Genitourinary Pathology Fellowship

The Genitourinary (GU) Pathology Fellowship is a one-year program designed for trainees pursuing a career subspecializing in diagnostic GU pathology. The training focuses on building expert diagnostic skills in clinical GU pathology, translational and/or clinical research, and education. The program is flexible and can be tailored towards the individual career goals of the trainee. Eventual careers include academic GU surgical pathologists; clinical, translational and basic science researchers in GU-based diseases; GU-subspecialized community practice; and industry.

Successful applicants will have completed an accredited anatomic pathology or combined anatomic/clinical pathology residency program, although exceptions can be made in certain situations. Prior completion of a surgical pathology fellowship is recommended, but not required.

Clinical Training and Responsibilities

The fellow will provide a primary role in managing in-house subspecialty GU biopsies and surgical cases, as well as confirmatory and complex consultation GU cases, in conjunction with faculty. Opportunities for graduated responsibility, including mock sign-out and independent sign-out as an attending, may be available.  The fellow will also participate in daily GU Pathology consensus conference, bimonthly interdisciplinary tumor board and various research conferences as the trainee’s interests and goals dictate. 

As UCSF is a world-renowned center for its expertise in the care of urologic cancers, the fellow will have ample opportunity to gain experience in handling high-volume; and complex, rare, and challenging cases. The annual GU case volume includes approximately 1000 TRUS prostate biopsies, 350 radical prostatectomies, 300 bladder biopsies/TURBTs, 70 cystectomies, 80 kidney core biopsies, 170 kidney resections,  60 testicular specimens, 600 confirmatory cases and over 150 consult cases.

Additional rotations in other GU-related areas can be arranged (e.g., urine cytology, medical renal pathology, molecular pathology of GU tumors), exchanges with other Universities and visits to commercial labs) are also available.

Research

Dedicated time will be reserved for participation in clinical and translational research projects in GU 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.

UCSF is also internationally recognized for its research in prostate and other urological cancers and there are many opportunities to get involved in translational clinical research, in collaboration with attending pathologists, clinicians and researchers from various departments at UCSF and outside of UCSF.  Unique research opportunities within pathology and peripheral to it include: NRG Oncology Clinical Trials Material, ALLIANCE Clinical Trials Material, CANARY prostate cancer consortium, Prostate Cancer Program in the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center,  UCSF Prostate SPORE, and one of the largest collections of metastatic prostate cancer through the SU2C West Coast Dream Team.

Teaching

Teaching responsibilities include gross room supervision of residents and pathology assistants for GU specimens, teaching of residents at the microscope and participation in daily teaching conferences. UCSF fellows are also required to present once at the weekly Department of Pathology Mechanisms of Disease conference. 

Additional opportunities for medical student teaching, building of digital archives, and leading of other educational conferences are also available.

Primary Faculty

The team of GU Pathology Faculty at UCSF collectively provides a unique spectrum of interests, experiences, and areas of expertise for trainee education. Please visit their websites to find out more about them!

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.

Medical Board of California

Duration

12 months with a start date of July 1. 

Vacation

4 weeks.

Salary

Fellows will be appointed as PGY-5.

UCSF GME Trainee Financial Resources

Application

We are accepting applications for 2026-2027 cycle.  Please check back in Spring 2025 for the 2027-2028 cycle.

We accept the CAP Residents Forum Standardized fellowship application and require a curriculum vitae, personal statement of interest, three letters of recommendation sent from your writers in PDF format. Please also include a photo of yourself in jpeg, gif, or PDF format when submitting your application. We will accept applications for the 2026-2027 academic year on a rolling basis.

Please fill out the application below and submit along with the requested documents listed above and send via email ONLY to the Fellowship Program Administrator Thongdam Pathoumthong.

We recommend downloading the application using the link below and opening using Adobe Acrobat software for the best user experience to complete your application and avoid issues with the fillable PDF.

Important Dates

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.