Hematology Fellowship
mgbpathologyfellowships@mgb.org
Overview
The Mass General Brigham fellowship offers its fellows comprehensive training by experienced and well-known diagnostic and research hematopathologists, whose collective expertise spans benign and malignant lymphoid, bone marrow, and blood disorders as well as coagulation, flow cytometry, and molecular hematopathology.
Fellows training at the Mass General Brigham program are afforded exposure to a broad range of hematologic diseases and research opportunities and have the opportunity to experience hematopathology practice at two different large academic centers. Approximately two thirds of the fellow’s time is spent at the BWH site, which serves as the diagnostic hematopathology service for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), and one third of the fellow’s time is spent at MGH. Training in all rotations involves consistent exposure to and responsibility for clinical specimens, with supervision and backup from faculty. The trainee’s involvement with challenging consultation cases at both sites gives them insight into some of the most difficult issues in hematopathology diagnosis as well as the important role of academic institutions in making their expertise available to other institutions within the health care delivery system.
Mass General Brigham Hematopathology fellows interact with clinicians on a daily basis and participate in both intra- and inter-departmental conferences and tumor boards. The fellows are also actively involved with teaching more junior trainees, including BWH and MGH pathology residents and hematology-oncology fellows rotating on the hematopathology service, and interact with other anatomic and clinical pathology subspecialty services at both institutions. Fellows also receive weekly fellow-level didactic training by faculty in the form of lectures and interactive case sessions. The fellows learn to critically evaluate the literature and practice evidence-based medicine and they are encouraged to design and carry out at least one clinical, translational, or basic research project or quality-assurance project during their fellowship year.
Requirements
Eligible applicants must either be graduates of United States or Canadian medical schools accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) or hold a currently valid certificate from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG).
They should be board-certified or eligible for certification in either Anatomic Pathology, Clinical Pathology, or Combined Anatomic and Clinical Pathology or have completed a Canadian Anatomic Pathology residency. Fellows must have a valid Massachusetts medical license by the time they start the fellowship. MGH or BWH residents in AP, CP, or APCP may also apply to do the Hematopathology fellowship prior to completing residency (but after completing at least 2 years of residency training).
Curriculum
- BWH In-House Hematopathology (9 weeks)
- BWH Consult Service (14 weeks)
- MGH Bone Marrow service (5 weeks)
- MGH Lymph Node service (5 weeks)
- MGH Coagulation (2 weeks)
- BCH Pediatric Hematopathology (4 weeks)
- BWH Flow Cytometry and Laboratory Hematology (4 weeks)
- BWH Molecular Hematopathology and Cytogenetics (3 weeks BWH)
- BWH/MGH Electives (2 weeks)
- Vacation (4 weeks)
Teaching Responsibilities of the Fellow
The fellow supervises residents and medical students rotating on the Hematopathology services at BWH and MGH. Additionally, the fellow presents periodically at the bi-weekly Interdisciplinary Benign Hematopathology Conference (MGH) and Lymphoma Tumor Board (MGH). The fellow presents active cases at weekly hematopathology consensus conferences at both MGH and BWH. While at MGH, the fellow gives 1-2 teaching conferences to hematology lab technologists and also presents periodically at case-based resident teaching conferences.
Educational Activities for the Fellow
The Hematopathology Services and Hematology-Oncology Divisions at both BWH and MGH offer a number of didactic lectures that the Hematopathology fellow attends. These include a weekly didactic lecture and case review series specifically for hematopathology fellows, presented by Mass General Brigham Hematopathology Faculty. Fellows also attend (and periodically present at) the bi-weekly Interdisciplinary Benign Hematology Conference at MGH and the monthly Dermatopathology-Hematopathology Conference at MGH. Other educational conferences attended by fellows include the multidisciplinary Rapid Heme Panel (RHP) monthly meeting at BWH, which provides in-depth discussions of the molecular diagnostic aspects of interesting or challenging hematologic cases. There is also a didactic hematopathology lecture series for Mass General Brigham residents, encompassing the entire breadth of hematopathology topics; although geared for the resident level, fellows are welcome to attend these.
The archives of the MGH and BWH Pathology Departments contain hundreds of thousands of cases that are digitally catalogued for retrieval and study by trainees. In addition, the consultation files of the Hematopathology attending staff are available for review and study. Trainees are invited (free of tuition) to attend the many postgraduate courses given by the pathology services at both institutions, including Current Concepts in Surgical Pathology as well as bi-annual Hematopathology and Molecular Genetic Pathology Harvard post-graduate courses.
Research Experience
Fellows are encouraged to do research projects. For most fellows in the 1-year program, the projects will be clinicopathologic in nature, since time for concentrated bench research is not available during the fellowship. Ideally, the project should be outlined early in the training period, based on the fellows’ discussions with their faculty mentor and other faculty. There are 2 weeks of elective time during which the fellow can focus on research as well as additional time during regular working hours on several of the core rotations.
How to Apply
It is important to note that although we will be participating in the Match, there is no centralized application process for Hematopathology fellowship. Interested applicants should send the below required documents to mgbpathologyfellowships@mgb.org.
Application Materials
- CAP Standardized Pathology Fellowship Application
- Curriculum Vitae (must be in month/year format 00/0000)
- Personal Statement describing career goals and surgical pathology interests
- USMLE Steps 1, 2, & 3 Score Report- (Canadian physicians and Doctors of Osteopathy who are eligible for licensure may substitute documentation of successful completion of LMCC/MCCQE and COMLEX examinations, respectively, in lieu of USMLE examinations)
- Passport-style photo
- Three Letters of Recommendation (one letter must be from your current program director or department chair)
- Letters of Recommendation should be emailed by the letter writer to: MGBPathologyfellowships@mgb.org
- Copy of MD Degree (International medical graduates only)
- Copy of ECFMG Certificate (International medical graduate only)