Clinical Pathology Rotations

In the Department of Laboratory Medicine, residents also rotate through the clinical laboratories of UCSF, the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, and the San Francisco VA Health Care System. These hospitals have diverse patient populations and provide a remarkably varied clinical experience for our training program. Rotations are available in microbiology, hematology/hematopathology, transfusion medicine, cellular therapy, clinical chemistry, molecular diagnostics /cytogenetics, laboratory management, and immunology. Five months out of the two years is devoted to elective time and includes opportunites and forelectives at institutions other than UCSF. Residents also receive structured didactic training in clinical epidemiology, transfusion medicine, hematology, informatics, immunology, clinical chemistry, molecular diagnostics, microbiology and laboratory management.

Clinical responsibilities of residents include an “on call” system for clinical consultation on test indications, interfering factors and test interpretation, familiarization with analytical methodology and quality control, and teaching of medical students and technologists.

Teaching opportunities are also available to residents during their training. Housestaff assist the instructors in the laboratories in medical-student pathology courses, medical student small groups, and on-going laboratory technician continuing education courses. Residents also present interesting autopsy and surgical pathology cases at a variety of intra- and inter-departmental conferences. All residents present cases and recent research findings on subjects of their choice once a year at the Department of Pathology Grand Rounds Conference.