Welcome from the Chief Resident
Thank you for your interest in the Pathology residency program at Vanderbilt. My name is Zach Kadow, and I'm a PGY4 AP/CP resident and the current chief resident.
I’m a member of a team of 25 residents comprised of enthusiastic, curious, and fun individuals who work together to make a supportive training environment here at Vanderbilt. Our current residents are on many training tracks (AP/CP, AP only, CP only, and AP/NP) and continue onto a diverse variety of fellowships and practice environments after residency trainign. We enjoy regular resident gatherings, our favorites being the welcome party, annual retreat, Halloween costume party, and graduation/farewell party. It is a tight knit community with many local alumni eager to help our current residents find their way in the pathology community.
At Vanderbilt, we offer an integrated AP/CP curriculum with a high volume of cases and a hands-on approach to learning that will prepare you for any desired fellowship and subsequent career. Our training sites include a new state-of-the-art lab, the Vanderbilt Medical Laboratory, and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center campus which includes the Vanderbilt University Hospital (home to the NCI designed Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center), Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, and the Nashville VA Medical Center. We also have 13 fellowships available across nearly all AP and CP subspecialties, which are commonly filled by residents choosing to continue their clinical training at Vanderbilt.
Education is a strong focus of our program. We have weekly AP and CP didactics that occur at noon, which are led by faculty experts. We also have a weekly Surgical Pathology Unknowns conference led by faculty and senior trainees that allow residents to practice describing histology, generating a differential diagnosis, and applying ancillary testing with case examples. Additional sessions include weekly Lab Medicine Rounds and bi-monthly Anatomic Pathology Grand Rounds. Both AP and CP rotations have a focus on resident participation, with residents often leading sign-outs and communicating with clinicians about laboratory results.
Residents have abundant opportunities to grow as educators as well. We often teach at Vanderbilt’s medical school, reviewing gross organs and scanned pathology slides in small groups with students. We have also given lectures for the undergraduate and graduate programs and Vanderbilt University, which shares a campus with the medical center. Additionally, we regularly host medical students from Vanderbilt and other medical schools on away rotations, giving us the opportunity to teach and mentor these students.
Additionally, our department has numerous faculty members who are dedicated to mentoring interested residents in research opportunities across a broad range of topics. It is common to have multiple residents each year present at USCAP, CAP, and ASCP, among other national meetings. The residency program is committed to helping residents engaged in research and provides travel funds for residents to present at these academic conferences. Vanderbilt University Medical Center also has multiple internal research funding sources that residents and faculty can access to further their research endeavors.
As I approach the final year of my training, what has stood out to me most about our pathology program is the breadth of opportunities available to our residents. The program offers complete training in anatomic and clinical pathology across a large diversity of clinical practice settings and is constantly evolving to ensure our residents are exposed to novel technologies and testing methods in our field. Nashville is also a terrific place to live, with endless options for live music, restaurants, sports, outdoor recreation, and so much more. There are many unique neighborhoods in Nashville that can be the right fit for residents at any stage of life. Following training, our graduates practice in diverse practice settings including academia, private practice, and industry after completing a wide variety of fellowships at Vanderbilt and across the country.
I would love to answer any questions you have about our residency program. Email pathres.prog@vumc.org and indicate that you are interested in being connected with the chief resident.
Zach Kadow, MD, PhD
Clinical Fellowship Programs
You can view the Twelve different Fellowship Programs and application requirements for each, here.
Residency Program
Find out about Vanderbilt University Pathology Residency Training Program here.
About Nashville
Located a little more than a mile from downtown, the university’s students, faculty, staff and visitors frequently cite Nashville as one of the perks of Vanderbilt. Learn more here.