Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Education in Pathology

Academic faculty shoulder the responsibility to provide a learning experience for students and residents that will catapult them into the professional arena as well-trained, knowledgeable, inquiring medical graduates and competent, compassionate, intellectually mature physicians. Pathology faculty have direct interactions with medical students at all levels and are significantly involved with curriculum development and oversight.

The Graduate Medical Education program in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology hosts 16 residents and seven fellows, four in ACGME-accredited fellowships. Trainees participate in all activities within the department, obtaining requisite competencies through graduated responsibilities, as they progress towards their career goal of becoming competent diagnosticians and independent pathologists. Success is defined by a high pass rate on the American Board of Pathology examinations as well as placement of the department's residents into some of the most prestigious fellowship programs around the country.

The department also hosts a Medical Laboratory Scientist training program, which will graduate 10 trainees this year. With an intensive one-year-long didactic and bench-based program, graduates are ready to take on new positions in the medical laboratory.

We hope this brief introduction to the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine has sparked your interest and you will continue to explore our website and the field of Pathology. Come and visit us to get a firsthand look at our department and meet with our faculty, staff and trainees. We welcome the opportunity to meet and to discuss your interests and future academic endeavors.

Research in Pathology

The Pathology department boasts approximately $4.2 million in federal funding this past fiscal year. Partnerships with industry exceed $2.4 million in clinical trials and research activities. Charitable foundations and other entities have funded around $967,767 in research dollars. Faculty in the department are engaged as co-investigators in partnerships throughout the College of Medicine that exceed $10,311,907 in both federally and privately funded grants and clinical trials.

Broadly speaking, research focus has included cancer biology, digital imaging and computational biology. Specific projects include tumor microenvironment and immunopathology in urologic cancers, NSCLC as well as head and neck cancers.

Additionally, investigations are directed at the microbiome, papillomavirus and neurodegenerative disorders. Clinical faculty and residents are also engaged in correlative and translational research, providing multiple research opportunities for medical student and residents.

Clinical Care in Pathology

The department is organized into divisions of Anatomic Pathology, Clinical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Experimental Pathology, providing services at Penn State Health Milton S Hershey Medical Center, Penn State Cancer Institute and Penn State Children’s Hospital. Additionally, the department provides pathology services to Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center in Reading and Lancaster Medical Center; the laboratories at Penn State Medical Group at State College and Lime Spring; and contracted medical directorship to UPMC Lititz Hospital.

The department has a total of 66 faculty in AP, CP and EP along with 11 joint appointment faculty including dermatopathology, and 11 emeritus faculty. Approximately 5 million clinical laboratory tests, 45,000 surgical specimens, 1,000 bone marrows and about 5,000 cytology specimens are processed annually. With specialty trained experts in almost every area of anatomic and clinical pathology, the department provides timely and accurate diagnostic and consultative services, facilitating key clinical decisions. The department is expanding to include a section of Cytogenetics and Molecular Pathology as well implementation of whole slide imaging / digital pathology.