Hematopathology
The fellowship is filled for the academic years 2024-2025 and 2025-2026. Yale will be participating in the NRMP Hematopathology Fellowship Match for the 2026-2027 fellowship year and beyond. Completed applications will be reviewed in November and December, and interviews will be conducted in January, in accordance with the Society for Hematopathology recommendations.
We encourage those interested in our program to apprise us of that interest up to several years in advance, especially for those who may be oriented toward the physician-scientist track, since this requires coordination with research programs in individual laboratories.
The ACGME-accredited Hematopathology Fellowship training program at Yale New Haven Medical Center and the Veterans Administration Connecticut Medical Center is designed to provide a comprehensive experience in all aspects of hematopathology including consultative clinical practice, state-of-the-art diagnostic testing, multi-level teaching and an understanding of the principles of biomedical research.
Instruction and practical experience occurs for all aspects of hematopathology: lymphoid and myeloid disorders including lymph node, bone marrow, peripheral blood and other tissue review, pediatric hematopathology, coagulopathies and red cell disorders. The program takes advantage of the rich environment in both anatomic and clinical pathology at these institutions with a special emphasis on integrating all aspects of clinical practice, teaching and research with the other academic activities in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Yale. In addition, the program coordinates on a day to day basis with the extensive clinical and investigative activities of the sections of Medicine Hematology, Medical Oncology and the Yale Cancer Center, the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology section, the Yale Stem Cell program, and the Human Translational Immunology Program.
The program especially highlights the modern need to fully integrate morphology, immunophenotyping, flow cytometry, cytogenetics, molecular diagnostics, functional cellular and protein assays, and longitudinal clinical correlation in providing a complete hematopathology consultation that is maximally useful in both establishing a patient's initial diagnosis/prognosis, and in monitoring the efficacy of therapeutic interventions. The trainee gains hands-on experience in all these areas with an emphasis on coordinating the results of different technologies.
The program envisions our trainees, and all hematopathologists, as being the central consultative core of the diagnostic and therapeutic team caring for patients with hematologic disease, both benign and malignant. Close communication with internal medicine, surgery, ob/gyn and pediatric colleagues is emphasized; the fellow provides formal written consultative interpretation not only for lymph node, blood, tissue and bone marrow specimens but also for coagulation and hemoglobinopathy testing, with integration of complex molecular testing that is performed in-house. Hands-on experience in relevant bedside procedures is a formal part of the program.
Finally, the program accepts as a given that the hematopathologist in clinical practice must also be an excellent teacher and communicator - hence the fellow is given significant responsibility for presenting at multidisciplinary conferences.
Moreover, we believe that an hematopathologist should be able to understand and bring to his/her practice cutting edge diagnostic modalities that pass the test of "evidence-based" medical practice. Toward this end, the program provides training in some of the principles of state-of-the-art basic, clinical and translational research through active participation in a journal club, by providing for attendance at a national meeting, and by having the trainee carry out at least one significant clinically-oriented research project during their year of clinical training.
Track Information
Academic Clinician Track
Physician-Scientist Track
The physician-scientist track is designed on an individual basis as a multiyear clinical and research fellowship designed to provide the fellow with sufficient experience to enable her or him to launch a career as a clinician-scientist. Generally, this involves an initial clinical year during which the fellow begins a substantive research project in the laboratory of a Yale mentor, followed by 2-3 years of additional research training in the same mentor's laboratory. The research component of the fellowship is usually supported under the auspices of an NIH NRSA award, which may allow for participation in attractive financial support options by NIH, including NIH repayment of up to $35,000 per year of past educational loans the fellow may have encumbered. In this program, mentors may be chosen from the full range of investigators at Yale University and need not be limited to investigators in the Departments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.
Additional Fellowship Information
Stipends
Stipends are commensurate with the fellow's years of post-graduate training on the same scale as that received by Yale-New Haven Hospital resident staff and also include family-plan-level health insurance and individual disability insurance benefits.
Funds are also provided for educational materials ("book allowance"). Details of the current stipend scale are provided upon application.
Past Fellows
Past fellows in the program have gone on to research and clinical academic positions at major institutions, as well as community practice. Of our last ten graduates of the program, six are Assistant Professors in academic hospitals, and two are in community practice, one of which is a dedicated children's hospital. Our two most recent graduates have elected to pursue second fellowships.
Physician-Scientist Training
Facilities
Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH), a combined tertiary care and community-based medical center and the main teaching hospital for Yale School of Medicine (YSM), is the primary training location for the fellow. In addition to serving the greater New Haven metropolitan area, YNHH is also part of the Yale New Haven Health System which includes Bridgeport, Greenwich, and Westerly Hospitals. YNHH serves as a major reference pathology center (especially hematopathology samples and advanced technology procedures) from other system hospitals and also from many other hospitals and medical center/physician offices in New England and also outside the region.
The Yale New Haven Medical Center is a designated NIH Comprehensive Cancer Center (for over thirty years). The medical center also has major referral populations in red cell diseases (especially hemoglobinopathies and membrane disorders) and coagulopathies. It includes a large obstetrical population and a major integrated Children's Hospital. Hematology patients are cared for by a multidisciplinary team including internal medicine hematologist-oncologists, surgeons, radiation therapists, and, prominently, hematopathologists. Advanced diagnostic procedures (complex molecular diagnostics, flow cytometry, image analysis, cytogenetics) are routinely well-integrated into patient care.
The VA Connecticut Healthcare System (VA-CT), primarily based in West Haven, CT but also providing all anatomic and clinical pathology services for major additional facilities in Newington, CT and for a series of outpatient clinics located around the state and into Massachusetts, provides 20% of the training to the fellow. The VA-CT, a major teaching hospital of YSM, has a very active hematology-oncology service and a consequent active hematopathology service led by a board-certified hematopathologist. The VA experience provides the fellow, not only with additional material for study, but also with important additional management experience in a smaller laboratory setting and in a setting of more extensive AP/CP integration into a regional (New England) coordinated government health care system (the New England "VISN"). The VA provides some services for all the other hospitals in the system and receives services from other facilities in the system.
Apply
Note that you may also use the standardized CAP fellowship application as a replacement for our application if you prefer. In that case, please be sure to include all the requested information on our application form (e.g., statement of your interest in hematopathology) in an appropriate place on the CAP form, as well as the additional data requested by the CAP form itself.
For foreign medical graduates, please also include a copy of your ECFMG with your application materials.
In addition to the application form, please send a CV, statement of your interest in hematopathology and have letters of reference forwarded by three individuals - one of those letters should be from the Chair or the residency director of your prior training program.
Applicants should, in general, be board eligible in CP, AP or AP/CP by the time of their fellowship. Since the American Board of Pathology will also certify individuals in Hematopathology who have previously been certified in the Internal Medicine/Hematology subspecialty by the American Board of Internal Medicine or the American Board of Pediatrics, such individuals are also encouraged to apply to this Hematopathology program.
Inquiries and applications should be made electronically to:
- June Fisher, Fellowship Coordinator, june.fisher@yale.edu
- Alexa Siddon MD, Hematopathology Fellowship Director, alexa.siddon@Yale.edu