Curriculum

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The Surgical Pathology Fellowship is a well-rounded program, promoting highly skilled clinicians with good research opportunities.

Rotation schedule

Surgical Pathology Fellowship rotations are divided into four-week blocks. A typical rotation schedule includes:

Rotation	Length
Frozen section laboratory	5-6 blocks
Sent-in consultation service	1 block
Electives in subspecialty areas of your choice	5-6 blocks

Rotation descriptions

Frozen section laboratory

Mayo Clinic has a unique way of signing out the surgical specimens received from the operating rooms. Surgical specimens are grossed in and a subset is signed out on the same day.

The remaining specimens, requiring ancillary testing, are signed out on the next day, file day. The advantages of our practice include increased communication with clinical colleagues and rapid turnaround time, facilitating the immediate development of therapeutic management. It is important to note that not all specimens are frozen or even signed out at the frozen section.

Ultimately, you are an integral player in the frozen section practice: supervising grossing and tissue processing, performing the initial review of slides, and communicating with the attending pathologist, surgeons, oncologists, and other clinicians.

Sent-in consultation service

You are responsible for reviewing previously obtained biopsy and surgical material of Mayo Clinic patients. This rotation includes interaction with most of the anatomic pathologists and includes a strong quality assurance program.

Elective in subspecialty areas of your choice

Subspecialties available for elective rotations include:

Bone and soft tissue pathology
Breast pathology
Cardiovascular pathology
Cytogenetics
Cytopathology
Dermatopathology
Endocrine pathology
Gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary pathology
Gynecologic pathology
Head and neck pathology
Hematopathology
Lymph node pathology
Molecular anatomic pathology
Molecular genetics
Neuropathology
Ophthalmic pathology
Pulmonary pathology
Renal pathology
Urologic pathology

I completed my residency at Mayo Clinic and had no doubt from early on that I wanted to continue with the Surgical Pathology Fellowship in Rochester. The unique collaborative and patient-centered culture at Mayo Clinic makes it a joy to come to work every day. I knew I would see unsurpassed variety and volume of cases in the Surgical Pathology Fellowship, which would prepare me for any career path I chose.

Jennifer Boland Froemming, M.D.
Surgical Pathology Fellowship graduate

Didactic training

You are required to attend several conferences related to general surgical pathology. These include the surgical pathology unknown slide conference, journal club, gross pathology conference, interesting case conference, and frozen section working group meeting.

As your schedule allows, you are encouraged to attend the resident core curriculum lecture series. Delivered four or five mornings a week, the series covers a range of topics in anatomic and clinical pathology. The entire core lecture series is digitally recorded and available for review at any time through the departmental intranet.

You also have access to several extensive teaching files that contain glass slides demonstrating the entire spectrum of neoplastic and non-neoplastic pathological diseases.

Research training

The wealth of surgical pathology material at Mayo Clinic offers limitless opportunities for research projects. Mayo Clinic researchers collaborate with large, active clinical and research groups in all subspecialty areas.