Breast Pathology Fellowship at The Mount Sinai Hospital

The Breast Pathology Fellowship at The Mount Sinai Hospital is a one-year advanced fellowship that combines education, clinical, and research activities with excellent mentorship. The fellowship provides an invaluable opportunity to develop trasinees’ skill set as a diagnostic breast pathologist under the close supervision of experienced attending pathologists.

We provide comprehensive training in breast pathology to two fellows who have completed at least three years of training through an accredited anatomic pathology residency program or four years of combined anatomic and clinical pathology training. Our fellows receive in-depth clinical, research, and teaching experience that emphasizes a multidisciplinary approach to diagnosis and management of breast diseases. Our fellows go on to practice independently in academic and community hospital settings. In addition to the regular in-house breast biopsies and resection specimens, we have an active consult service run by Syed Hoda, MD, the editor of Rosen’s Breast Pathology, who brings extensive expertise and knowledge of breast pathology.

As part of the Department of Pathology’s Division of Breast Pathology, fellows work closely with the Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center’s Dubin Breast Center at The Mount Sinai Hospital, where patients access a full range of breast health services, including diagnostics, surgery, medical and radiation oncology, and post-treatment support. The Division sees approximately 9,000 breast cases every year, including 1,000 new cancer cases, 5,300 core biopsies, and about 700 cases from outside institutions for second opinions.

Our fellows achieve expertise in the field of breast pathology through a structured curriculum and responsibilities. Fellows gain clinical and teaching experience through:

  • Review and Signing Out of Cases: You review and dictate breast cases, including in-house, consult cases, and sign out cases with an attending on a daily basis.
  • Grossing: You participate in clinical service for up to three months during which you gross breast cases including lumpectomies, total mastectomies, nipple sparing mastectomies, needle-localized excisions, radiolabeled seed localized excisions, status post-neoadjuvant therapy cases, and cases with multifocal and multicentric tumors.
  • Intraoperative Consultations: You gain experience in intraoperative evaluation of sentinel lymph nodes and breast surgical specimens under close supervision of an attending.
  • Reporting of Biomarkers: You interpret and score the immunohistochemistry results of estrogen and progesterone receptors and HER-2/neu overexpression by signing out with the attending every day. You also train in interpreting fluorescence in situ hybridization results for HER-2/neu gene amplification and newer techniques including silver and chromogenic in-situ hybridization.
  • Teaching and Supervising: You teach and supervise residents in the grossing room, assist residents in formulating microscopic diagnosis, and deliver lectures and moderate slide conferences for house staff and medical students.
  • Multidisciplinary Case Conferences: Fellows present findings at multidisciplinary case management conferences.

Fellows have additional opportunities to work with experts in other subspecialties both within the Department of Pathology and in Breast Imaging, Surgical Oncology, Medical Oncology, and Radiation Oncology. We offer one-two week elective rotations during the fellowship year so fellows gain a better understanding of clinical and management implications of pathologic diagnosis and refine their skills using a multidisciplinary approach. This in turn provides multiple opportunities for collaborative projects in other subspecialty areas.

The Division of Breast Pathology conducts clinical, translational, and collaborative research to learn more about the biology and behavior of different types of breast cancers and associated high-risk lesions. You participate in at least one clinical-pathological or translational research project during the year and we encourage you to present your work at a major breast pathology meeting and/or USCAP meeting. In addition, the fellow can present their original abstracts on trainee research day with opportunity to win an award for the best paper/ poster.

We require that all fellows complete an accredited three-year Anatomic Pathology residency program or four years of combined anatomic and clinical pathology training prior to the program. Stipends are commensurate with your level of training.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis between July 1 and December 31 of the year before you would like to begin training. Send your application, including your curriculum vitae, personal statement, three letters of recommendation, and your United States Medical Licensing Examination transcript, to:

Scott Goldfarb
Fellowship Program Coordinator
Department of Pathology
Tel: 212-241-8465
Fax: 646-537-9681
scott.goldfarb@mssm.edu

Malini Harigopal, MD
Program Director, Breast Pathology Fellowship
Tel: 212-241-7459
Fax: 212-828-4188
malini.harigopal@mountsinai.org