Breast Pathology Fellowship

This fellowship is designed for trainees pursuing an academic career in diagnostic breast pathology. Training is accordingly focused on building expert diagnostic skills in clinical breast pathology, translational clinical research, and education. Clinical material is obtained from the UCSF Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center and from numerous extramural confirmatory and challenging consultation cases. Successful applicants will have completed an accredited anatomic pathology or combined anatomic/clinical pathology residency program. Prior completion of a surgical pathology fellowship is a bonus but not required.

Breast Pathology Group Photo

Clinical Training and Responsibilities

The fellow will complete clinical rotations managing in-house subspecialty breast biopsies and surgical cases, as well as confirmatory and complex consultation breast cases, in conjunction with faculty. Opportunities for graduated responsibility, including mock sign-out, are incorporated into the training plan. The fellow will additionally gain experience in diagnostic molecular breast pathology, including interpretation of HER2 fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assays and targeted DNA sequencing panels in breast cancer. The fellow will participate in weekly breast tumor board conferences and radiologic-pathologic correlation conferences, as well as weekly molecular tumor board conferences when breast cases are presented.

Research

Dedicated time will be reserved for participation in clinical and translational research projects in breast pathology. The fellow will be mentored in design and conduct of a research project that can be individually tailored to personal interest and expertise. Successful projects will be submitted for presentation at national meetings and prepared for peer-reviewed publication.

Teaching

Teaching responsibilities include helping to teach gross and microscopic breast pathology to residents rotating on the breast pathology service, assisting in running weekly consensus and teaching conferences at the microscope, and helping to build a digital archive of breast pathology teaching cases. Opportunities for medical student teaching are also available if interested.

Faculty Involved with Fellowship

Ronald Balassanian, MD

Ronald Balassanian, MD
Professor

Yunn-Yi Chen, MD, PhD

Yunn-Yi Chen, MD, PhD
Professor

Joseph Geradts, MD, MA

Joseph Geradts, MD, MA
Professor

Ana Quiroga, MD

Ana Quiroga, MD
Professor

Poonam Vohra, MD

Poonam Vohra, MD
Professor

Molecular Pathology Faculty Involved with Fellowship

Patrick W. Devine, MD, PhD

Patrick Devine, MD, PhD
Medical Director

James P. Grenert, MD, PhD

James P. Grenert, MD, PhD
Professor

Deepika Sirohi, MD

Deepika Sirohi, MD
Associate Professor

Requirements

To qualify candidates must have successfully completed an ACGME-accredited residency in anatomic pathology (AP-3), or anatomic and clinical pathology (APCP-4), or an equivalent program located in Canada and accredited by the RCPSC.

Candidates must have an unrestricted California medical license before they begin their clinical duties.

Duration

12 months with a start date of July 1.

Salary

Fellows will be appointed as a PGY-5.

UCSF GME Trainee Financial Resources

Application

The 2026-2027 recruitment is now closed. Please check back for updates in early Spring 2025.

Important Dates

Please check back in Spring 2025 for information regarding the 2027-2028 recruitment cycle.

The program does not discriminate with regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender expression, gender identity, gender transition status, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition (cancer-related or genetic characteristics), genetic information (including family medical history), ancestry, marital status, age, sexual orientation, citizenship, or service in the uniformed services, including protected veterans.