The Continuing Fellowship Conundrum

The debate for a fair, equitable, and reasonable pathology fellowship application and selection process has been an ongoing issue with ebb and flow over approximately the past 10 years. The authors of this commentary have been closely involved with the fellowship issue over the past decade and have been part of the effort to achieve a workable solution with widespread support. Possible solutions to the concerns raised by various parties have included efforts to implement a uniform timeline, a formal match through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), a formal match through the San Francisco Matching Program, and most recently (and the focus of this commentary) a Code of Conduct (Honor Code) and application clearing house overseen by the Association of Pathology Chairs (APC). Table 1 summarizes these efforts and their outcomes to date