Pathologist Education Residency Programs

Overview

Welcome to the Cleveland Clinic Pathology Residency Program!

The Cleveland Clinic Pathology Residency Program’s overall mission is to train a well-rounded pathologist who can act as an effective diagnostician and clinical consultant, is able to critically assess the medical literature and research, and is qualified to practice independently in any setting.

To accomplish these goals our program offers a wealth of clinical material, an outstanding subspecialty faculty and up-to-date facilities in a structured, but flexible educational environment in order to prepare residents to obtain certification by the American Board of Pathology. Core rotations in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology are augmented by elective opportunities that encourage development of subspecialty expertise. Many research opportunities are available, and residents are encouraged to contribute. We strive to maintain an educational and working environment which is optimal for learning, high-quality patient care, and well-being of all employees and physicians.

We invite you to explore more about the Cleveland Clinic, our training program and living in Cleveland.

Hear in this video what current residents have to say about training at Cleveland Clinic.

Deborah Chute, MD
Director, Pathology Residency Program

Gloria Lewis, MD
Associate Program Director, Anatomic Pathology

Karl Theil, MD
Associate Program Director, Clinical Pathology

Program Structure

The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Cleveland Clinic offers a four-year anatomic and clinical pathology (AP/CP) training program designed to provide its graduates an exceptional education and foundation in pathology. The world of pathology is constantly changing as new knowledge, technology and clinical treatment paradigms evolve. Our program is designed to train residents to be prepared for the changing needs of future pathologists in practice.

Residents in our AP/CP residency program rotate in anatomic pathology rotations during the first year, and clinical pathology rotations during the second year. This allows residents to focus on and gain confidence and mastery in one discipline each year. The third year emphasizes anatomic pathology rotations, but includes several elective rotations. The fourth year is a combination of clinical pathology rotations and elective time; electives are designed so that residents can select anatomic or clinical rotations that will best augment their knowledge and help prepare them for the board examination and clinical practice.

Residents interact one-on-one with world-renowned faculty in each subspecialty area. Faculty members are nationally and internationally sought after speakers who are collaborating on research that is changing the field of pathology. Many of our faculty author and edit highly respected pathology textbooks and journals. Residents learn in this highly academic environment, as well as develop mentor-mentee relationships and engage in research opportunities.

To better understand the structure of our training program, please follow the links below.

Resident Resources

The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine is committed to providing residents all the financial and educational resources needed to succeed. For an up-to-date overview of resident salaries and benefits, please see the Graduate Medical Education website. Please see below for more detailed information about our department.

Learning Resources

Each resident receives an annual $1000 book allowance, which includes a subscription to ExpertPath, a comprehensive online resource on pathologic diagnosis provided by Elsevier as well as PathPrimer for all PGY4 residents to assist in board preparation. The department also provides a full physical and digital library of pathology-specific hard-copy textbooks, organized by subspecialty area and available in each signout room or the resident library for additional reading and reference. More than 250 textbooks are currently available for residents within the department library. New books are added as new editions and textbooks considered to be valuable by the faculty are released.

The Cleveland Clinic Alumni Library is located at Main Campus, and its mission is to support patient care, research and education for Cleveland Clinic caregivers by providing timely access to information, as well as teaching information management skills to help trainees keep pace with the rapidly evolving health sciences literature. This includes just under 9,000 hard-copy textbooks in medicine, nursing, and basic sciences, as well as an extensive collection of e-books (through OhioLINK: the OhioLINK catalog lists over 44 million items including books, periodicals, and audiovisual material) and other clinical tools (examples include UpToDate and Scopus).

Additional online learning resources provided to residents include a subscription to the American Society of Clinical Pathology’s Informatics University throughout all four years of training. During PGY3 and PGY4, all residents are also provided a subscription to ASCP’s Resident Question Bank, an online repository of more than 750 boards-style questions within a variety of AP and CP topics designed to assist in preparation for the American Board of Pathology exams, as well as ASCP’s Lab Management University, an online self-paced certificate program that includes more than 40 modules on leadership, personnel management, operations, financial management, informatics and compliance.

