About the Program
Next Opening: July 2028
Number of Positions: 1
Length: 1 year
We offer a one-year accredited Dermatopathology (Multidisciplinary) Fellowship sponsored jointly by the Departments of Pathology and Dermatology at Baylor College of Medicine. The fellowship is designed to provide intensive training in dermatopathology for board certified or board eligible graduates of pathology or dermatology programs. The Baylor Dermatopathology Laboratory accessions specimens from over 7,000 patients a year. We receive consultations from Baylor-affiliated groups spread out over Texas, as well as from Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, Ben Taub Hospital, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, and Texas Children’s Hospital, providing training in a wide spectrum of diverse dermatopathology.
Stipends and Benefits
Visit the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences page on stipends and benefits for fellows.
Admissions
M.D., D.O.; Board certified/eligible in either Anatomic Pathology (or Anatomic Pathology/Clinical Pathology) or Dermatology.
The program uses an online application system which includes the following:
- Completed online House Staff Application
- Medical school dean's letter
- Medical school transcript
- Three letters of recommendation (one from residency program director)
- Curriculum vitae
- Personal statement
- Copy of USMLE or COMLEX score report
- Photograph
All application materials, including recommendation letters, must be submitted online.
Letters of Recommendation can be addressed to:
Dr. Hafeez Diwan C/O Yvetter Boney
One Baylor Plaza,
Suite 213B
Houston, TX 77030
Curriculum
For pathology trainees in the program, mornings are spent signing out dermatopathology cases, and afternoons are spent in the dermatology clinics (for 8 out of 12 months). For dermatology trainees who are in the program, mornings are spent signing out dermatopathology cases, and afternoons are spent training in anatomic pathology (for 8 out of 12 months). For 4 months, trainees spend the entirety of their time in dermatopathology. The year is structured so that trainees can maintain continuity with the dermatopathology service.
Cases are signed out by the dermatopathology fellow (who previews the cases) and the attending dermatopathologists. The fellow also has access to the dermatopathology material from the Baylor teaching hospitals within the Texas Medical Center area as well as from the many community hospitals in Texas whose pathology departments are run by full-time Baylor Department of Pathology & Immunology faculty members. These additional dermatopathology cases total over 10,000. See faculty lists on the Department of Pathology & Immunology and the Department of Dermatology sites. Experience in the techniques of immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, electron microscopy, as they pertain to dermatopathology is provided.
Trainees having completed pathology programs will be expected to attend and participate in all of the dermatology conferences. Conversely, trainees coming out of dermatology residency programs will be expected to attend relevant Department of Pathology & Immunology conferences and selected Department of Dermatology conferences. The fellow will present some didactic sessions, but this responsibility is not onerous.
The fellow will have the opportunity to participate in city-wide conferences in which both patients and interesting dermatopathologic cases are presented. Graduated responsibility in dermatopathology will be provided predominantly throughout the experience at Ben Taub Hospital, part of the Harris Health System. Some training in laboratory management is also provided.
The fellow will be expected to participate in an investigative project which may be clinically-oriented or more basic research. There are numerous opportunities with any of the members of the departments of Pathology & Immunology and Dermatology.
Life in Houston
Houston, the nation's fourth largest and most diverse city, offers all the benefits of a big city at a significantly lower cost of living than other major cities.