The Residency Program at the Brigham and Women's Hospital is designed to provide a depth and breadth of training in Anatomical Pathology (AP), Clinical Pathology/Laboratory Medicine (CP), or AP/CP, to meet the full certification requirements of the American Board of Pathology, while maximizing flexibility towards a spectrum of career goals. Many of our resident trainees go on to pursue academic careers, while others become community pathologists. Thus, our training program emphasizes achievement of core competencies in contemporary diagnostic anatomical pathology and/or clinical pathology, and laboratory medicine, graduated responsibilities, advanced elective experiences and fellowship opportunities in pathology subspecialties, and basic, translational or clinical research. We continually review our training program, making changes as necessary to meet the requirements of the American Board of Pathology, the career needs of our residents, our clinical volume and subspecialty mix, and evolving technologies applicable to pathology.

The key strengths of our training program include:

• A rigorous core program in AP, CP, or AP/CP characterized by high and diverse clinical specimen volume, with emphasis on resident-faculty contact, resident involvement in clinical decision making and mechanisms of disease.
  
  
• An extensive and highly structured curriculum that emphasizes hands-on training and active learning in rotations and an extensive schedule of conferences and tutorials, many of which are designed especially for residents.
  
  
• Subspecialty rotations/sign-outs, with graduated responsibilities that provide added diagnostic experience.
  
  
• Ability to concentrate full-time in AP or CP subspecialty(ies) of choice, CP core rotations (for AP/CP) or laboratory research, beginning in the third year, following the core experience.
  
  
• Extensive exposure to state-of-the-art technologies, including flow cytometry, fine needle aspiration (FNA), cytogenetics and new molecular diagnostic techniques.
  
  
• High program flexibility, with an emphasis on supporting a broad array of individualized goals.
  
  
• A strong tradition of trainee mentoring.
  
  
• Extensive opportunities to participate in basic, bench-to-bedside (translational), and clinical research in the Department and elsewhere at BWH, Harvard Medical School and MIT and to develop skills necessary for laboratory investigation.
  
  
• Opportunities to teach medical students in pathology and pathophysiology courses at Harvard Medical School, and in clinical rotations at the hospital.
  
  
• A strong track record of academic achievement, career development, and leadership roles of our trainees.
  
  
• Strong stability of both the training programs and the Department, yet ability to adapt to changing training and practice needs and opportunities, such as advanced molecular diagnostics in personalized medicine and pathology medical- and bio-informatics and digital imaging.

Trainees in good standing are guaranteed funding through completion of the training requirements of the American Board of Pathology, plus at least an additional year of clinical or research training.

Individualized programs are designed with each house staff member prior to the beginning of each academic year, with consideration to level of training, individual preferences, long-term goals and the necessity to meet Board requirements. Senior residents assume increased diagnostic, teaching, and administrative responsibilities on autopsy, surgical pathology and laboratory services, with appropriate faculty supervision.

Intensive subspecialty pathology experiences of a year or longer including accredited fellowships in Women's and Perinatal Pathology, Cytopathology, Neuropathology (BWH and Children's Hospital), Hematopathology, Dermatopathology, Cytogenetics, Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine (involving BWH, Children's Hospital and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute), Pediatric Pathology (at Children's Hospital), and Molecular Genetic Pathology are available. The Dermatopathology and Molecular Genetic Pathology training programs are collaborative among all Harvard teaching hospitals. High-quality non-accredited fellowships are also available in most pathology subspecialities; examples include microbiology, gastrointestinal, breast, renal, pulmonary and cardiac pathology.

To encourage and recognize teaching, each resident/clinical fellow is appointed as a Clinical Fellow in the Department of Pathology at the Harvard Medical School.

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