National Meetings

Attending national meetings is an important way to network, present research and learn about different aspects of our profession. Therefore our residents receive a meeting fund of $2,500 per meeting for up to two meetings per year in PGYs 2, 3, and 4 to present accepted abstracts at national meetings.

Spaces and Places

Our recently renovated educational space provides multiple conference rooms, huddle rooms, multiheaded microscopes for conferences and resident use, the educational administration offices, and a resident and fellow room. Each resident is provided with a permanent cubical with microscope, computer and storage space in the main education area on the first floor of Building L. In addition, extra workspaces are available for residents within most clinical laboratory areas when on the rotation (i.e. transfusion medicine, molecular diagnostics, etc).

Local Pathology Societies

Faculty and residents in our department are active participants in local and regional organizations. These are great ways to network with in-practice pathologists from many groups in the area.

The Ohio Society of Pathologists typically holds two meetings a year. These are frequently held in or near Columbus, Ohio, a short drive from Cleveland. Department faculty, who hold executive positions in the society, are frequent speakers at meetings. Membership and attendance at meetings are free for residents, and many of our former residents have held positions on committees and acted as delegates from the Ohio Society of Pathologists to the CAP.

Wellness

The Graduate Medical Education House Staff Association (HSA) of Cleveland Clinic works to promote the well-being, interests and education of all Cleveland Clinic residents and fellows. The HSA sponsors monthly events for residents and their families, as well as advocating on their behalf with the GME council and residency program administration. Recent highlights include monthly socials, year-end celebrations, hosting events including the “Welcome to Cleveland” Goodtime Cruise on Lake Erie, discounted tickets to see the musical Wicked at Playhouse Square, Cleveland Guardians games and a Cleveland Orchestra concert at Blossom Music Center.

Cleveland Clinic has an on-site fitness center and gym open seven days a week with a 20-meter heated swimming pool at the Walker Center. The facility is free for all residents and fellows under the Cleveland Clinic House staff Health Care Plan.

Recent Graduates

Pathology Residents 2024 — Recent graduates of Cleveland Clinic's Pathology Residency Program.

2023-2024 Graduates

Graduates	Medical School	Initial Post-Graduate Position	Current Position
Roshan Bhattarai, MBBS	Kathmandu University, Nepal	Genitourinary Pathology Fellow, Indiana University	Same
Bethany Burns, DO	Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, Erie, PA	Medical Microbiology Fellow, Cleveland Clinic	Same
Neha Khaitan, MD	Rajiv Gandhi University, India	Gastrointestinal Pathology Fellow, Cleveland Clinic	Same
Peter Mannion, MD	St. Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO	Hematopathology Fellow, Cleveland Clinic	Same
John McAfee, MD	Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, OH	Dermatopathology Fellow, Cleveland Clinic	Same
Michael Mertz, DO	Michigan State University College of Medicine, East Lansing, MI	General Surgical Pathology Fellow, University of Michigan	Same

2022-2023 Graduates

Graduates	Medical School	Initial Post-Graduate Position	Current Position
Salem Ashour, MBBS	Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan	Gastrointestinal Pathology Fellow, Cornell	Pathologist, Dallas, TX
Narendra Bhattarai, MBBS, MD	Tribhuvan University Institute of Medicine, Kirtipur, Nepal	Hematopathology Fellow, Cleveland Clinic	Pathologist, Rochester, NY
L. Ashley Duckworth, MD	Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, Dayton, OH	Breast Pathology Fellow, Cleveland Clinic	Pathologist, Naperville, IL
Derek Frew, DO	Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine - Carolinas Campus, Spartanburg, SC	Dermatopathology Fellow, Cleveland Clinic	Pathologist, Cincinnati, OH
Meredith Nichols, MD	University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC	Hematopathology Fellow, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA	Assistant Professor of Pathology, Cleveland Clinic
Celeste Santos Martins, MC	Universidad Central de Venezuela Escuela de Medicina Jose Maria Vargas, Caracas, Venezuela	Cardiac Pathology Fellow, Cleveland Clinic	Assistant Professor of Pathology, Cleveland Clinic
Mrinal Sarwate, MBBS, MD	Seth G.S. Medical College, Mumbai, India	Gastrointestinal Pathology Fellow, Cleveland Clinic	Assistant Professor of Pathology, Rush University, Chicago, IL

