The Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Pathology Fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, blends clinical training with ongoing seminars and research.

Clinical training

The Division of Anatomic Pathology is a very busy, high-volume surgical pathology practice. The core of the training is clinical in nature.

Rotations

The core rotation is eight months on gastrointestinal (GI) and liver services. As a fellow, you will review the cases on your own before signing out with the consultants. You are responsible for up to 20 in-house GI biopsies and a certain number of liver biopsies each day. You are also responsible for a variable number of extramural consultation cases each day. You have four months as elective rotations, which include general surgical pathology, frozen section lab, and research.

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 groups in gastroenterology, liver transplant, gastrointestinal surgery, and gastrointestinal oncology. Core science laboratories are located in the same building as the pathology division, providing access to techniques such as microdissection, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and flow cytometry.

Specifically, you are 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

There is an integrated didactic core lecture series, attended by all residents and fellows, which covers a range of topics in anatomic and clinical pathology. An extensive teaching file contains glass slides demonstrating the entire spectrum of gastrointestinal disease.

Conferences

As part of this program, you are expected to present material at a variety of pathology and clinical conferences periodically, including the monthly education conference in GI and liver.

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. This is a designed curriculum for leadership and management developed by the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic.

Teaching opportunities

You will teach pathology residents and trainees rotating on the GI and liver service.

Evaluation

To ensure that trainees acquire adequate proficiency and develop appropriate technical skills, performance is monitored carefully during the course of the program. You are evaluated by supervising faculty members at the completion of each rotation block, which may range in length from four to 12 weeks. Faculty also formatively assess competence in patient care, medical knowledge, professionalism, systems-based practice, practice-based learning and improvement, and interpersonal and communication skills.

The program director meets with you quarterly to review your evaluations and discuss professional growth. In addition, allied health staff and residents are asked to evaluate trainee performance periodically.

You are able to view your evaluations electronically. Final written summative evaluations are compiled for each fellow upon completion of the program. You will also evaluate the faculty to ensure that your educational needs are being met.