Statement of Support for Subspecialty-Based Coordination of Fellowship Recruitment

Whereas:
• In every medical specialty except pathology, most or all fellowships participate in a
Match or Common Timeline;
• In most pathology subspecialties, a majority of programs have repeatedly expressed a
desire to participate in a Match and/or Common Timeline;
• A substantial majority (~85%) of trainees desire a standardized timeline for fellowship
recruitment, and a later timeline for fellowship recruitment;1, 2
• A substantial majority (~85%) of program directors indicate that applicants should be
able to interview at all programs that interest them before making a decision, and that
applicants should not be required to choose a fellowship before the end of their second
year of AP/CP residency;2
• Residents accepting offers from non-participating programs in 2023 were substantially
more likely to do so out of fear they would not get a better offer (31% vs. 5% of residents
accepting offers from participating programs);3
• Programs that desire to participate in a Common Timeline or Match process are harmed,
or perceive harm, by the early recruitment advantage of non-participating programs.2
Programs that inconsistently participate in either a Common Timeline or Match process
make both unsustainable;
• Trainees are a vulnerable group in the pathology community with limited ability to
effectively advocate for their own interests in the fellowship recruitment process without
real or perceived risk to their career development.

Therefore, the undersigned organization wishes to make it publicly known that:
• We support the ongoing efforts of subspecialty pathology fellowship groups to organize
pathology fellowship recruitment into Match or Common Timeline processes in the
interest of fairness and equity among trainees and programs.
• In subspecialties where the majority of programs support a Match or Common Timeline,
we strongly encourage program directors to participate in that effort in support of the
greater good.
• In a subspecialty that undertakes a Match or Common Timeline, programs that choose
not to participate are discouraged from asking for a commitment from any applicant
before the common date chosen by the subspecialty.

Signed By:

The Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists (ACLPS)
The American Board of Pathology (ABPath)
The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP)
The American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP)
The American Society of Cytopathology (ASC)
The Association for Academic Pathology (AAPath)
The Association for Pathology Informatics (API)
The Association of Directors of Anatomic and Subspecialty Pathology (ADASP)
The College of American Pathologists (CAP)
The Gastrointestinal Pathology Society (GIPS)
The National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME)
The Society for Hematopathology (SH)

References:
1. Herrmann AC, Hanau C, Karcher D, Miller DC, Murtha A, Sanders AE, Timmons C,
Kaul KL; a work group of the Association of Pathology Chairs' Graduate Medical
Education Committee. The pathology fellowship application crisis: The current state and
suggestions for remediation. Acad Pathol. 2022 Jun 25;9(1):100029. doi:
10.1016/j.acpath.2022.100029. PMID: 35782704; PMCID: PMC9240977.

2. Association for Academic Pathology Fellowship Directors Committee Survey, October
nal.pdf. Accessed September 29, 2024.

3. Association for Academic Pathology Fellowship Directors Committee Survey, October
2023, as presented at Pathology Fellowship Recruitment Town Hall, May 29, 2024.
September 29, 2024.