2021-2022 Graduates

Graduates	Medical School	Initial Post-Graduate Position	Current Position
Emad Ababneh, MBBS	Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan	Surgical Pathology Fellow, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA	Pathologist, Columbus, OH
Alexander Blank, MD	Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany	Forensic Pathology Fellow, Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office, Miami, FL	Forensic Pathologist, Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office, Miami, FL
Frido Bruehl, MD	University of Freiburg-Albert Ludwigs University, Breisgau, Germany	Hematopathology Fellow, Mayo Clinic	Pathologist, Columbus, OH
Eleanor Cook, MD	University of Toledo College of Medicine	GYN Pathology Fellow, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA	Cytopathology Fellow, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA
Lanisha Fuller, MD	Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany	Gastrointestinal Pathology Fellow, Cleveland Clinic	Pathologist, Miramar, FL
Jessica Robertson-Patera, MD	Northeast Ohio Medical University	Hematopathology Fellow, Cleveland Clinic	Pathologist, Columbus, OH
Anurag Sharma, MBBS, MD	Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Sciences, Gol Bazar, India	Dermatopathology Fellow, Cleveland Clinic	Assistant Professor, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada

2020-2021 Graduates

Graduates	Medical School	Initial Post-Graduate Position	Current Position
Ahmed Bakhshwin, MBBS	King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia	Gastrointestinal Pathology Fellow, Cleveland Clinic	Assistant Professor of Pathology, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Katelyn Korty, DO	University of North Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, Fort Worth, TX	Dermatopathology Fellow, Baylor Scott and White Health, Temple, TX	Pathologist, Temple, TX
Gabriel Oaxaca, MD	Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX	Dermatopathology Fellow, Cleveland Clinic	Pathologist, Houston, TX
Minqian Shen, MD	Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China	Gastrointestinal Pathology Fellow, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD	Pathologist, Lafayette, IN
Sindhu Shetty, MBBS, MD	K.S. Hedge Medical Academy, Karnataka, India	Women's Pathology Fellow, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI	Pathologist, Fargo, ND
Meryem Terzioglu, MD	Ondokuzmayis University, Samsun, Turkey	Hematopathology Fellow, Cleveland Clinic	Pathologist, AmeriPath, Shelton, CT

2019-2020 Graduates

Graduates	Medical School	Initial Post-Graduate Position	Current Position
Ryan Demkowicz, MD	Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, Chicago Medical School, Chicago, IL	Medical Microbiology Fellow, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN	Assistant Professor of Pathology, University of West Virginia, Morgantown, WV
Josephine Dermawan, MD, PhD	Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai, China	Bone and Soft Tissue Pathology Fellow, Cleveland Clinic	Associate Staff Pathologist, Cleveland Clinic
Haiyan Lu, MD, PhD	Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China	Gastrointestinal Pathology Fellow, Cleveland Clinic	Assistant Professor, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC
Aaron Novotny, DO	Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Parker, CO	Cytopathology Fellow, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO	Pathologist, Reno, NV
Andrea Pannunzio, MD	Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH	Full-time parenting	Full-time parenting
Matthew Thomas, MD	Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, East Lansing, MI	Cytopathology Fellow, Cleveland Clinic	Staff Pathologist, Great Lakes Pathologists
Joan Wang, MD, PhD	Zhejiang Medical University, Hangzhou, China	Hematopathology Fellow, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX	Associate Professor, University of Miami, Miami, FL
Longmei Zhao, MD, PhD	Nanjing Medical College, Nanjing, China	Women's Health Pathology Fellow, Cleveland Clinic	Pathologist, Phoenix, AZ

