View from pathology building
Indiana University School of Medicine Program
Program Director: Matt Kuhar, MD
Residency Coordinator: Jennifer Deppen
Indiana University Health Pathology Laboratory
350 West 11th Street, Room 4070
Indianapolis, IN 46202-4108
Phone: (317) 491-6350
Anatomic and Clinical Pathology Residency ProgramThe Indiana University Pathology Residency Program offers a collegiate atmosphere and strong emphasis on resident education and scholarly activity for interested trainees. Currently, there are 19 AP/CP residents and 1 AP only resident. Many of the rotations are centered at the recently built Indiana University Health Laboratory, an outstanding facility with abundant resident workspace. Other rotation sites include: Indiana University Hospital (frozen section lab or cytology lab), Riley Hospital for Children, Eskenazi Hospital, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Marion County Coroner's Office. (Updated 2/22/2016)[]
Curriculum[]
Below is the general curriculum outline:
| ANATOMIC PATHOLOGY |
Rotations |
| Autopsy (Hospital 4 months and Forensic 1 month) |
5 |
| Surgical Pathology (including Immuno) |
8 |
| Advanced Surgical Pathology | 1 |
| Pediatric Pathology |
1 |
| Dermatopathology |
1 |
| Neuropathology (including EM) |
1 |
| Cytopathology |
3 |
|
Total |
20 |
| CLINICAL PATHOLOGY |
Rotations |
| Blood Bank |
3 |
| Chemistry |
3 |
| Hematopathology (including coagulation) |
4 |
| Microbiology/Serology/Virology |
3 |
| Lab Admin & Coag Flow | 1 |
| Medical Genetics/Cytogenetics/Lab Administration |
1 |
| Flex CP | 1 |
|
Total |
16 |
| COMBINED AP/CP | Rotations |
| Eskenazi Hospital | 4-5 |
| Roudebush VAMC 5-6 | 5-6 |
| Total | 10-11 |
| Elective in field(s) of interest (requires approval of Program Director) NOT to exceed |
6 |
|
Total Rotations |
52 |
Conferences[]
Both educational and working conferences are held daily, Example:
Monday:
7:30 Clinical Pathology
4:00 Daily Surgical Pathology QC Conference
Tuesday:
7:30 Anatomic Pathology
4:00 Daily Surgical Pathology QC Conference
Wednesday:
7:30 Head and Neck / Oral Pathology (1st Wednesday of the month)
7:30 Gross / Autopsy Conference (2nd Wednesday of the month)
7:30 Neuropathology (3rd Wednesday of the month)
7:30 Hematopathology (4th Wednesday of the month)
7:30 Potpourri (5th Wednesday of the month)
4:00 Daily Surgical Pathology QC Conference
Thursday:
7:30 Dermatopathology
9:00 Microbiology Conference
4:00 Daily Surgical Pathology QC Conference
Friday:
7:30 Resident meeting or Lab Management
8:00 Cytology
4:00 Daily Surgical Pathology QC Conference
Residents are notified via email about Pathology Grand Rounds visiting guests or local speakers. These are usually held Thursdays at 11:30 or 12.
Various laboratory administration teleconferences are also offered throughout the year.
Daily Schedule[]
The daily schedule varies depending on rotation.
Surgical Pathology[]
Each main surgical rotation is divided into 4 week long blocks. There are two weeks of general sign out, one week of frozen and one week of subspecialties (gastrointestinal, head and neck or genitourinary). On every week except for frozens we sign out and gross in the same day, except for Monday when there is no grossing. The goal is 4 hours of grossing on most rotations. On subspecialty you get relevant grossing specimens and the amount varies. There are two to three hours of grossing on Saturday, but no sign out. Other hospital sites, such as the VA Medical Center and Eskenazi Hospital, use a 2-day cycle with two residents alternating between gross dissection and sign-out. There is an associated Pathologist Assistant training program and the staff PAs are excellent teachers and an invaluable resource in the gross room. The daily 4:00 PM Surgical Pathology QC Conference is another excellent learning experience and is run by excellent teaching faculty, usuallly by Dr. Thomas Ulbright or Dr. Oscar Cummings.
Comment: Posted 2/22/2016
Program name: Indiana University Health
Program Director: Matthew Kuhar, MD
Number of residents (per year / total): 5/20
Pros: Great all around AP with high volume/resident; very well structured CP rotations with great faculty and lots of hands on experience.
Cons: Morning lectures could be more educational, partly because a 7:30 start doesn't appeal to faculty who present.
Average work hours on surgical path? 50-70 hours
Are you allowed to do external rotations? Yes
Do you feel you have:
· Adequate preview time? Yes, with an emphasis on becoming fast/efficient
· Adequate reading time? Absolutely
· Adequate support staff (PA’s, Secretarial, etc…)? Yes
· Adequate AP Teaching? Yes
· Adequate CP Teaching? Yes
· Graduated responsibilities? Yes
Fellowship Programs offered? Please list: Cytopatholoy, Surgical pathology, Hematopathology, Neuropathology, Dermatopathology, GI pathology, GU pathology, Forensic pathology, Transfusion medicine and blood bank, Clinical microbiology
CAP Standardized Fellowship Application Accepted? Yes
Additional benefits to trainees (Book Fund, Travel Fund, Other resources):
- Tremendous educational/book fund: $2000 for PGY1s, $1000/year for PGY2+
- An additional $1000 to help offset the cost of Step III or pathology boards (resident's choice)
- An unrivaled travel/conference fund: $1000 to attend any conference in which you have a an accepted presentation, $1500 if you have two presentations in a given conference, and $2000 if you have three+ presentations in a given conference. This applies to as many conferences as you want. Unlimited.
