Pathology-Anatomic & Clinical Residency Program

Pathology-Anatomic & Clinical Residency Program At Danbury Hospital

"Welcome to the Department of Pathology here at Danbury Hospital.

Our program is a small family oriented community based program with 8 residents in total with faculty that are dedicated to teaching, mentoring and committed to supporting our residents well-being.

Danbury Hospital is a 456-bed acute care facility and university teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Vermont College of Medicine and recently joined Northwell, one of the largest health systems in the Northeast.

Our residents have the benefit of training in an integrated department with an integrated AP/CP curriculum. We offer strong academics and see a wide variety of cases.   We provide residents the opportunity to participate in patient care, teaching rounds, and conferences.   Residents will rotate in subspecialty rotations for Pediatrics, Neuropathology and Renal pathology at Yale New Haven Hospital, forensic pathology and toxicology at the Office of the Medical Examiner in Farmington and Blood Bank/Transfusion Medicine at Yale School of Laboratory Medicine. The residents also are offered elective months to choose a subspecialty of interest in a hospital of their choice. Our residents have consistently acquired one or more fellowships throughout the country."

Ramapriya Vidhun, MD
Residency Program Director

About

The Danbury Hospital Pathology Residency program was established on April 27, 1955 and was the first residency program at Danbury Hospital. The program still enjoys continued accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).  It is currently one of only three pathology residencies in the State of Connecticut. Danbury Hospital shares that privilege with Yale University and Hartford Hospital. Our program has a combined four-year anatomic and clinical pathology residency. The goal of the program has been to graduate pathologists and laboratory directors with superior technical competence, clinical acumen, and intellectual depth. The program acts as a focal point by drawing prospective residency applicants and attending physicians seeking a hybrid of academic medicine and community-based practice. The system chairman of the pathology and laboratory medicine service line is Daniel Cruser, MD. Dr. Cruser began his position here on the Danbury campus on October 1, 2020.

Program Structure

Anatomic Pathology Curriculum

The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Danbury Hospital provides a well-integrated training program in Anatomical Pathology that includes:

• Orientation in Clinical and Anatomical Pathology (8 weeks combined)
• Autopsy pathology
• Surgical pathology
• Cytology – 3 months (2 months PGY3 – 1 month PGY4)
• Forensic pathology (1 month)
• Anatomical Pathology HOT SEAT (PGY4) – 2 month

Opportunity to rotate at Yale University, Elective Rotation, Western Connecticut Research Lab (mandatory Research rotation), and the Office of the Medical Examiner is included in the curriculum.

Autopsy Pathology Education

This aspect of the anatomic pathology education is accomplished by providing hands-on experience in all aspects of autopsy pathology, combined with gross pathology lectures and case presentations at the multiheaded scope. The residents mostly perform autopsies during their PGY1 and PGY2 years.

They also have a dedicated one month OCME/Autopsy rotation during their PGY2 year. We send our residents to Norwalk Hospital to perform autopsies so the resident can acquire the 30 required autopsies in their residencies and to give them a rounded Autopsy experience between the two hospitals. We work hand in hand with Norwalk hospital for our residents to attain the adequate autopsy numbers.

The program facilitates the autopsy number requirements by combining the number of hospital-based autopsies, which approximately fifty (50) cases a year and a mandatory forensic pathology rotation at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Connecticut. At the time that our residents graduate from the program, they have met their required numbers for ACGME/ABPath.

Pediatric Pathology Education

Pediatric Pathology education is covered by faculty lectures and case presentations. Over the period of four years, the lectures cover all aspects of pediatric pathology, including surgical and autopsy pathology provided by Yale faculty during the Peds/Neuro/Renal rotation. Pediatric autopsy cases at our institution are performed by our residents under the guidance of the attending pathologists; microscopic review of fetal autopsy and placentas are performed in a timely manner.  The Pediatric Pathology Rotation is performed at Yale University as a required rotation.  There are also didactic lectures provided by Yale faculty through their four years of training.

