Accreditation

This program fulfills the training requirements as defined by the American Board of Pathology and is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Certification

After successfully completing the program, fellows are eligible to sit for the Cytopathology board certification exam offered by the American Board of Pathology.

Program history

The Cytopathology Fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Florida will welcome its first fellow in 2027 and will evolve to integrate novel technologies, advanced ancillary testing, and leadership development.

Positions

One position is offered each year. The program is highly selective, attracting strong candidates with demonstrated excellence in pathology training including abstract presentation at meetings and publications. Applicants are encouraged to highlight prior cytology experience, research achievements, and letters of recommendation supporting their diagnostic and procedural skills.

Qualifications

Applicants for the Cytopathology Fellowship program must have completed a U.S.-based, ACGME-accredited four-year Anatomic Pathology/Clinical Pathology residency program or three-year anatomic pathology residency program.

Also see general admissions requirements.

How to apply

The academic year begins July 1.

The application and all supporting documentation must be submitted by Oct. 15 of the year preceding the program start date.

Virtual interviews will be held shortly after the application window closes in late October and appointment decisions will be announced accordingly. Subsequent year interviews (2028 and beyond) will be in compliance with the cytopathology match rules.

Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education does not process printed applications for this program. Applications are submitted through Recruit, a third-party application service. No matching program services are used.

Fellows rotate through exfoliative cytology, fine-needle aspiration and interventional cytology, laboratory management, research (with artificial intelligence/machine learning focus), and electives. Progressive independence is granted with appropriate supervision.

Didactic training

A structured didactic conference series covers diagnostic cytology, ancillary testing, laboratory management, and emerging topics in digital imaging and AI and machine learning. Fellows participate in tumor boards, journal clubs, and interdepartmental conferences.

Electives

Fellows can do a surgical pathology rotation or clinical pathology rotation of their choosing. Fellows can choose a specialty that they prefer. A month of elective time will be granted to study the chosen specialty. During this month, the fellow can spend one to four weeks on the following rotations. Available areas of focus include:

• Breast
• Cytopathology
• Dermatopathology
• Gastrointestinal
• Gynecologic
• Head and neck
• Hematopathology
• Hepatobiliary
• Neuropathology
• Pulmonary
• Renal
• Transplant
• Urologic

Conferences

Fellows attend the following events:

• Cytopathology didactic lecture series
• Cytopathology Journal Club
• Quality Assurance Conference
• Multidisciplinary tumor boards
• Slide review session
• Unknown Case Conference

Procedures

The cytology lab completes more than 1,500 FNA adequacy assessments annually, plus a broad variety of exfoliative cytology specimens, touch imprints, and core biopsy adequacy evaluations. Ultrasound fine-needle aspiration is performed in the otolaryngology clinic and with endocrinology.

Protected time for research is provided, with emphasis on projects in quality, case series, digital pathology, and artificial intelligence/machine learning. Fellows are expected to submit at least one abstract and manuscript during the fellowship year.

Recent publications by our department:

• Challenges and Opportunities in Cytopathology Artificial Intelligence. VandeHaar MA, Al-Asi H, Doganay F, Yilmaz I, Alazab H, Xiao Y, Balan J, Dangott BJ, Nassar A, Reynolds JP, Akkus Z.

Teaching opportunities

Fellows will be expected to teach residents (shadowing during their initial cytology block), cytotechnologists, and cytotechnology students at the microscope and through formal presentations.

Additional training opportunities

Fellows will have the opportunity to participate in Mayo Clinic leadership development programming.

Call frequency

There are no call responsibilities. There may be selected evenings when there is a late procedure. However, the cut-off time for procedures is 4:30 p.m.

Moonlighting

Moonlighting is generally not permitted. Exceptions require written approval from the program director and must not interfere with training or violate duty hour policies.

Mentorship

Fellows will receive direct mentorship from the program director and faculty. A faculty advisor is assigned to support professional development and research efforts.

Evaluation

To ensure that you acquire adequate knowledge and develop the appropriate technical skills to meet program expectations, your performance is monitored carefully during the program. You are evaluated formally by the supervising faculty member after each clinical rotation, and you will meet with the program director to review these evaluations. In addition, you will also regularly evaluate the faculty to ensure that your educational needs are being met.

Fellows train on the Mayo Clinic campus in Jacksonville. The cytopathology laboratory is fully integrated with the anatomic pathology service and features digital pathology, advanced laboratory information systems, a state-of-the-art digital imaging platform, and dedicated fellow workspaces.

The Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, actively supports the lung, gastrointestinal, esophageal, bowel, hepatology, breast, heart, hepatobiliary, and kidney subspecialties with pathology services and educational programs.

The hospital cytopathology service covers the bronchoscopy suite, gastrointestinal suite, interventional radiology, and otolaryngology. Fluid samples come from the hospital, intensive care unit, and the outpatient clinic.

The core faculty are board certified in cytopathology with 40 years of experience in teaching and research. Two are professors, and one is an assistant professor with award-winning research at prestigious national meetings and publications in high impact journals. They will offer one-on-one teaching with dedicated time and mentoring to the fellow.