I completed both residency and fellowship in hematopathology at IU School of Medicine and both programs prepared me extremely well for my career in private practice pathology. I highly recommend pursuing training at IU School of Medicine!
The best part about residency training at IU was the exposure I had to such a wide variety of cases in anatomic pathology. As the primary academic medical center in the state of Indiana, trainees see numerous specimens from all areas of anatomic pathology and will feel well prepared to tackle almost any case that they come across. The anatomic pathology faculty are extremely knowledgeable and challenge you to make the most of your training by giving you a good balance of both one-on-one teaching time and independence during sign out as your training progresses.
I also appreciated the various learning environments that the residency at IU provided. It was great to work not only at the main academic center but also at the public hospital, veterans hospital, children's hospital, and smaller hospitals with a more private practice type setting. This added to the variety of specimens I saw and also showed me different ways that pathology labs can be run.
The clinical pathology training at IU was also excellent with fabulous faculty who were personable and wanted to see you succeed. The faculty found ways to keep residents actively involved when on CP rotations and gave excellent lectures.
Overall, I felt very well prepared to take on my first job in private practice pathology from both an anatomic pathology perspective signing out surgical cases, and also from a clinical pathology perspective as both a lab director at a small community hospital and also a director over hematology and coagulation at our main lab. I look back on my residency and fellowship training at Indiana University fondly!
Rasha Salama, MD
Right after pathology residency and one year of cytopathology fellowship at Indiana University School of Medicine, I started practice at a large community hospital in the greater Cincinnati, OH area, serving the neighboring northern Kentucky area. Our hospital has a large cancer center that opened its doors two years ago. I can not emphasize enough how my exposure to a variety of complicated cases during training helped me navigate my new practice and made me more efficient. The pathology residency offered both academic and community settings, strong faculty expertise, and an excellent new facility with private cubicle and microscope which served like my second home for 5 years and a wide selections of almost all pathology fellowships to choose from.
My husband and I miss the time when we lived in downtown Indy and walked to work and between different hospitals. Indianapolis is a very clean, safe and friendly city to walk/bike with new restaurants popping up and recurring fun events.
I look back at my time at IU School of Medicine with great appreciation for the people who taught me, propelled me, critiqued me and ultimately helped make me the pathologist I am right now.
Nichole Landry LePage, MD
As a former resident and fellow of Indiana University School of Medicine I highly recommend the training program to interested applicants. The integrated curriculum allows exposure to the diversity of subspecialities beginning day one. It allows training pathologists to experience the complete breadth of what the specialty has to offer as well as reinforce difficult aspects and disease etiologies from many vantage points. It was due to this early exposure to CP subspecialities that I discovered my interest in transfusion medicine.
Indiana University Pathology Laboratory is nestled between five major hospitals and has the privilege of aiding in the diagnosis and treatment of people all over the state of Indiana. Due to the consult of the practicing pathologists, a wide variety of challenging diagnoses from across the nation and sometimes around the globe are seen by the trainees. The reinforcement of routine diagnoses with weekly if not daily additions of rare specimens and interesting findings builds an excellent collective experience for residency education. This in combination with the opportunity to practice in a range of settings each with a distinct patient population allows trainees to understand what to expect when they take their first post-residency position.
Most of all, I recommend IU School of Medicine because of the people. The educators who are passionate about what they teach and who work just as hard as you do to make sure you succeed are what make this program great. They are the reason I chose Indiana for my residency and now as a new faculty member myself I strive to be just like them, the best educator I can be.
Xin Zhang, MD
I completed my 2nd through 4th year AP/CP residency at IU School of Medicine. After finishing my Forensic Pathology fellowship training at the Cook County Medical Examiner Office, I am very happy that I am now back here working as a faculty. The Pathology Residency program is a great program that values diversity and personal development! People respect each other. The program supported my academic interests and did its best to create opportunities for my career development.
Thanks to my solid training from both the hospital systems and the Marion County Coroner’s Office, the affiliated Forensic Pathology training site, my transition from a resident to a fellow was very smooth. Getting trained at IU School of Medicine is one of the best decisions I have made. I strongly recommend the Pathology Residency program!
