University of Arizona College of Medicine- Tucson Program

Program Identity & Fit

The University of Arizona's AP/CP pathology program is the only pathology residency in Arizona, built on a tri-site model spanning a tertiary academic referral center (Banner UMC Tucson), a generalist community-style VA, and the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner near the US-Mexico border, giving residents exposure ranging from subspecialty-driven tertiary/complex cases to general community-model sign-out to forensic autopsy work involving border-crossing fatalities. Subspecialized surgical pathology faculty at Banner sign out with residents daily, while in-house hematopathology, chemistry, microbiology, and transfusion medicine rotations are each subspecialty-faculty-led, and the department maintains active NIH-funded cancer biology, infectious disease, and neuroscience research programs (e.g., ANCHOR Biorepository, CAP-accredited core lab) that residents are encouraged, though not mandated, to join. The program explicitly aims to produce well-rounded general pathologists ready for boards and practice while also building a foundation for fellowship and academic careers, and it draws a deliberately mixed resident cohort of UA graduates, other Arizona MD/DO grads, and IMGs. Distinctive features include the mandatory forensic pathology month at the Medical Examiner's office (with early elective option for forensics-interested residents) and a structured four-year AP/CP integration model with elective time for outside rotations.