STEP EXAMS
Yes
USMLE STEP 3 Exam
Banner will pay the cost of taking the exam one time only. Residents are strongly encouraged to take the exam by the end of their PGY1 year.
If a resident fails to pass on the first attempt, he or she is responsible for paying the cost of subsequent attempts.
We don’t have a specific Step score cutoff, but we look to see if you have any failed attempts. We prefer no failed attempts.
TRAINING-CP
We do CP rotations at two sites: the Southern Arizona VA Health Care Centers (SAVAHCS) and Banner University Medical Center. At SAVAHCS, clinical path is set up as a general CP rotation, which covers all areas of CP and gives more of an idea of a smaller, generalized practice. At the University, CP rotations are broken down into hematopathology, lab management, clinical chemistry, microbiology, transfusion medicine, and molecular pathology. Each of the services has its own daily duties and cases, including bench work on the relevant rotations, but the overall set-up in the lab is very collaborative, as many of the patients are shared between areas.
TRAINING-AP
Currently, our surgical pathology rotation functions on a 5 day cycle, as outlined below:
SURGICAL PATHOLOGY DAILY DUTIES
DAY 1 (S1):
· In the gross room by 9:15, or by 8:00 am if no conference is scheduled
· Grossing until cases are packed for histology (typically 5:00-5:30)
· Cases within your current subspecialty are prioritized
DAYS 2-4 (S2-S4):
· Receive and sign out cases within your subspecialty
- Breast
- ENT/Endocrine/Neuro
- GI
- GU
- GYN/Pediatrics
- Thoracic/BST
- Derm
DAY 5 (S5):
· Cover fresh tissue cases with assistance from PAs:
- Frozen sections
- Renal biopsy adequacy
- Lymphoma workups
- Ciliary, muscle, and nerve biopsies
Our location in southern Arizona affords us the opportunity to see cases from a wide variety of areas, including northern Mexico, which are referred to our center. We have a great diversity of cases, which has lead to subspecializing the rotation, as above. We have higher volumes in Breast, GI, Endocrine, and GU pathology, but our hospital is growing and adding volume in Dermatopathology, GYN, and Thoracic.
Grossing instruction, including a comprehensive introductory bootcamp, is carried out primarily by our three permanent PAs, though senior residents on service are heavily involved in the first couple of days to help PGY-1s get acclimated to the system. Additionally, for complex cases, attendings are freely available to assist and advise as needed.
Surg path sign outs are predominantly subspecialized, with some combinations to incorporate lower-volume services:
o Breast
o ENT/Endocrine
o GI
o GU
o GYN/Pediatrics
o Thoracic/BST
Most attendings cover multiple subspecialties, which give our trainees the opportunity to see different styles and approaches. Cytology and dermatopathology are their own rotations with no grossing obligations. The cases are previewed and worked up by the resident and sign-out time is flexible, coordinated based on availability of the faculty and trainee.
MISCELLANEOUS
We prefer that graduation be within the last 5 years, but we review all applications regardless.
Candidates will meet with the Program Director, both Associate Program Directors, at least one additional faculty member, and current residents.
Yes
We allow four elective rotations, with up to two off-site electives in your residency.
We have core rotations in all pathology subspecialties except for informatics. Residents are encouraged to use their elective time to explore areas of pathology in which they want more exposure.
The Department of Pathology has many faculty members whose primary function is research, and they are always looking for resident involvement, including Dr. Popi Siziopikou, who was recently named the pathologist-in-chief of the Ginny L. Clements Breast Cancer Research Institute. Additionally, many of the clinical attendings have ongoing projects or can put residents in touch with other specialties who are looking for pathology input. There are also numerous opportunities for case reports and case series reviews, and all such scholarly activities are encouraged by the faculty.
We are in the process of implementing digital pathology for all of our clinical cases. We have four digital scanners in our histology lab and are currently scanning all of our consult cases, community cases, IHC, and special stains/recuts. We are looking to be fully digital very soon.
AP/CP call is combined and taken as ‘home call’. Call is taken one day at a time, but can be strung together if requested. PGY-1 residents take weekday call (Mo-Thu) starting in January. PGY-4 residents finish call by January.
We have an affiliated forensic pathology fellowship which is located at the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner (OME). The OME sees >200 autopsy cases a year and has full time forensic anthropologists who analyze skeletal remains. All residents are required to perform a one month rotation at the OME, usually during their PGY-3 or -4 year.
- GI Pathology (ACGME accredited)
- Hematopathology (ACGME accredited)
- Forensic Pathology (ACGME accredited)
Outside of our in-house fellowships (GI, forensics and hemepath), our residents go on to many different specialties (transfusion medicine, cytopathology, surgical pathology) at many different institutions, including Yale, University of Washington, Stanford and UCLA.
For July and August each year, our daily morning conference topics switch to ‘bootcamp’ topics; We discuss things like Intro to Grossing, Intro to Surg Path, Intro to Peripheral Blood Smears, etc to help the new PGY-1 residents acclimate to the tasks they will be doing as well as to expose them to a variety of faculty members early on.
Everybody works and learns better when the environment is collegial, so we (as residents), look for people who we feel will foster that atmosphere of learning. Our residents work closely together, so they are focused on people who are team players and happy to help each other out.
This program is special because of the people involved in it. From our PAs, to our faulty, our coordinators, accessioners, support staff and everyone in between, everyone is friendly and focused on learning. We are not a very large department, so we get to know each other well, and those interpersonal relationships foster a wonderful and supportive environment.
Work-life balance in Tucson is, arguably, better than average. Our working-hours as residents are typically 8-5 (excluding busier services, i.e. heme path and surg path) and there is plenty to do outside of work. Tucson has excellent biking and hiking trails, mountains, canyons and, believe it or not, lakes in town or a short drive away. We also don’t work weekends, unless on call, so that leaves plenty of time for rest and recovery! Our attendings recognize that a burnt out brain doesn’t learn, and they are often encouraging residents to take advantage of cool events and outings that happen in Tucson throughout the year, like Tucson Meet Yourself and the many farmers markets and street fairs.
Cost of living in Tucson is similar to other southwestern states, with an average 2 bedroom apartment costing approximately $1,189 a month. In terms of living here, it’s hot! But as the Arizonans say, “it’s a dry heat.” The dry air really does make those more intense temperatures more bearable, and the desert landscape is unique and beautiful. Having said that, many apartment complexes and rentals come with a pool!
Here is some great information about living in Tucson:
Our program is best suited to people who want to see a variety of different specialties and cases and those who want to have independent responsibility over their cases. Though we always have the attending support, residents are encouraged to take ownership of their cases, which makes for great learning! Residents in the program come from a variety of backgrounds, but all of them are friendly and hardworking!
I found the transition from a student to a PGY-1 pretty smooth, since in pathology I'm essentially still a student. I think the most difficult part is getting back into the groove of studying and time management after a relatively relaxed MS4 year. Another hurdle is figuring out how the programs and systems all work and the general workflow and expectations.