Surgical Pathology Fellowship

Overview

We offer a one-year accredited fellowship in surgical pathology that provides advanced, focused, and intensive training in diagnostic surgical pathology.

Specific rotations include: "hot seat", frozen section, sign out of consultation material by subspecialty (including immunohistochemistry and other special diagnostic techniques), junior attending and elective time.

Selective/elective time may be designed to pursue additional training in subspecialty areas of pathology (gynecologic, soft tissue, breast, gastrointestinal, renal, cardiopulmonary,genitourinary, pediatric, head & neck, transplantation), or other areas including molecular pathology, dermatopathology, cytopathology, hematopathology, and/or research.

Fellows participate in departmental and interdepartmental conferences, as well as medical student and resident teaching. Fellows share night/weekend call for surgical pathology.

Departmental resources and support are available for clinicopathologic and translational research projects.

Stanford establishes PGY levels for new fellows based on the successful completion of all prerequisite training required for entry into your fellowship program. Stanford does not recognize additional training beyond the prerequisite training requirements when establishing the PGY level for entry into the program.

Michael Ozawa, MD, PhD

Clinical Assistant Professor of Pathology (Surgical Pathology)
Medical Director of Clinical Laboratory, South Bay Cancer Center
Director, Surgical Pathology Fellowship Program

Foreign Students & Visa Sponsorship

Canadian Visa Requirements

Graduates of Canadian medical schools will be placed on ECFMG sponsored J-1 visas. They are not required to take the qualifying examinations such as FMGEMS, NBME, and USMLE in order to obtain their visas.

Note: At this time, the government of Canada is restricting approval of physicians wishing to obtain clinical training outside Canada. SHC is unable to obtain a J-1 visa without the consent of the Canadian government.

Non-Canadian Visa Requirements

All trainees in residency and clinical fellowship programs will be placed on ECFMG sponsored J-1 visas.

Stanford Hospital and Clinics (SHC) does not sponsor such trainees for the H-1B visa. ECFMG requires a valid ECFMG certificate obtained by successful completion of their qualifying examinations (VQE, FMGEMS, NBME, or USMLE) coupled with the appropriate English language examination to be eligible for a visa.

Allow 120 working days for ECFMG to process an initial visa.

For further information, please contact:
Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates
3624 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-2685 
T: [215] 386-5900

California Medical License

California law states that all U.S. and Canadian graduates are required to obtain a California medical license before starting a fellowship at Stanford. 

If you have any questions please visit the Stanford Medicine Graduate Medical Education (GME) and/or the California Medical Board website for more information.

Applying

We are proudly participating in the Unified Approach and Common Timeline for surgical pathology and surgical pathology subspecialty fellowship recruitment.

For more information on the Surgical Pathology Unified Approach visit: https://apc.memberclicks.net/surgpath-recruitment-page. This page has the Unified Approach Guidelines for 2025-2026, Code of Conduct, FAQs, and tips for applicants.

Important Dates:

  • July 3, 2023: We will be begin reviewing files
  • August 14, 2023: Start of interviews for 2025-2026 positions (All interviews will be virtual)
  • October 2, 2023: First day offers will be made for 2025-2026 positions


To apply, please send the CAP Standardized Application Form with supplemental  (available for download below), Updated CV, Cover letter and/or personal statement, 3 letters of recommendation via email (pdf preferred) to:

Thelma Santa Maria

E: santamaria@stanford.edu
T: [650] 498-4987


Fellowship Director

Michael Ozawa, MD, PhD

Clinical Assistant Professor of Pathology (Surgical Pathology)
Medical Director of Clinical Laboratory, South Bay Cancer Center
Director, Surgical Pathology Fellowship Program

Questions or enquiries please contact:

Ashley Camacho Amponsah

Residency and Fellowship Manager
E: aca19@stanford.edu
T: [650] 498-4660

Markell Stine

Residency Fellowship Program Coordinator
E:
markell@stanford.edu
T: [650] 497-6371

Current Fellows 2023-2024

Rabia Bhalli, MD
Medical School: Army Medical College, Pakistan
Residency:  George Washington University Hospital

Tyler Jankowski, DO
Medical School: Kansas City University of Medicine, Kansas City
Residency: University of California, San Francisco

Andrea Krajisnik, MD
Medical School: University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson
Residency: Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles

Susan K. Potterveld, DO
Medical School: Des Moines University, Des Moines
Residency: University of Colorado, Aurora

Brandon Say, MD
Medical School: Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston- Salem
Residency:  Stanford Medicine, Department of Pathology

Joanna Solarewicz, DO
Medical School: A.T. Still University, Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine
Residency: Rush University Medical Center

Seena Tabibi, MD
Medical School: Southern Illinois University, Springfield
Residency: Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore

Incoming Fellows 2024-2025

Haijuan Gao, MD
Medical School: Xi’an Jiaotong Univeristy, College of Medicine, China
Residency: University of California, Irvine

Lap K. Huynh, MD
Medical School: David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles
Residency: Stanford Medicine, Department of Pathology

Tiffany Lee, DO
Medical School: West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine
Residency: Los Angeles County + University of Southern California Medical Center

Veronica V. Nicholas, DO
Medical School: Western University of Health Sciences
Residency: Stanford Medicine, Department of Pathology

Visesh I. Ravikumar, MD
Medical School: University of Nevada, School of Medicine, Reno
Residency: University of Colorado, Aurora

Cooper D. Rutland, MD
Medical School: Medical University of South Carolina, College of Medicine, Charleston
Residency: Stanford Medicine, Department of Pathology

Gisele Toumi, MD
Medical School: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison
Residency: Stanford Medicine, Department of Pathology
 

Previous Fellows