Hematopathology Fellowship at The Mount Sinai Hospital

Our training program is a Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited 12-month intensive clinical hematopathology rotation. Each year we appoint one fellow to train within the Department of Medicine’s Division of Hematology and Department of Pathology’s Division of Hematopathology. Our fellowship is a two-year experience, with the first year as an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-approved year.

Historically, the institution has made a number of important contributions to the field including: development of blood banking, understanding of the pathophysiology of polycythemia vera, fundamental role of tissue factor in blood clotting, and the advancement of new therapies for sickle cell disease and hemophilia. We provide cutting-edge, timely, integrated and contemporary diagnoses in nodal,extranodal tissues, bone marrow, and fluids such as peripheral bloods, reviewing more than 1,500 cases each year, submitted by pathologists and hematologists, oncologists locally, nationally and internationally.

We offer expert hematopathology consultation services. Morphologic assessment is key and remains the cornerstone for diagnostic classification in hematologic malignancies. Further ancillary work up such as special stains, phenotyping, genomics, FISH, GEP, and NGS provide further tools for molecular subclassification in the current era of precision medicine and immunotherapeutics.

In 2016-2017, the Division reviewed approximately 49,152 slides from bone marrow biopsies, smears, nodal, extranodal, and body fluids (CSF, Pleural fluids, peripheral blood), performed 507,619 CBCs, 4,388 flow cytometry assays, 2,094 karyotypes, 11,391 FISH assays, 11,931 Molecular (DNA) assays, 2,363 immunohistochemical assays, and 322,172 special coagulation assays

Our faculty include:

Amy Duffield, MD, PhD
Christian Salib, MD
Francine Dembitzer, MD
Aldolfo Firpo, MD
Jane Houldsworth, PhD
Alina Dulau Florea, MD
Vesna Najfeld, MD
Bruce Petersen, MD
Shafinaz Hussein, MD

Our program provides rotations in, and exposure to, the Mount Sinai Health System’s state-of-the-art clinical laboratories, which are certified by the New York State Department of Health and accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments. Fellows become well-versed in laboratory management, quality assurance, improvement, and regulatory issues and they can take advantage of leadership opportunities.

We anticipate that our fellows spend approximately 90 percent of training in the clinical setting and 10 percent in research. Clinical duties include participation in signing out all surgical hematopathology specimens, biopsies, and consult cases, as well as peripheral blood smears from outpatient clinics integrating ancillary data such as flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry, cytogenomics, and molecular pathology data. Educational duties include formal presentation of cases at pathology and combined clinical conferences, didactic presentations to pathology and clinical staff, and participation in training of residents in the gross examination, clinical correlation, and processing of surgical specimens.

Rotations

The rotation schedule is: 

Duration

Rotation

40 weeks

bone marrow, lymph node, and peripheral blood services; hematology; integrated clinical, morphology, immunohistochemistry, flow, cytogenomics, and molecular pathology

3 weeks

coagulation,routine and special coagulation, hemoglobin electrophoresis

3 weeks

molecular pathology/cytogenomics

2 weeks

elective/research

4 weeks

vacation

Research activities focus on the biology and mechanisms of hematopoietic neoplasms and cancer biology, in adult and pediatrics,  span basic science (in vitro stem cell, murine models), to clinical translational (precise or precision medicine biomarkers in CLIA labs impacting targeted therapeutics, pharma), providing colleagues with accurate diagnoses for regional, national, and international clinical trials and programs for patients with hematologic malignancies (Tisch Cancer Center programs in Myeloma, Lymphoma, Leukemia, Immunotherapy Immunology, Myeloproliferative/Myelodysplastic Stem Cell Neoplasms, and Transplantation).

 

We are interested in fellows who have completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology  or Anatomic-Clinical Pathology and hold New York state medical licensure. Income is competitive and commensurate with training. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis between July 1 and December 31.

Your completed application should include: a brief cover letter, curriculum vitae (CV) or CAP application form, three letters of recommendation. Also include a statement of U.S. citizenship or visa status in your cover letter or CV or application form. Optional documents include: copies of Resident In-Service Examination scores; copies of any published scientific or medical manuscripts; a personal statement; and photo. Send applications via regular mail or email to:

Scott Goldfarb
Fellowship Program Coordinator
Department of Pathology
Tel: 212-241-8465
Fax: 646-537-9681
scott.goldfarb@mssm.edu