About Cleveland

Located in Ohio on America’s North Coast of Lake Erie, Cleveland is in the midst of a renaissance while retaining its old world charm. Its seventh place ranking in Times 2015 Best Food Cities in America shouldn’t come as a surprise, as it is home to world-famous chefs Michael Symon and Zach Bruell; a variety of cuisines; and Mitchell’s Homemade Ice Cream, a local favorite. Cleveland’s West Side (Edgewater, Ohio City, Tremont, etc.) and East Side (Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, University Circle, etc.) each has a character of its own. Cleveland Metroparks are great for recreation. To access downtown take the RTA and visit Tower City, Public Square and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, or enjoy a Cleveland Cavaliers, Guardians, or Browns game. TripAdvisor is a good resource for top attractions in Cleveland and check out The Best of Cleveland 2024. For family oriented info visit CuyahogaKids.

Learn more about living in Cleveland

What our residents have to say

"Even having lived in Cleveland for a short period of time so far, I can for sure say that Cleveland has something to offer for just about anyone. Whether you are into the quiet life of the suburbs or the busy streets of the city, whether you prefer a nice hike in nature or grabbing a beer at the brewery, whether you enjoy a chill afternoon in the park by the lake or prefer to party with your friends, you will be able to find all of those things in Cleveland. It's a matter of knowing when to squeeze all of it into your schedule!"
– Dr. Simon Moubarak, PGY2

"Cleveland is a wonderful and possibly one of the most underrated cities in the country! It feels big yet manageable. There are plenty of entertainment options and eateries and what is better, you really get to enjoy everything since the traffic is relatively light. That was a welcome change of pace for me, coming from a big city."
– Dr. Marcello Toscano, PGY3

"Cleveland keeps surprising me. The city has so much character – from busy downtown, multiple renowned museums and world-class theater productions of the Playhouse Square, to peaceful and serene walks in many of the city’s parks and beaches along the lake shore. It is large enough to always offer something to do or see, yet it is small enough that people are friendly and there is no need to fight the traffic."
– Dr. Ivan Ogloblin, PGY2

"I've really enjoyed my time in Cleveland so far. Being from a southern state, the cooler summer weather has been amazing, and am largely looking forward to experiencing seasons. I have been enamored with the vast amount of nature, from the sprawling trees to the easy accessibility to Lake Erie. Having chosen to live in a suburb, I'm enjoying the benefits of small-town life with quick access to city amenities, and have also been happy with the relatively light traffic and easy access to the hospital via the Opportunity Corridor."
– Dr. Shelbey Bauman, PGY3

"Cleveland has excellent landscapes for outdoor activities. I have had the chance to hike, bike, and swim while enjoying the nature."
– Dr. Paula Toro Castano, PGY4

"My favorite thing about living in Cleveland is the outstanding food and craft beer scene."
– Dr. Maximillian Weigelt, PGY4

"Cleveland is a nice city with a great cost of living. My fiancée and I are able to visit museums, go to the zoo, enjoy great restaurants, go to the beach, and hike on nearby nature trails without spending too much. It’s an affordable city with plenty to do in your free time."
– Dr. Peter Mannion, recent alumni

Application Information

All applications and supporting documents must be submitted through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). Deadline to apply is December 31. Applicants are encouraged to submit their application in September.

Required Documents (accepted via ERAS only):

Complete ERAS application
Medical school transcript
Personal Statement
Three Letters of Recommendation from faculty you have worked with directly and who have knowledge of your abilities and interest in pathology
Photo (preferred)
Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE)
USMLE and/or COMLEX scores
ECFMG Certificates (international medical school graduates)

Invitations to Interview

Each application is reviewed and assessed on its individual merits. All applicants selected to interview will be notified via ERAS e-mail along with detailed instructions for scheduling an interview date. The earliest date interview invitations will be released is Friday, October 18, 2024. Our program uses Thalamus to schedule and conduct virtual interviews.

Contact Us

Deborah Chute, MD
Program Director, Pathology Residency Program

For more information contact PathologyResidencyProgram@ccf.org.

Residency Program