We also have a pediatric pathology faculty from Yale University.  The faculty presents interesting and unusual cases from their institution.  The resident also has a mandatory rotation at Yale for Peds/Neuro/Renal for one month in their PGY4 year.

Neuropathology Education

During the Required Elective rotation at Yale, two of the four week rotation are dedicated to Neuropathology. Residents’ education in the field of neuropathology is comprised of a combination of surgical cases, Autopsy cases, and academic lectures given by our faculty at Danbury Hospital, faculty from the Yale Department of Pathology and The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME).

Anatomical Pathology Schedule – 24 Months

• Surgical Pathology – 18 months (with two months of Hot Seat in the PGY4 year to prepare for fellowships and future employment)
• Cytology – 3 months
• Anatomical Pathology Orientation – 6 weeks
• OCME – 1 month

Clinical Pathology Curriculum

Clinical pathology (CP) training at Danbury Hospital requires rotation to all clinical departments. Residents attend formal lectures given by physicians and managers of the departments and interact daily with the clinicians to gain experience in the application of laboratory data to pertinent clinical problems.

In the second year of the rotation, the resident assumes more teaching, administrative, and clinical responsibilities and has the opportunity to conduct an in-depth research project.

General Clinical Pathology Training Requirements

Residents who want to be board-certified from a combined anatomic/clinical pathology (AP/CP) residency training program must complete a minimum of 18 months of CP training according to the American Board of Pathology guidelines

Residents who desire to be board-certified in clinical pathology only must complete a minimum of three years of CP training.

During the four-year residency, the CP training will consist of a core curriculum where laboratory rotations are divided between the major disciplines of clinical pathology, including:

• Microbiology
• Chemistry
• Hematopathology
• Blood Banking
• Immunology
• Cytogenetics
• Lab Management
• Coagulation
• Molecular
• Informatics – 4 weeks (incorporated in Laboratory Management rotation)

In these rotations, the resident is to become acquainted with the following aspects of every procedure covered:

• Principles
• Methodology
• Interpretation
• Quality control

After completion of the core curriculum, the subsequent year(s) of CP training will be individually tailored to allow the residents to focus in on particular areas of interest, as well as enable him or her to participate in an in-depth research project.

Clinical Pathology Schedule – 19 months

• Clinical Orientation – 1 month
• Chemistry – 3 months
• Hematopathology – 3 months
• Cytogenetics – 1 month
• Molecular – 1 month
• Lab Management – 1 month
• Blood Bank – 2 months
• Coagulation – 1 month
• Immunology – 1 month
• Microbiology – 3 months

Miscellaneous Rotations -5 months

• Elective – 2 months
• Peds/Neuro (required) – 1 month (Yale)
• Research – 1 month
• Comprehensive (PGY4) – 1 month

How to Apply

The Danbury Hospital Pathology Residency Program participates in the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP). We only accept applications and supporting documents through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). We look for candidates with excellent academic performance and a strong interest in pursuing pathology as the next step in their career. A complete application package should contain the following:

• ERAS Common Application Form (CAF)
• Personal Statement (1-2 pages)
• Official Medical School Transcripts
• Medical Student Performance Evaluation (Dean’s Letter)
• Three Letters of Reference/Recommendation – from faculty members, mentors, or supervisors who can address your performance and your commitment to the study of pathology
• Official copy of your United States Medical Licensing Examination scores
• Curriculum Vitae
• Current Photograph
• For documents that are not in English, include a translation by a qualified translator and an affidavit of accuracy acceptable to the hospital.

If you are an International Medical Graduate, we require:

• Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) Status Certificate (not Status Report)
• Visa Status

The Danbury Hospital Pathology Residency Program accepts foreign national physicians who meet the Danbury Hospital Eligibility and Selection requirements into its ACGME-accredited residency and fellowship programs. We welcome International Medical Graduates to apply to our residencies and will sponsor applicants for an H1-B visa.