Dear Dr. Frohman:

The pathology residency programs at Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University are designed to provide top notch training to excellent young pathologists regardless of their ultimate career goals. The purpose of this letter is to highlight one track in our pathology residency program geared to train MD/PhD students who want an academic pathology career, with clinical responsibilities, that predominately focuses on basic science research. The purpose of the Research Track is to prepare the next generation of physician scientists to run R01-supported research labs with a unique perspective that is guided by a thorough understanding of the molecular and morphological basis of disease. The Research Track at Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University couples superior clinical education in either anatomic pathology (AP) or clinical pathology/laboratory medicine (CP) with basic science post-doctoral fellowships at any of the 400+ laboratories at the Washington University School of Medicine or in laboratories at the Washington University Danforth (Main) Campus. Within the Department of Pathology alone, there are 31 NIH-funded research laboratories, many run by principal investigators themselves trained in pathology. Research Track residents typically join a post-doctoral lab after completing two years of core residency training and 6 months of clinical electives. Salary support for research time (supplemented to the PGY residency salary level) is guaranteed by the Department for two years, although nearly all Research Track residents quickly win extramural, post-doctoral fellowship grants.

We are proud of the Research Track in pathology at Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University. Our graduates are well positioned in major medical centers across the country and are moving our field forward. We would be pleased to entertain applications from MD/PhD students from the State University of New York/Stony Brook who are serious about a career in basic science as well as clinical medicine. Additional information is at: http://pathology.wustl.edu/training/anatomicresearch.php (AP) and http://pathimmuno.wustl.edu/divisions/labmed/index.php (CP).

I’d be happy to talk with you personally about our program or any promising applicants you have. I can be reached at jmills@wustl.edu, 314-362-4213.

Sincerely,

Jason C. Mills, M.D., Ph.D.
Director Research Track Recruitment

Phyllis Huettner, M.D.
Director, Pathology Training Program