The Post-Sophomore/Junior UNM Student Pathology Fellowship provides the medical student who has completed at least the first two years of medical school with an intensive practical educational experience in diagnostic pathology and laboratory medicine. The Fellow performs the work of a laboratory physician under the supervision and guidance of Pathology faculty. The training is designed to develop a thorough understanding of disease processes, medical diagnostics, and the relationship of laboratory research to patient care. The training is designed to benefit and enrich the Fellows preparation for the practice of any medical specialty.
The Fellowship consists of four three-month rotations on various Pathology Services. These rotations are comparable in responsibilities and structure to rotations of beginning residents in pathology, except that the Fellow receives more intense faculty supervision and instruction.
Two rotations (six months) are devoted to Anatomic Pathology Services at the University Hospital and/or VA Medical Center. On these services, the Fellow performs operating room consultations, performs gross and microscopic descriptions of tissue specimens, and performs and presents autopsies. In all of these responsibilities, the Fellow works under the instruction and guidance of the Pathology Faculty.
One rotation (three months) consists of learning and performing autopsy pathology at the Office of the Medical Investigator. The other rotation (three months) is an elective that may involve an additional anatomic pathology training, laboratory medicine rotation, or research rotation. The choice of this last rotation is made according to the particular interests and career goals of each Fellow. On laboratory medicine rotations, the Fellow performs and interprets diagnostic tests, such as blood film examination, bone marrow aspiration and biopsy, and examination of diagnostic specimens on immunocompromised hosts for opportunistic pathogens.
These are performed under close faculty instruction and supervision. On the laboratory medicine rotations, there is a strong emphasis on active consultative work on hospital and clinic patients.
On a research rotation, the Fellow works in one of the department's research laboratories on a project of mutual interest to the Fellow and the Pathology Faculty. The projects are designed to answer significant scientific questions in medicine and provide the Fellow with the opportunity to present research findings at a scientific meeting and participate in publishing research results.
Interested UNM students are encouraged to apply to the Department of Pathology during their sophomore or junior year of medical school. Internal UNM applicants should submit application materials by March 1st and are required to have passed their USMLE Step 1 exam prior to starting. Applications are reviewed through the Director of the Residency Program of the Department of Pathology, who also coordinates the Fellows rotations. The Department usually selects one or two Fellows per calendar year. The Fellow receives a stipend to defray expenses during the Fellowship year.
Eligible UNM post-sophomore through post-junior students who desire more in-depth experience in the laboratory aspects of clinical hematology, chemistry, and infectious disease medicine and the morphologic diagnosis of diseases should apply. The perspective of students headed for medicine, pediatrics, or any of the surgical specialties is permanently broadened. In addition, the Fellow year provides a very sound basis for making a career decision with respect to pathology.
Application materials can be submitted here.
You will receive a monthly stipend for the full year and a textbook fund, three weeks paid annual leave and up to fifteen days of sick leave.