Pathology Observerships
The pathology department offers the following pathology observerships for both UMass Chan medical students as well as medical students from other accredited allopathic and osteopathic medical schools in the US:
PA-421 Anatomic Pathology
The goal of this 4-week elective is to provide medical students with an overview of anatomic pathology and important applications to clinical practice. During this elective, students will observe the gross examination of pathology specimens and intraoperative consultations, preview glass histology slides, and sign out clinical cases with pathology attendings. Depending on individual student interests, experiences may include general surgical pathology, cytopathology, dermatopathology, hematopathology, neuropathology, and/or autopsy. All activities will be supervised by department faculty. Students will also participate in all residency didactic teaching conferences, including surgical slide conferences, subspecialty seminars, journal clubs, autopsy conferences, and clinical laboratory teaching lectures, During this elective, students should gain an enhanced understanding of the pathogenesis of various disease processes and recognize many of the histological changes associated with various benign and malignant pathologies. This elective will be particularly useful to medical students with future plans in pathology, surgery, oncology, radiology, and radiation oncology, though all students can benefit from exposure to this ancillary field.
Prerequisite: None
PA-Anatomic and Clinical Pathology
The goal of this 4-week elective is to provide medical students with an overview of both anatomic and clinical pathology and important applications to clinical practice. During this elective, students will observe the gross examination of pathology specimens and intraoperative consultations, preview glass histology slides, and sign out clinical cases with pathology attendings in the anatomic pathology division and observe and participate in daily practice in various sections of the clinical laboratory division. Depending on individual student interests, experiences may include general surgical pathology, cytopathology, dermatopathology, hematopathology, neuropathology, and/or autopsy on the anatomic pathology side; as well as transfusion medicine, microbiology, chemistry, hematology, molecular diagnostics, and/or cytogenetics in the clinical laboratory. All activities will be supervised by department faculty. Students will also participate in all residency didactic teaching conferences, including surgical slide conferences, subspecialty seminars, journal clubs, autopsy conferences, and clinical laboratory teaching lectures, During this elective, students should gain an enhanced understanding of the pathogenesis of various disease processes, recognize many of the histological changes associated with various benign and malignant pathologies, understand the role of transfusion medicine in managing patient care, learn about interpretation of various laboratory studies, and understand the important functions of the clinical laboratory, including quality control. This elective will be particularly useful to medical students with future plans in pathology, surgery, oncology, radiology, and radiation oncology, though all students can benefit from exposure to this ancillary field.
Prerequisite: None
PA-426 – Special Topics in Pathology
This 4-week elective provides a flexible, mentored experience in the study of special topics in Anatomic and/or Clinical Pathology. Elective activities may include rotations through specific subspecialties or laboratory divisions of interest, writing educational case studies for publication, creating pathology-related curricula, or pursuing a research or quality improvement project, among other possibilities as approved by the course director. Depending on the chosen elective topic, the course director or other appropriate faculty will provide daily supervision. Students in this elective will also attend all residency didactic teaching conferences, including surgical slide conferences, subspecialty seminars, journal clubs, autopsy conferences, and clinical laboratory teaching lectures, as well as selected tumor boards if relevant to their chosen topic. This elective is best suited to students anticipating a career in pathology who desire a more in-depth experience. Those interested should reach out to the course director to discuss interests and potential project ideas.
Prerequisite: Prior completion of either the Anatomic Pathology elective or Anatomic and Clinical Pathology elective, as well as permission of the course director. Open to UMass Chan students only.
How to apply:
UMass Medical Students: Please refer to the Student Affairs homepage to select from one of the three electives. The student must also contact the pathology program coordinator to confirm available slots. Once approved, a permission number will be provided, and the student is then able to sign up through Student Affairs. A detailed schedule with all necessary information will be provided to the student ~2 weeks prior to start day.
Visiting Medical Student Electives: Non-UMass medical students must apply through VSLO. And choose either the Anatomic Pathology, or the Anatomic and Clinical Pathology elective. Elective dates are posted on the VSLO website. *We are currently unable to accommodate rotation dates other than what offered on the schedule.
Completed VSLO applications must be submitted at least eight weeks prior the start date of the requested elective. Applications will be reviewed, and approval emails will be sent to the applicants. Detailed schedule and additional information will be provided by the program coordinator via email to accepted students, ~ 1 month before the start day.
For additional questions, please email:
Sherry Jakubiak, Pathology Residency/Fellowship Program Coordinator: Sherry.Jakubiak@umassmed.edu
Dr. Jennifer Clark, Director of Pathology Clerkships: Jennifer.Clark@umassmemorial.org
Dr. George Tjionas, Co-Director of Pathology Clerkships: George.Tjionas@umassmemorial.org
Dr. Dina Kandil, Pathology Residency Program director, Faculty sponsor for VSLO students: Dina.Kandil@umassmemorial.org