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Includes basic skills and concepts not necessarily covered in medical school, including laboratory safety, microscopy skills, principles of specimen handling and workflow in the laboratory, and basics of laboratory testing.

Transition to Discipline (2 blocks): (1 block = 4 weeks)

Orientation to Histology, Anatomy, and Basic Pathology (2 blocks)

• Includes rotations in relevant clinical specialties (General Surgery, Internal Medicine, Dermatology, Medical Oncology, Radiology, etc.).
• Experiences in normal histology/morphology, frozen section, autopsy, grossing of simple specimens, and reporting simple specimens are included, with one-on-one guidance from a senior resident.

Foundations of Discipline (FD, 8 blocks):

• This stage comprises the bulk of the program (at least three years) and includes rotations in anatomic pathology and subspecialty areas including neuropathology, cytopathology, molecular pathology, breast and gynecological pathology, and pediatric pathology.
• Trainees will gain experience in autopsy, intraoperative consultation, and fine needle aspiration.
• Trainees will acquire skills and knowledge to become effective and knowledgeable laboratory consultants.

Core of Discipline (CD, 43 blocks):

In this stage, trainees consolidate their skills to work independently and demonstrate leadership in rounds, teaching and other activities.

Transition to Practice (TP, 12 blocks):

Surgical Pathology Senior UAH (2 blocks)
Surgical Pathology Senior RAH (1)
Surgical Pathology Senior DLDx (1)
Electives (8) *ideally used for training in area of special interest

The opportunity to understand the nature of disease in an in-depth way that isn't achieved in any other specialty.  You get to practice scientific diagnostic medicine over a broad range of subjects and you have a fair degree of control over your schedule.

There is limited direct patient contact - you'll never have an office full of patients who regard you as their doctor, but limited patient contact does not mean you will sit alone in the basement! The work you do is at the foundation of all medicine, and patients cannot be managed without your diagnosis. In order to do this, you must interact and communicate constantly and effectively with your pathology and technical colleagues regarding cases and to troubleshoot problems. You will also be in frequent contact with clinicians by phone, email, or in person to provide advice, discuss cases and diagnoses, or for frozen sections. Tumour boards are an essential component of pathology practice, in which your effective interaction and communication with clinicians, radiologists and other pathologists is integral to providing optimum patient care.

Opportunity to have an academic career that readily incorporates teaching, research, and clinical pathology with an excellent work-life balance. Prefer an intellectual specialty with non-stop interesting diagnostic puzzles over a procedural specialty. You always learn something new everyday and are at the forefront of medical discovery.

Anatomical pathology, by definition, encompasses the entire medical spectrum.  Think of any disease process, from pediatrics to geriatrics, neurosurgery to dermatology, pathologists diagnose diseases in all organs. Many pathologists choose to subspecialize in one organ system (breast, GI, lymphoma, etc.) and may focus their practice mostly or even exclusively in that system.

Depends upon the setting.  Most pathologists are involved in clinicopathologic rounds, laboratory supervision, and direct diagnostic work in biopsies, surgical pathology, hematology, etc.  Academic pathologists teach students and residents, and may have dedicated time for research in addition to their clinical sign out duties; community-based pathologists usually sign out cases for the majority of their time, but often have major administrative roles in their institutions/medical staff organizations.  Some community hospitals also train residents, and the pathologists will be involved in teaching.  There is very little to no evening/weekend call in most settings.  Call is always taken from home and usually problems can be solved over the phone or by a brief hospital visit, typically for a frozen section.

The lifestyle in pathology is hard to beat.  It is possible to do pathology and do it well and still have a life outside medicine.  Most pathologists work regular office hours and do not haunt the hospital halls at night!  Working hours are often flexible in many settings, as non-urgent cases do not complain about having to wait a few hours, unlike a waiting room full of patients!

Very easily.  Working hours are very regular for pathologists and call duties are minimal.  In pathology, one can achieve a very satisfactory work-life balance that is ideal for raising a family.

In Alberta, pathologists receive a fixed income according to a standard contracted grid determined by experience.  Starting incomes are very competitive compared to other non-surgical specialties.  Pathologists generally have no or minimal overhead and do not deal with hassles of billing.

While histo/cytomorphology will remain the mainstay of diagnosis, there is also increasing usage of molecular techniques for diagnosis, prognostic determination and treatment responses.  These are exciting changes, particularly as new tests are developed and brought into daily practice. Molecular pathology is an extremely popular fellowship as a result. Digital pathology and computer-aided diagnosis will come into play, helping the pathologist with tedious tasks, but NOT replacing the pathologist (certainly unlikely in the next 50 years)!

Someone who is hard-working, self-motivated, and passionate about understanding the nature of disease.  Someone who is a team-player, and has excellent communication skills.  It is also important to have strong clinical knowledge which serves as a basis for everything we do in pathology.

Acquire a sound foundation of medical knowledge, develop excellent communication skills both with patients and other medical colleagues, and explore other specialty areas to ensure that pathology is the right choice for you.  Doing a pathology elective at any institution in North America is a good way to understand what we do (when there isn't a global pandemic happening!) and research is strongly encouraged.

To produce top-quality diagnostic pathologists who are passionate about what they do.  This is done by ensuring exposure to a large volume of cases, exposure to teaching and research opportunities and a full range of practice patterns in a collegial and collaborative environment.  We support the development of both academic pathologists and hospital/community based pathologists in this program.

There is built in time to experience all the subspecialties of pathology from pediatrics to molecular pathology.  In addition, there is ample elective time that can be used to pursue subspecialty training.

• Clinical rotations:  determined by the clinical service.
• Pathology rotations:  residents cover UAH surgical pathology after-hours call for one week at a time, approximately every ten weeks.  It is home call, and most issues can be dealt with by phone. On rare occasions, you may have to go to the hospital, typically for a frozen section.  Residents rotating at UAH also cover daytime call to triage "rush" specimen requests or inquiries from clinicians, which typically comprises one or two phone calls a day.

The greatest strengths of the program includes the huge volume of cases and excellent teaching with ever-expanding opportunities for research and teaching. The º£½ÇÉçÇø department is strong in all laboratory disciplines and able to mount strong specific programs in anatomical pathology.  Our various hospital sites allow you to experience pathology practice in a variety of settings and learn from different preceptors and hospital "cultures" without even leaving the city. Success rates on the first attempt at the Royal College exam has been 100% for CMGs in the last five years.

Almost all students who want pathology as their first choice will be matched in the first round; most will also get their first choice location. You should have no difficulty in securing a residency position and succeeding in the FRCPC examinations.  

A research project is required, and must be presented at an intradepartmental or external scientific meeting.

Research is present in varying degrees among pathologists.  Our research strengths include a world-renowned renal and transplantation pathology research program.  Some are 75% research, 25% clinical practice, while others do no research at all.  It is pathologist dependent.

The annual pathology Banff course, the Canadian Association of Pathologists (CAP) annual meeting and the United States and Canada Association of Pathologists' (USCAP) annual meeting are all regularly attended by residents and pathologists.