The residency program at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is designed to train pathologists for either community hospital practice or for academic careers. About half of those who have finished our program are in academic institutions, the rest in community hospitals. The two training programs are not completely separate because some residents who plan to practice in community hospitals want some research experience, while most residents who plan academic or research careers want the security of pathology board qualifications in either anatomic or clinical pathology. For these reasons, the training program is individualized on a year-by-year basis for each resident. This individualized approach also makes it possible for residents to make changes in their training programs if their professional goals change.
Residencies are offered in Anatomic and/or Clinical Pathology. The combined Anatomic/Clinical Pathology residency consists of 24 months each of basic required and elective rotations in both Anatomic and Clinical Pathology.
Residents receive graduated responsibility in the Anatomic, Clinical Pathology, and research training programs. The Clinical Pathology training program has been progressively changed in recent years to emphasize skills that are particularly in demand in community hospitals. These include expertise in the ordering and interpretation of clinical laboratory findings, the analysis of laboratory use by individual and groups of physicians for effectiveness and cost, the use of computers for many purposes, communication with clinicians, and clinical decision analysis. Emphasis is also placed on the analysis of individual patient problems so that those who finish the training program can act as clinical consultants in their daily practice. The Anatomic and Clinical Pathology training programs include both formal and informal training in many different management skills. Efforts are also made to develop residents' formal and informal teaching skills because much of the effectiveness of the pathologist in the academic institution and in the community hospital depends on his or her ability to "teach" other physicians, hospital administrators, and other health-care personnel.
Our program at Penn State Hershey is intentionally small so that each resident can have sustained and close contact with our faculty members. Faculty members have been selected because they have a prime commitment and expertise in the service or research area they supervise.
