University of Kansas Medical Center

At the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC), Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine we seek to provide excellent patient care by producing the best community, research and academic pathologists possible through our integrated four-year training program in anatomic and clinical pathology. Our program has been graduating successful pathologists for over 65 years, and in this era of personalized medicine and ever-growing knowledge, we believe it is a great time to be a pathologist. We seek hard-working individuals with good communication skills and a strong team-first mentality. Our top priority is your success, regardless of whether you opt for a career in community practice or academic medicine. Our program has a strong commitment to teaching and patient care and offers exposure to a wide variety of common and uncommon cases from which to learn.

Our primary teaching hospital is the University of Kansas Hospital, a 900+ bed tertiary care center that is the only academic hospital in the state. KU Hospital is a busy place that has experienced year-over-year growth of more than 10% several years running. Patients from all fifty states were treated at KU Hospital in the past year. The University of Kansas Cancer Center was named a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in 2012. NCI designation is limited to 67 institutions in the country, recognizes excellence in cancer care and research, and creates new opportunities for education, research and clinical trials.

The 125-bed Kansas City VA Medical Center is our primary teaching affiliate. The outstanding teachers and the slower pace at the VA provide an ideal introduction to pathology before immersion into the hustle and bustle of KU Hospital Residents also rotate with the pediatric pathologists at the nearby Children’s Mercy Hospital, a nationally recognized pediatric hospital. Residents in the second year train in forensic pathology at the Jackson County Medical Examiner’s Office, a busy urban forensic center with more than 1,000 annual post-mortem examinations. Training in transfusion medicine begins at KU Hospital; advanced training takes place at the Community Blood Center, a large regional transfusion medicine center.

Curriculum

The academic year is divided into 13 four-week blocks. Residents are assigned to either anatomic or clinical rotations, which are interspersed each year.

In addition to the core rotations, our program offers a liberal elective rotation program. On-campus electives are offered in all surgical pathology subspecialties, as well as clinical pathology services and research. While many residents choose on-campus electives, external and international rotations are also allowed. We encourage residents to develop electives that will suit their particular interests and career goals. Our program offers an elective block during the second year of residency, and residents average six elective rotations by graduation.

Below is a sample block schedule including the core program and electives.