Teaching & Research

Residents and fellows are expected to participate in the teaching activities of the pathology staff for the benefit of medical students at Case Western Reserve University/University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. These experiences consist of supervising histopathology laboratories and small group discussions. Additional optional teaching experiences are available through the School of Nursing and the School of Dentistry at Case Western Reserve University.

Residents are encouraged to buy reference books and educational materials and to attend scientific meetings. Monies for these materials are available through educational allowances.

Library Resources

Independent reading of relevant literature is required for residents at all levels of training. Residents have at their disposal modern computer equipment for internet access to relevant medical literature references. Excellent library facilities are available at the following libraries:

• Allen Memorial Library
• The Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Health Sciences Library
• The UH Cleveland Medical Center Core Library

Residents and fellows have full access to these libraries by agreements between UH Cleveland Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University. In addition to extensive bound volumes, the Case Western Reserve University Health Science Library and the UH Cleveland Medical Center Core Library each provide full online access to most of the relevant medical literature and medical literature search engines. The department maintains collections of many useful texts in the resident office areas for common use. Residents are expected to care for these books as if they are their own and may request new titles through the program director.

Research Electives

At any point in training, a resident may collaborate with a member of the staff to investigate a clinical or basic science topic, using spare time during regularly scheduled rotations.

Some residents may have a need for elective research rotations in which their main activity will be the investigation of a research question. Elective research rotations, whether clinical or experimental, should meet the following requirements:

• The project must have the approval of the program director.
• The project should have a mentor, a member of the pathology residency teaching staff or another individual approved by the residency program director who is willing to supervise the research activity of the resident and to provide written evaluations to the Anatomic and Clinical Pathology Residency Training Program. The intention of the mentor should be written in a memorandum to the residency training program director and should include the name and intention of the project, the specific role that the resident will play in the execution of the project, the time that the resident is invited to spend on the project and the willingness to provide written evaluations for the residency training program records.
• The proposed research elective must be compatible with the operating schedule of the Anatomic and Clinical Pathology Residency Training Program and should not compromise the ability of the resident to meet any prior obligation.
• The research project should require the active participation of the resident for the design of the study and the gathering and analysis of data.

In general, residents on research electives will be requested to participate in weekend and evening call schedules.