Along with excellence in patient care and research, the Duke Department of Pathology is committed to education at all levels as one of our primary missions.
We offer a wide range of educational programs, including ACGME-accredited residency programs in anatomic and clinical pathology and a broad range of in-depth subspecialty fellowships. Our graduate school offers training in translational research in the unique setting of a clinical department. Our Pathologists’ Assistant Program is the oldest in the country, and provides outstanding training for individuals interested this challenging career. Our residents and faculty participate on a daily basis in numerous teaching conferences, both within the department and throughout the health system. Our graduates have gone on to be national leaders in their fields in institutions all over the world. At Duke, we believe that educating the next generation of clinicians and scientists is both an obligation and an honor.
The Department of Pathology at Duke University offers a wide array of training programs to fit individual requirements and goals.
The Residency Training Program is an ACGME approved program and is available as an Anatomic Pathology/Clinical Pathology combined program, or Anatomic Pathology only program. Subspecialty fellowships in Cytopathology, Dermatopathology, Hematopathology, Medical Microbiology, Molecular Genetic Pathology, and Neuropathology are also ACGME approved. These programs provide the highest quality of graduate medical education by drawing on the depth and breadth of faculty expertise in the Department in all aspects of anatomic and clinical pathology and the availability of a wide variety of often complex clinical cases seen at Duke University Health System.
For medical students interested in a career in Pathology, predoctoral fellowships, internships and externships are available.
Research training in Experimental Pathology can be obtained through pre- and postdoctoral fellowships of one to five years. All predoctoral fellows are candidates for the Ph.D. degree in Pathology. The Ph.D. is optional in postdoctoral programs, which provide didactic and research training in various aspects of modern experimental pathology.
A two year NAACLS accredited Pathologists’ Assistant Program leads to a Master of Health Science degree, certifies graduates to sit for the ASCP Board of Certification examination, and leads to exciting career opportunities in a variety of anatomic pathology laboratory settings. Pathologists’ assistants are analogous to physician assistants, but with highly specialized training in autopsy and surgical pathology. This profession was pioneered in the Duke Department of Pathology more than 40 years ago, and is one of only nine such programs in existence today.