Welcome to the Pathology Program
From the Chief Residents
Welcome to our pathology residency program at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine! We like to consider our program as a hidden gem in the heart of America. We are a smaller program, averaging two residents per year. This enables us to develop a strong work ethic and solid relationships with our attendings, fellow residents, ancillary staff as we all work very closely together. Our attendings have an open-door policy and all of them are easily approachable and make our learning a positive experience. Our program directorship is very proactive in seeking feedback including suggestions for improvement, and all the attendings aim to make each trainee a successful pathologist in whichever capacity we plan to practice.
Our program offers a robust and practical education in preparing trainees for practice outside of residency. We approximate 50,000 surgical cases a year with a wide variety of specimens, including pediatric, head and neck, breast, gastrointestinal, liver, GU, gynecologic, dermatopathology, hematopathology, and cytopathology. We are a reference center for many of the small surrounding communities, which contributes to our great variety of cases. The county medical examiner’s office is on site, making access to forensic autopsies easier and turning forensic pathology into one of the programs many strengths. Special interests in pathology are encouraged here, and the attending pathologists are happy to guide our education based on the residents’ individual interests. As trainees, we develop confidence and competence as we progress through graduated responsibilities and take increasingly prominent roles in the care of our patients. We present at multidisciplinary conferences including breast/gynecologic, lung, gastrointestinal, head and neck, and hematopathology tumor board conferences. Our “hot seat” rotation provides exposure to frozen sections, helps develop communication skills with surgeons and other physicians, and advances our time management and critical thinking skills. In essence, our program prepares us for real world practice.
Starting in the beginning of the year, didactic lectures focus on reviewing normal histology and are led by attendings and fellow residents. Throughout the remainder of the year, our faculty lectures progress through the different anatomic systems with correlating clinical pathology topics. Our attendings frequently allow for resident input on lecture topics and ask for feedback. Recently (in 2023) we established our first fellowship in surgical pathology. This has proven to be a benefit as the fellow participates in offering didactic lectures and answering questions about navigating board exams and future employment. We have been fortunate to coordinate hematology lectures with the Sanford pharmacy residency which has strengthened our clinical pathology education and provided new insight into patient care. We help provide lectures for the Medical Laboratory Science program each year at Sanford which fosters our teaching skills in addition to reinforcing our own knowledge. We frequently have opportunities to teach rotating medical students more about pathology and there are ample opportunities to author case reports and participate in research projects.
The residency program is invested in our education, career interests, and wellbeing. It covers the expense of attending one national meeting per year if a resident is presenting a poster or abstract. Additionally, the program provides capped expense coverage for one national meeting during training at which a resident does not have a poster or abstract to present. We have an annual book fund that residents can choose to use on books, electronics, or board examination fees. We have a continually growing library of pathology textbooks in our office, and additional pathology textbooks provided online through the Wegner Health Science Library. Each resident is given access to ExpertPath and PathPrimer which are indispensable resources throughout training. The GME organizes social events for all the residency programs over the year including catered picnics, tickets to apple picking/fall festival, bowling, and (our personal favorite) the Residency Quiz Bowl. During the quiz bowl, we compete in teams against the other local residency programs for bonus educational allowance and to have our program engraved on the coveted residency quiz champion trophy. These are great ways to better get to know your fellow residents and their families, socialize, and eat delicious food.
As residents, we encourage teamwork – not just to get the work done – but more importantly to help each other learn and succeed. We have great camaraderie both in and outside of work. Being a small but robust program, we have strived to develop a team-oriented atmosphere and we work to create a healthy learning environment. Our goal is to make this an instrumental and enjoyable launching point for our careers, and we encourage you to come and see our program for yourself!