Training & Curriculum

• Dedicated faculty to provide education in all areas of dermatopathology
• Active immunofluorescence and intra-operative consultation services
• Exposure to ancillary studies, such as immunohistochemistry and molecular tests, including next-generation sequencing and comparative genomic hybridization
• Exposure to computational pathology and image analysis core
• Gain clinical experience while rotating with the Cedars-Sinai Dermatology Medical Group
• Contribute to multidisciplinary cutaneous oncology tumor boards and clinical dermatology case conferences
• Active participation in pathology resident education to enhance teaching skills
• Opportunities for cutting-edge research with faculty mentorship
• Cedars-Sinai is among the top pathology institutions for scholarly activity, publications, and research
• Multi-year fellowships combining one or two clinical areas and/or research may also be arranged; the ACGME-accredited year will occur in the final year

Dermatopathology training occurs each morning and afternoon throughout the year, including a daily consensus and clinicopathologic correlation conference with all faculty members and all fellows.

• Four months of the fellowship is devoted exclusively to the study of dermatopathology.
• Pathology-trained fellows spend half of each day during an eight-month period of their training rotating in the Cedars-Sinai Dermatology Clinic.
• Dermatology-trained fellows spend half of each day during an eight-month period in surgical pathology, with an emphasis in areas that overlap with dermatopathology.

As part of this program, the fellow is expected to present material at a variety of pathology and clinical conferences periodically, including multidisciplinary cutaneous oncology tumor boards and clinical dermatology case conferences.

The fellow is expected to attend and/or present at the below conferences:

• Cutaneous Oncology Tumor Board, monthly
• CSMG Dermatology Case Conference, monthly
• Present in AP Didactic, once/year
• Present in unknowns conference, once/year
• Sarcoma Tumor Board, weekly
• Consensus surgical pathology case review conference, daily
• Pathology Grand Rounds, monthly
• Division wide unknowns, monthly
• AP Process Improvement Committee, quarterly
• Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute tumor board, weekly (optional)

Fellow is encouraged to attend other departmental and interdepartmental conferences and educational endeavors.

The fellow has administrative responsibilities as part of the program structure, affording an opportunity to learn skills required for academic and private practice. Administrative Quality Assurance activities in which the fellow participates include:

• Frozen section review for cases in which the fellow participated
• Immunostain quality control
• Review of amended reports for discrepancies (various areas)
• Review of oncologic reports to ensure compliance with CAP elements for skin cases
• Maintenance of records for consensus conference
• Frozen section turn-around-time data (skin)
• Quarterly inter-institutional review of cases sent to other institutions (all)

Fellow teaches pathology and dermatology trainees rotating on the Dermatopathology Service.

• Resident teaching across the microscope
• Supervision of residents in dermatopathology rotation in the Gross Room
• Presenting two conferences for residents during the academic year
• Mentor residents in conference presentation related to dermatopathology

Research is considered an important aspect of education and has strong departmental and institutional support. Expectation of at least one clinical or translational research project, resulting in an abstract, presentation at national meetings, and publication. State-of-the-art research techniques available.

The department provides funds for the purchase of books and/or attendance at national meetings.

Additionally, Cedars-Sinai fosters and trains residents, fellows, and junior faculty who wish to conduct clinical and translational research upon graduating from the program. The Clinical Scholars Program provides funding, career guidance, education and skill acquisition for aspiring clinical scientists.

The program director meets with the fellow at the beginning of the academic year to identify the fellow's goals and career aspirations, create an individualized development and learning plan, and tailor training as needed. The program director also meets with the fellow at least biannually to review the fellow's evaluations, ensuring that the fellow is on track to meet all appropriate milestones, make considered career choices and engage with local and national pathology organizations. In addition, the fellow has open access to the program director to discuss any issues that may arise throughout training.

Evaluations are based on Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education milestones incorporating the six competencies into the curriculum (medical knowledge, patient care, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, practice-based learning and improvement, and systems-based practice). Assessment tools include direct observation, faculty evaluations, 360 evaluations, fellow in-service examinations, educational and research activities, quality assurance and patient-safety activities, and conference presentations. The fellow will also become a member of the fellowship Program Evaluation Committee, reviewing the fellowship program and offering insight regarding areas in need of improvement.