Pathology Residency & Fellowship Training Program

Forensic Pathology Fellowship

J. Keith Pinckard, MD, PhDThis one-year ACGME-accredited program offers up tp two positions annually for training in forensic pathology at the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office in Austin, TX. Our office has a staff of nine board-certified forensic pathologists. We investigate deaths in Travis County and take referral cases from 45 other counties in central Texas.  The office is accredited by the National Association of Medical Examiners and our in-house toxicology laboratory is accredited by the American Board of Forensic Toxicology. Our state-of-the-art facility includes a computed tomography scanner.

Training will be for 12 months and will cover all topics of medical examiner medicine, including forensic pathology, forensic toxicology, advanced postmortem imaging, medicolegal death investigation, forensic odontology, forensic anthropology, and disciplines of the crime laboratory. Fellows will complete between 200 and 300 autopsies under supervision. In addition to casework, there is a dedicated curriculum of didactic lectures, practical exercises, and conferences. Fellows will also be given the opportunity to participate in research projects and attend a forensic pathology conference.

Faculty:

  • J. Keith Pinckard, MD PhD
  • Leisha Wood, MD
  • Vickie Willoughby, DO
  • Lauren Edelman, MD
  • Jennifer Dierksen, MD
  • Leticia Schuman, MD
  • Lucas Weick, MD
  • Bernadette DeRussy, MD
  • Anna Park, MD
  • Brad Hall, PhD (Toxicology)
  • Kayla Ellefsen, PhD (Toxicology)

Requirements:

Candidates must have one of the following by the beginning of their fellowship:

    1. successful completion of a residency in anatomic and clinical pathology or a residency in anatomic pathology accredited by the ACGME;

    2. successful completion of a residency in anatomic and clinical pathology or a residency in anatomic pathology located in Canada accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC); or

    3. certification by the American Board of Pathology in either anatomic and clinical pathology, or anatomic pathology.

Candidates must also possess a Texas full, unrestricted medical license or a Texas Physician-in-Training permit prior to the beginning of the fellowship.

Anticipated Stipend: $105,000

Timeframe: We participate in the NMRP match.  The match process occurs in the Spring of the year prior to the year of the start of the fellowship (in other words, roughly 16 months in advance of the fellowship start date). Applications may be submitted at any time and there is no application deadline per se.  Applications will be accepted, considered, and interviews granted, if possible, up until the deadline for ranking, which occurs in mid-April.

To Apply, please submit:

Address application inquiries to:

J. Keith Pinckard, MD, PhD
Chief Medical Examiner
Program Director, Forensic Pathology Fellowship
Travis County Medical Examiner
7723 Springdale Road
Austin, TX 78724
Email: TCMEfellowship@traviscountytx.gov
Phone: (512) 854-9599