Gynecologic Pathology Fellowship

This program is designed for trainees pursuing an academic career in diagnostic gynecologic pathology and therefore provides the fellow experience as an educator and as a researcher as well as manager of complex diagnostic clinical care. Successful applicants have completed at least 36 months of pathology rotations (preferably inclusive of a general surgical pathology fellowship) prior to this fellowship. Applicants may also consider applying for a two year program of 12 months of general surgical pathology fellowship followed by 12 months of gynecologic pathology fellowship.

Our clinical service comes from several tertiary-level centers of excellence within UCSF: 

1. the Gynecological Oncology division, which treats patients with a spectrum of complex malignancies, including carcinomas, gynecologic sarcomas and mesenchymal tumors, germ cell tumors, sex cord-stromal tumors, and gestational trophoblastic disease; 
2. the Dysplasia Clinic, which manages patients with HPV disease of the lower female genital tract, generating biopsies, curettages, LEEPs and cone specimens; 
3. the Center for Reproductive Health, which submits an array of endometrial samplings in women with infertility as well as challenging products of conception specimens;
4. the MAPS service (Multidisciplinary Approach to the Placenta service), which manages women with placenta accreta spectrum disorder requiring hysterectomy; and 
5. the general Gynecology service, including a Center of Excellence for fibroid management and for endometriosis management, which generates a diverse population of biopsy specimens and benign gynecological specimens.

Of note, obstetric/perinatal pathology is not included in this fellowship.  While first and second term placental specimens are the domain of the gynecological pathology service, full term placentas are managed by a different specialty service.

Our diagnostic resources include a robust immunohistochemical lab to which novel diagnostic stains are continually added.  Our molecular diagnostic lab offers a 500 gene next generation sequencing test for diagnostic purposes as well as for prognostic classification and targeted therapy interrogation.  It also offers short tandem repeat genotype testing for evaluation of potential molar pregnancy and MLH1 promoter methylation testing for evaluating MLH1 deficient endometrial cancer.   Although digital pathology is not currently used for primary diagnosis on the gynecologic pathology service, 100% of our inhouse and outside specimens, including all special stains and immunostains, are digitally scanned using the Philips system and the digital scans are accessible to augment signout and to present cases in tumor board.  We also have an Aperio scanning system for teaching and research purposes.  We run a daily consensus conference every afternoon on the gynecologic pathology service which serves as an opportunity for faculty to show each other complex or problematic cases as well to show cases that are of educational interest to the trainees. In addition every two weeks we run a Molecular Pathology – Gyn Pathology case conference in which the results of the prior two weeks of molecular diagnostic tests are correlated with the surgical pathology findings.

The details of the fellow’s rotations, including dedicated time for non-clinical academic (educational and/or research activity), can be customized to the interests of the fellow at the discretion of the Program Director.  Options for modified signout experience with junior trainees in order to develop and hone teaching skills can be discussed on a case-by-case.

This is a non-ACGME fellowship.

Duration

12 months, starting July 1.

Location

UCSF Women’s Hospital at Mission Bay 

Faculty

Joseph Rabban, MD, MPH
Cynthia A. Gasper, MD
Nicholas R. Ladwig, MD
Kevin L. Lu, MD, PhD

Primary Clinical Role

1. Manage GYN consult cases with faculty.
2. Manage GYN confirmation cases with faculty.
3. Manage GYN tumor board cases with faculty.
4. Run weekly GYN tumor board and weekly Dysplasia case conference.
5. Supervise intraoperative specimen evaluation for GYN cases.
6. Supervise specimen grossing for GYN cases.

Teaching Duties

1. Assist in teaching GYN grossing and histopathology to residents.
2. Assist in teaching GYN laboratories for medical school courses.
3. Assist in maintaining GYN teaching case files.

Research Duties

1. Design, conduct, and submit for publication a research project in gynecologic pathology.
2. Participate in ongoing gynecologic pathology research projects.

Vacation

4 weeks

Weekend/night call

Please contact Dr. Rabban for details.

Requirements

To qualify, candidates must have completed at least 36 months of anatomic pathology rotations (preferably inclusive of a general surgical pathology fellowship) prior to this fellowship.

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.

If selected, candidates must obtain an unrestricted medical license from the Medical Board of California before their start date.

Medical Board of California

Salary

Fellows will be appointed as a PGY-5. 

UCSF GME Trainee Financial Resources

Recent Graduates

Our program aims to support our fellows in entering an academic career in gynecological pathology straight out of fellowship.  Here are our most recent graduates and their current affiliations.

Application

Due to a lack of sufficient support across training programs, there is no Unified Timeline for the 2027-2028 recruitment season. The UCSF Gynecologic Pathology Fellowship program is currently accepting applications for the 2027-2028 academic cycle. Virtual interviews will be held after July 1, 2025 and first offers will be made on a rolling basis.

We accept the College of American Pathologists Resident Forum’s Standardized  Application for Fellowship in Pathology.  To apply, please submit the CAP Residents Forum Standardized fellowship application along with your curriculum vitae, a personal statement of interest, and a photo of yourself in JPEG or PDF format.  Three letters of recommendation should be sent directly from your recommenders and or program coordinator, also in PDF file format.  All application materials are to be submitted in a PDF file format via email to the Fellowship Program Administrator, Thongdam Pathoumthong.

For the best experience, we recommend downloading the application using the link below and opening it with Adobe Acrobat software to complete the fillable PDF form.

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.