Famous Faculty: Thomas M. Ulbright (a leading expert in testicular pathology and general surgical pathology), David Grignon (GU pathology), John Eble (GU pathology), Liang Cheng (GU and general surgical pathology, Essentials of Pathology book), Oscar Cummings (GI and Liver pathology)
Blood Bank Fellowship[]
One position per year.
Clinical Microbiology Fellowship[]
One position each year.
Cytopathology Fellowship []
There are 3 cytopathology positions each year.
Dermatopathology Fellowship[]
There are two dermatopathology positions, one funded and one currently not funded. The funded position has recently gone to both internal and external candidates.
Dr. Simon Warren is the fellowship director and Dr. Matthew Kuhar is the other faculty member. Dr. Kuhar is a very good teacher and is actively involved in both resident and fellow education. He was appointed as director of the AP/CP residency program.
Forensic Pathology Fellowship[]
One position is available each year.
This program is actually based at the Marion County Coroners Office in Indianapolis. It is a comprehensive one year fellowship that offers strong research support and exposure to a wide variety of cases. Death scene visits are conducted with the deputy coroner. There is exposure to topical issues in pediatric forensic pathology. The fellow is expected to take part in Child Fatality Reviews, and is encouraged to shadow CPS and Child Abuse Pediatrics clinicians on short rotations. The fellow is also encouraged to attend educational courses, for example the Medico-Legal Death Investigation Course in Saint Louis and the Human Outdoor Body Recovery Course at the University of Tennessee. The formal educational program also includes a visit to the Marion County Crime Lab, the toxicology lab at AIT and the University of Indianapolis for Forensic Archaelogy. There are daily morning rounds, weekly brain cutting sessions, a monthly journal club and weekly case sign out rounds for homicides. The fellow will be expected to participate in peer review. Additional rotations may be arranged based on the fellows interests. The fellow is also required to participate in organ transplant related calls. The autopsy technicians are extremely helpful and supportive. Four forensic pathologists provide appropriate supervision and are easily accessible.
Comment 1 (posted 9/19/13)
The above paragraph must have been prepared by someone who knows nothing about the program. The program director is a horrible teacher and is very vindictive. I would not recommend this program to my worst enemy. There are 3 forensic pathologists, not four. Only one of those three even pretends to be interested in fellow education.
Admin Note: Although this comment is negative, it should not be removed from this page for free speech reasons. The comment represents the views of one person and, like all comments online, should be taken accordingly. Should you have a different view about this program that you wish to express, please add your thoughts to "Comment 2" below.
Comment 2 (date posted)
Christopher Poulos, MD is a board-certified forensic pathologist and serves as the new director (appointed August 2017). https://medicine.iu.edu/faculty/11817/poulos-christopher/
Gastrointestinal Pathology Fellowship[]
Genitourinary Pathology Fellowship[]
The Genitourinary (GU) Pathology Fellowship program currently offers two positions each year and accepted its first official fellow for the 2009-2010 year. The fellow operates on a dedicated GU Pathology service, which includes a high volume of testees, urinary bladder, prostate, and kidney specimens, both in-house cases and consultation cases. The teaching faculty members are excellent and all spend a great deal of one-on-one time with both the fellow and residents.
Many faculty members are well-known experts and include:
Dr. Liang Cheng (Fellowship Director)
Dr. John Eble (Chairman, Dept. of Pathology)
Dr. David Grignon (Vice-Chairman, Clinical Programs)
Dr. Thomas Ulbright (Director, Anatomic Pathology)
Dr. Mohammed Idrees and Dr. Helen Michael
Two months of protected research time are available to the fellow. Each month, residents are assigned to the GU sign-out service for approximately 6 days, at which time the resident is often responsible for a varying portion of in-house component of the cases.
Hematopathology Fellowship[]
Two positions are available each year.
Neuropathology Fellowship[]
A two-year fellowship program is offered and two positions are available. Activities are centered at the Indiana University School of Medicine and its main teaching facilities (IU Heath University and IU Health Methodist Hospitals, and Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health). The medical center provides a large volume of surgical and autopsy cases in neuropathology and ocular pathology. Planning and participation in departmental and interdepartmental conferences are a part of the program, as is the instruction of residents and medical students. Diagnostic neuropathology is generally emphasized during the first year. Active participation in research projects is the main goal during the second year. Research opportunities in a variety of areas are numerous and include Alzheimer's disease, prion diseases and brain tumors. One month rotation in Neurology, Neurosurgery and Neuroradiology are optional.
Faculty:
Dr. Alexander Vortmeyer Program Director
Surgical Pathology Fellowship[]
One position each year.