have been implemented during the past 3 years: Coagulation, Transfusion Medicine, Forensic Pathology, Transplantation Pathology, Molecular Diagnostics, and Clinical Chemistry. Other DMT are currently being developed and will be implemented soon. Residents graduating from our program will be uniquely qualified to serve as real partners with treating physicians as they confidently provide valuable diagnostic information to their clinical peers in other medical disciplines.

As residents progress in their training, they are given increased responsibility and independence, and play an active role in the training of junior residents. Likewise, ample opportunities to teach medical students are also available through pathology laboratories in the Integrated Medical Curriculum. Areas of teaching include the following medical school core courses: Pathobiology and Host Disease, Cardiovascular and Pulmonary, Gastrointestinal and Nutrition and Molecules, Cells and Tissues.

The training program is reviewed continuously by the Residency Advisory Committee and changes are made as needed to meet requirements from ABP or ACGME and to improve the educational experience of our residents and fellows.

Strengths of our training program are as follows:

  • The program has an even balance between core AP and CP rotations throughout the whole four years of training, consistent with the primary educational aim of a well-balanced curriculum. All AP and CP faculty are accomplished teachers and researchers, and provide ample opportunity for resident involvement in research.
  • Every Friday morning, the residents participate in the Texas Medical Center inter-institutional pathology conferences at Houston Methodist via video conferencing. These lectures cover a wide range of the various subspecialties of pathology and are an excellent opportunity for collaborative learning.
  • The residents have daily noon lectures that are protected teaching time. Topics cover every subspecialty. Additionally, noon lectures include monthly "Chalk Talks" with the department chair, professional development lectures, and group study using the online slide repositories.
  • UTMB employs two Pathologist Assistants in Surgical Pathology and one in Autopsy. All three Pathologist Assistants' primary responsibility is resident teaching. Biopsy and small surgical specimen grossing is performed by the Surgical Pathology Pathologist Assistants and technicians, and the Autopsy Pathologist Assistant prosects every third autopsy case. Autopsy cases are limited to two cases per week for each resident during the autopsy rotation. The remaining cases needed for board eligibility are completed during the rotation at the medical examiner's office. 
  • The residents have a state-of-the-art surgical pathology suite with a large sign-out room and several multi-headed microscopes with digital screen projections.
  • There are multiple opportunities for teaching medical student laboratory courses, as well as teaching opportunities available in the GI and Radiology Departments.
  • The residents have a prominent professional platform on social media, allowing for multiple opportunities for national learning, as well as networking for fellowships.