Curriculum
Clinical training
The Bone and Soft Tissue Pathology Fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, allows fellows to learn techniques for fresh gross examination, frozen section interpretation and permanent section hematoxylin-eosin diagnostic skills. Trainees also learn the utilization and interpretation of special techniques, such as immunohistochemistry.
Supervision and instruction are supplied by the more than 60 staff consultants at Mayo Clinic.
Rotation schedule
The rotation schedule includes several months devoted to intensive training in Mayo's frozen section labs, where both routine and unusual neoplastic and non-neoplastic specimens are examined.
Elective options
Elective months are also offered in the following subspecialty areas:
- Breast pathology
- Cardiovascular pathology
- Cytopathology
- Dermatopathology
- Endocrine pathology
- Gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary pathology
- Genitourinary pathology
- Gynecologic pathology
- Head and neck pathology
- Hematopathology
- Molecular genetics, cytogenetics and flow cytometry
- Neuropathology
- Ophthalmic pathology
- Pulmonary pathology
- Renal pathology
Research training
The wealth of surgical pathology material at Mayo Clinic offers limitless opportunities for research projects. The fellowship also collaborates with large, active clinical and research groups in all subspecialty areas. Core science laboratories are located in the same building as the pathology division, providing access to techniques such as microdissection, molecular genetics, cytogenetics and flow cytometry.
Specifically, the fellow is expected to complete at least one research project with submission for publication at the end of the year before exiting the fellowship training.
Didactic training
All fellows attend an integrated didactic core lecture series that covers a range of topics in anatomic and clinical pathology. An extensive teaching file contains glass slides demonstrating the entire spectrum of neoplastic and non-neoplastic pathological diseases.
Conferences
Fellows participate in the daily Orthopedic Pathology-Radiology Conference and the weekly multidisciplinary sarcoma conference. In addition, fellows are expected to present material periodically at the monthly education conference in surgical pathology.
Throughout the year, fellows attend formal presentations on laboratory management principles as part of the established teaching conferences that are given by expert staff members, which is a designed curriculum for leadership and management developed by the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic.
Teaching opportunities
Fellows teach pathology residents and trainees rotating on the bone and soft tissue service.
Evaluation
To ensure that trainees acquire adequate proficiency and develop appropriate technical skills, performance is monitored carefully during the course of the program. Fellows are evaluated by supervising faculty at the completion of each rotation block, which may range in length from four to eight weeks. Faculty also formatively assess competence in patient care, medical knowledge, professionalism, systems-based practice, practice-based learning and improvement, along with interpersonal and communication skills.
The fellowship director meets with fellows quarterly to review their evaluations and discuss professional growth. In addition, allied health staff and residents are asked to evaluate trainee performance periodically.
Fellows are able to view their evaluations electronically. Final written summative evaluations are compiled for each fellow upon completion of the program. Fellows also evaluate the faculty to ensure that their educational needs are being met.