Fellowships: Hematopathology Fellowship

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The Department of Pathology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center offers a Hematopathology Fellowship Training Program fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). All candidates should have completed training in anatomic pathology and clinical pathology, and should be certified (or eligible for certification) by the American Board of Pathology prior to application.

Clinical Training Year

Fellowship training is done primarily at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, including Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases, where patients with many hematologic neoplasms and the short or long term consequences of therapies including surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and transplantation are seen. Cases at MSKCC include a wide range of hematologic neoplastic diseases, such as lymphomas (both lymph node and organ based), leukemias, myelodysplasia, and plasma cell myelomas/amyloidoses.

The Fellow encounters a truly impressive number of neoplastic hematopathology cases at MSKCC and is exposed to cutting-edge diagnostic techniques, including immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry, cytogenetics, molecular diagnostics, and clinical laboratories. Peripheral blood smears and bone marrow aspirate smears are also evaluated by the trainee. A strong complement to fellowship training is an association with Tisch Hospital of the NYU Medical Center, a general hospital that diagnoses and treats a wide variety of non-neoplastic hematologic diseases (including anemias, hemoglobinopathies, hemolytic syndromes, hemostasis and thrombosis, and general hematologic conditions) and is involved with work that seeks to address quality assurance and quality control issues.

Objectives

The goals and objectives of the Hematopathology Fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center are the following:

• To provide state of the art diagnostic services that integrate clinical, morphologic, immunophenotypic, cytogenetic, and molecular genetic studies to improve proficiency and develop excellent interpretive skills in the examination and interpretation of lymph node and organ-based blood and bone marrow specimens
• To provide postgraduate training in the diagnoses of diseases and disorders of the hematopoietic system, including lymphoid tissues, blood, and bone marrow, as well as develop an expert understanding in the pathogenesis of disease, clinical consultation, and laboratory administration and management
• To train and develop academically oriented physicians in all aspects of Hematopathology
• To establish eligibility for the special competency examination in Hematology administered by the American Board of Pathology
• To acquire knowledge and skills in the techniques of specimen collection and preparation, as well as consultative and managerial abilities in laboratory hematology
• To provide research opportunities in collaboration with and under the supervision of hematopathology faculty; to perform investigative and clinical translational research that is presented at national and international meetings; and ultimately to prepare a manuscript acceptable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal

Curriculum

• 34 weeks, Lymph Nodes/Bone Marrow and Immunocytochemistry (MSKCC)
• 4 weeks, Flow Cytometry (MSKCC)
• 4 weeks, Molecular Diagnostics/Cytogenetics (MSKCC)
• 6 weeks, Hematology/Coagulation (Tisch Hospital, NYU Medical Center)
• 2 weeks, Elective (2 week, elective)
• 2 weeks, Vacation (3 weeks, vacation)