Education in Pathology
Pathology Educational Mission
Our departmental mission in education is closely aligned with and co-dependent on our clinical and research missions, and runs the gamut from undergraduate to post-graduate teaching.
Education Options
Pathology Education for Residents and Fellows
Teaching and learning takes place in the daily process of providing high-quality pathology services to patients. During the anatomic pathology residency, residents review and complete clinical cases with guidance from our expert team of sub-specialist faculty pathologists and post-MD fellows.
Residents are exposed to pathology practice in a variety of settings, including the tertiary care Yale New Haven Hospital (including Children’s Hospital), Smilow Cancer Hospital, the West Haven V.A. Hospital, the State Medical Examiner’s Office (forensic pathology), and Bridgeport Hospital. Furthermore, the residents are provided a series of timely faculty lectures, unknown case conferences, research seminars, unstructured reading time, and elective time.
Yale Pathology also offers several subspecialty fellowships in pathology. Fellowships are typically one year long, although a second year for research can be arranged on an individual basis.
Medical School Education
Our departmental contribution to Yale School of Medicine education is spread throughout the pre-clinical curriculum. Pathology teaching runs throughout the pre-clinical master courses. General principles of pathology are covered in the first 3 master courses, and organ-specific aspects of pathology are covered in the last 4 master courses. The content of the pathology curriculum is specifically designed to run concurrently with the content presented in the master courses. Other elective opportunities include Electives in Pathology (3-6 weeks), and a Clinical Clerkship in Pathology.
Medical School Courses in Pathology
Experimental Pathology Graduate Education
Pathology is the only clinical department at Yale School of Medicine with a fully-accredited degree-granting graduate program (leading to a PhD in Experimental Pathology). The research faculty are leaders in their fields and maintain well-funded programs largely focused in four areas of investigation. The Experimental Pathology training program is a member of the university-wide Biological and Biomedical Sciences umbrella PhD training consortium, and is closely linked to the Yale Cancer Biology Training Program.
The Experimental Pathology curriculum includes mandatory didactic courses on disease mechanisms and cancer biology, additional mandatory and elective courses, and a Research in Pathology seminar series. Teaching materials including syllabi, PowerPoint presentations, handouts, and peer-reviewed literature. A popular course on grant-writing is also offered to pathology graduate students.
Undergraduate Pathology Education: MCDB 315 Pathobiology
The Department of Pathology offers an advanced level undergraduate course in Pathobiology in the Department of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology (MCDB 315). The course consists of 5 sets of 4-5 didactic lectures each given by 5 different instructors on 5 different topics. The instructors are all pathology faculty members with special expertise in their subjects. Teaching assistants direct weekly student discussion groups and serve as faculty liaisons. Topics include Basic Mechanisms of Disease, Hematologic Disease, Gastrointestinal Disease, Renal Disease, and Cancer Genetics. The course is largely subscribed by MCDB majors, other science majors, and experimental pathology graduate students.