The Department of Pathology at The University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio offers a complete residency training program with a variety of options to be chosen by the trainee. Training is available for individuals wishing to pursue a combined AP/CP program. The program consists of four years of core training in AP and CP. Up to six months of electives are available in the 4-year program. Core rotations are divided between University Hospital and Audie Murphy Veterans Affairs Hospital. Anatomic pathology rotations include surgical pathology, cytology, and autopsy with advanced training available in electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry, renal pathology, neuropathology, breast pathology, and oral, head and neck pathology. Clinical pathology rotations include hematology, blood banking, clinical chemistry, immunology, microbiology, and molecular pathology with advanced training available in hematology, molecular pathology, flow cytometry, coagulation, apheresis, cytogenetics, and special mycology techniques. Besides the usual duties expected in each rotation, residents prepare and participate in formal and informal presentations for departmental and interdepartmental conferences, journal clubs and research conferences. Residents participate in medical student teaching and monthly city-wide pathology conferences. The program requires participation in ongoing clinical or basic research projects and provides support for residency research experiences and presentations at state and national meetings.
The residency program is fully accredited for 16 AP/CP positions; clinical and research fellowships are also offered. Three to five first-year resident positions are routinely available each year.
The 762-bed University Hospital opened in 1968 as the principal teaching hospital of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, School of Medicine. In April 2014, UHS opened the new million-square foot Sky Tower, a beautiful state of the art facility with a new emergency and trauma center, adding 420 new private patient rooms and 35 new surgical suites. The Chairman and faculty members form the professional pathology staff of the hospital. The Audie Murphy Veterans Affairs Hospital, adjacent to the University Hospital, has more than 700 beds and is affiliated with the residency program. The combined teaching material includes 31,407 surgical specimens; 77 autopsies; 16,246 cytologic specimens, 397 bone marrow specimens, 662 therapeutic apheresis procedures, and more than four million clinical laboratory examinations per year. Other affiliated institutions offering electives in anatomic and clinical pathology for our residents include the South Texas Dermatopathology Lab and the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office where forensic pathology and additional autopsy experience is achieved.
Research: Most of the faculty actively pursue research ranging from basic science to translational and direct studies. The Medical School adjoins the University Hospital and the Department of Pathology provides special diagnostic and research facilities which include cell and molecular biology, cytogenetics, flow cytometry, virology, bacteriology, mycology laboratories, and biochemical research laboratories conducting research on the pathogenesis of disease. Departmental research is funded annually by over 4 million dollars from extramural sources. Core facilities in allied programs support nucleic acid synthesis and sequencing, peptide synthesis and sequencing, and transgenic mouse generation, as well as proteomics. The Department has a close association with Southwest Biomedical Foundation, a research facility with internationally recognized programs in atherosclerosis and neonatal pathology.
San Antonio, in South Central Texas, a major metropolitan city of more than 1.5 million, is the seventh most populated in the United States. It combines the cultural advantages of a large city, including an outstanding symphony, art museum and theaters, with the charm of its Spanish heritage. The climate is warm and dry and ideal for year-round outdoor sports. San Antonio is a three-hour drive from Mexico and from boating and fishing on the Gulf of Mexico. Several of the high schools in San Antonio have received awards of excellence from the US Department of Education. The cost of living in San Antonio is relatively low, and excellent housing is available near the hospital.
