STEPs Activities for Klionsky Fellows - Final

Medical
Student
Educational
Opportunities
and Awards in
Pathology

STEPs Activities for Klionsky Fellows!
Activity
What's the consensus?
Learn about the Practice of Pathology
through hands-on activities
Description
Observe how pathologists arrive at diagnoses
COD: Autopsies give the answer Observe an autopsy and help the autopsy team
determine the Cause of Death (COD)
Don't freeze up during frozen Participate in a mock frozen section call
sections Getting personal: A deep dive See how tumor DNA can carry mutations that
into personalized medicine can then guide patient therapy
FUN with FNAs
Learn the art of the fine needle aspiration
All ABOut blood products Join the clinical team on blood banking rounds
and tour the blood banking facility
Slide into Histology
Observe tissue slide preparation while touring
the histology lab
Clinical chemistry 101
Learn how routine clinical blood tests are
performed by touring the Automated Testing Lab
Once again, welcome to the exciting world of pathology!
Important Contact Information and Links:
Resident Liaisons
Jeffrey Kleinberger, MD, PhD, PGY-2(kleinbergerjw@upmc.edu)
Shikha Malhotra, MD, PGY-2 (malhotras8@upmc.edu)
Terri Jones, MD, PGY-4 (jonest12@upmc.edu)
Director, Pathology Residency Program and
Director, Pathology Medical Student Education
Marie DeFrances, MD, PhD (defrancesmc@upmc.edu)
Klionsky Summer Research Fellowship
Wendy Mars, PhD (wmars@pitt.edu)
Autopsy Discovery Program
Tanner Bartholow, MD (bartholowtl2@upmc.edu)
Medical Student Training in Pathology at UPMC
http://path.upmc.edu/train.htm#mds
http://path.upmc.edu/career.htm
Post-Sophomore Fellowship
http://path.upmc.edu/brochure/psf.html
Intersociety Council for Pathology Information
http://www.pathologytraining.org

Pathology Electives (MS3 / MS4)
Surgical and Perinatal Pathology, MSPTH 5441
Obtain knowledge about the entities in gynecological, general surgical, obstetrical,
perinatal, and breast pathology that are conducive to your future career objectives.
The Nodular Thyroid, MSPTH 5427
Become familiar with the multidisciplinary approach to thyroid nodules. Understand the
role of thyroid FNA with emphasis on radiologic-pathologic correlation and molecular
data.
Tumor Immunology, MSPTH 5863
Become familiar with the concepts underlying the role of the immune system in
recognizing and reacting against tumors and role of modulating the immune response as a
treatment modality.
Awards and Other Educational Opportunities
Autopsy Discovery Program
Experience pathology with hands-on practice and gain a better understanding of the
medical autopsy. Students will perform a mock autopsy, review slides with the Autopsy
Service Director, and results will be presented in the form of a poster session.
Best posters will receive an award.
Klionsky Summer Research Fellowship
Competitive 8-week summer fellowship to perform basic, translational or diagnostic
pathology research. An application is required. Participating students will receive a $3,600
stipend.
The Robert E. Lee, M.D., Award for
Excellence in Anatomic Pathology
This award is a competitive cash prize for the best performance by a medical student in an
anatomic pathology elective. This award is presented on Senior Awards Day each May.
Post-Sophomore Fellowship
An additional year of exclusive study and in-depth exposure to the diagnostic and
investigative aspects of pathology.
You are welcome to perform your Scholarly Project or a Dean's Summer Research Project
with our Faculty.

