Dermatopathology sign-out
The fellow spends, on average, one half of each week during the middle eight months evaluating dermatopathology specimens and reviewing these specimens with a faculty dermatopathologist. The remainder of their time is dedicated to cross-training (see below). Ample time is allotted daily for the fellow to preview cases in the afternoon and morning. During the first two months and final two months, the fellow spends all of their time on the dermatopathology service. Throughout the year, the fellow gradually adopts more responsibility for drafting concise, clinically actionable final reports.
Scholarly activity
The fellow works with all dermatopathology faculty members in developing an original research project with the goals of presenting data at our national society meeting and publishing the results as a manuscript in a peer-reviewed journal. The fellow is responsible for collecting and interpreting data, drafting the manuscript, and making the appropriate revisions to ensure that it is acceptable for publication.
Cross-training
The curriculum path for the dermatopathology fellow is based on whether the fellow has completed residency in Pathology or Dermatology. Cross-training occurs during the middle eight months of training.
Pathologists: Clinical dermatology
The pathology-trained fellow shadows dermatologists with the aim of seeing a wide variety of dermatologic disease manifestations. The fellow gains insight into the clinical diagnosis and treatment of specific dermatologic illnesses by interacting directly with clinical specialists in general adult dermatology, pediatric dermatology, Mohs micrographic surgery, melanoma and pigmented lesions, high risk non-melanoma skin cancers, cutaneous lymphoma, contact dermatitis and occupational dermatology, rheumatologic dermatology, and inpatient consultations.
Dermatologists: Surgical pathology
The dermatology-trained fellow shadows highly subspecialized pathologists with the aim of seeing a variety of disease manifestations across all organ systems. There is often one-on-one time spent at the microscope with expert diagnosticians in the fields of breast, cardiothoracic, ENT, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, gynecologic, pediatric, hematologic, and bone and soft tissue pathology. The fellow will observe gross dissection of a variety of anatomic pathology specimens; however, their aim is to see as much and as diverse an array of cases under the microscope as possible. Study sets, reference materials, and quizzes are also available to gauge knowledge and progress. Fellows also receive an orientation to the histology and immunohistochemistry laboratory.
Conferences
The Dermatopathology Fellow, under direct supervision from a physically-present faculty member, represents our department at regularly scheduled tumor boards and conferences. These include dermatology grand rounds, melanoma and high-risk skin cancer tumor board, and our cutaneous lymphoma tumor board. Additionally, they regularly teach dermatology and pathology residents and attend didactic sessions covering both dermatopathology as well as clinical dermatology or surgical pathology depending on their background training. All fellows participate in an annual laboratory management seminar.