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 clinical research, and education. We have a flexible program that can be tailored towards the individual career goal 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. Prior completion of a surgical pathology fellowship is a bonus 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, may be available.  The fellow will also participate in daily GU Pathology consensus conference and bimonthly interdisciplinary tumor board conference. 

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, 60 kidney core biopsies, 170 kidney resections,  60 testicular specimens, 600 confirmatory cases and 80 consults.

Additional rotations in other GU-related areas (e.g., urine cytology, medical renal pathology, and molecular pathology of GU tumors) 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 include: NRG Oncology Clinical Trials Material, CANARY prostate cancer consortium, 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!

Jeffry P. Simko, PhD, MD
Professor

Emily Chan, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor

Bradley A. Stohr, 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. Non-U.S. citizens must possess a Permanent Resident Card or an appropriate educational visa prior to starting a postgraduate medical education program. The Department of Pathology may sponsor J1 visas. Candidates must have an unrestricted California medical license before they begin their clinical duties.

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 participating in the Association of Pathology Chairs national Unified Approach to fellowship recruitment in 2023, for 2025-2026 fellowship positions and uphold all of the policies and code of conduct expectations for programs and for applicants, which are detailed here.

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 2025-2026 academic year on a rolling basis. 

We are also currently accepting and processing applications for the 2024-2025 academic year. 

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 Suria Sadat.

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.

Standardized Pathology Fellowship Application

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.