Welcome to the Department of
Pathology at UPMC!
Some of you may be visiting our department to learn more about daily Pathology practice in
order to help you decide if Pathology is for you. Others have chosen a medical specialty but
want to focus on learning more about pathophysiology in order to become a well-rounded
physician. Others performing research may want to learn what happens in the Pathology
department. Whatever your reason for joining us, we are glad you are here!
Although pathologists are commonly found in and around the laboratory rather than on patient
floors, we are very active members of the healthcare team, who communicate regularly with
clinicians about patient cases or unusual results. Some examples of what pathologists do to
manage the care of patients are:
Making histologic diagnoses of diseases
Performing autopsies to determine cause and manner of death
Performing routine and specialty blood testing
Identifying and characterizing infectious organisms
Carrying out molecular genetic testing for malignancies and other diseases
Engaging in research. Nearly all our department’s faculty are engaged in some type of
research. Many are funded by the NIH or national foundations.
If you want to explore what the Pathology department has to offer medical students, a summary
of our electives and educational opportunities follows. If you have questions or want to learn
more, feel free to contact me or our resident liaisons.
Warm Regards,
Marie C. DeFrances, MD, PhD
Director, UPMC Pathology Residency Program
Director, Pathology Medical Student Education

Pathology Mini-Electives
(MS1 / MS2)
Musculoskeletal Neoplasms (3 sessions) - MS1/MS2
Learn about a multi-disciplinary approach to the diagnosis of bone and soft tissue
neoplasms.
Personalized Medicine (5 sessions) - MS1/MS2
Become familiar with molecular testing and learn how it can impact patient care.
Pathology Medical Student Interest Group
(PMSIG)
PMSIG was established to address the concern that most medical students receive a limited exposure to
pathology during medical school. Our group’s goals are to enhance medical students’ understanding of
the role of pathology in patient care, provide students with research and career opportunities in
pathology, communicate relevant department activities, and foster mentoring relationships between
students, residents, and faculty.
The group also aims to help students appreciate the
diverse career opportunities in pathology. For instance, in addition to forensic pathology, other
opportunities in the field include surgical pathology, which involves the gross and microscopic
examination of surgical specimens, clinical pathology, which involves the laboratory analysis of bodily
fluids and tissues, and molecular pathology, which marries anatomic and clinical pathology with
molecular biology, genetics, and proteomics.
Please consider joining if you want to learn more about or are interested in pathology, either as a career
or to further your knowledge for your chosen specialty.
Email PMSIG at: PittPMSIG@gmail.com
Officers:
Theresa Reno (Reno.Theresa@medstudent.pitt.edu), President.
Elise Pearson (Pearson.Elise@medstudent.pitt.edu), Vice President
Olivia Parks (obp1@pitt.edu)
Eman Kazi (emk111@pitt.edu)
Kamran Harper (kkh22@pitt.edu

Pathology Electives, 4 weeks
(MS3 / MS4)
Anatomic Pathology, MSPTH 5420
Learn how to recognize the gross and microscopic features of common diseases while
integrating into the workflow of the surgical pathology service.
Hematopathology, MSPTH 5471
Become familiar with and learn about hematopoietic and lymphoid disorders through the
examination of peripheral blood smears, bone marrow biopsies, and lymph node samples
as well as the multidisciplinary approach to their diagnoses.
Independent Study in Pathology, MSPTH 5869
Independent study time in anatomic, clinical or investigative pathology with a flexible
schedule.
Introduction to Autopsy Pathology, MSPTH 5425
Become knowledgeable about the process of
performing an autopsy and the integration of clinical information to determine the cause of
death.
Laboratory Medicine, MSPTH 5485
Learn testing basics, result interpretation, and clinical correlation by rotating in chemistry,
hematology, microbiology, immunology, histocompatibility, molecular pathology,
transfusion medicine, coagulation, point of care testing, laboratory administration and
quality assurance.
Musculoskeletal Oncology, MSPTH 5487
Become knowledgeable of the multidisciplinary approach to musculoskeletal malignancies.
Students will be working with orthopedic oncologists, bone and soft tissue pathologists,
and radiologists.
Neuropathology, MSPTH 5460
Learn functional neuroanatomy and patho-physiology of the major diseases of the nervous
system and their diagnostic features. Gain an understanding of the utility of frozen sections
for the diagnosis of CNS tumors.
Pathology Research, MSPTH 5382
Work on a research project with a faculty member in your area of interest.