Clinical Fellow in Dermatopathology

Applications are invited for this fixed term 2-year appointment due to commence September 2024. The post of Clinical Fellow in Dermatopathology in St John's is unique in the UK. Appropriate for pathologists and dermatologists toward the end of, or having completed, their speciality training, during the two year period, most of which is in the form of an apprenticeship model, doctors will become highly skilled in all areas of dermatopathology. Clinical Fellows will be encouraged to take the Royal College of Pathology Diploma in Dermatopathology and/or the International Diploma in Dermatopathology during their tenure of the post., The purpose of this programme for specialty training in dermatopathology is to set the standards required for practising as a Consultant dermatopathologist and satisfying the standard expected in the The Royal College of Pathologists' Diploma in Dermatopathology and the International Diploma in Dermatopathology examinations.
Duties and responsibilities
Clinical:
The postholder will, together with colleagues, be responsible for the provision of specialty services to the Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust to include:
(a) Diagnosis and treatment of patients of the trust in such hospitals, health centres or clinics or other premises as required.
(b) Continuing clinical responsibility for the patients in your charge, allowing for all proper delegation to, and training of, your staff.
Training of junior staff:
The postholder will take responsibility for the training and direction of junior staff allocated to him/her under aegis of the training plan that that postholder has agreed with their supervising consultant.
Teaching:
The postholder will be expected to contribute as appropriate in the teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate students., The programme is divided into four stages, A-D.
At all stages of the programme the Clinical Fellows will alternate between routine and referral blocks with a 4-week cycle.
Routine: these cases constitute the biopsies & excisions generated from within St John's, St Thomas' and those received from primary care. Cases for Multidisciplinary Meetings (MDM's), Moh's cases and sentinel lymph nodes also fall within this block.
Referral: these are those cases sent to a pathologist in the department for a specialist opinion. The precise role of the Fellow in this component of work will differ according to the supervising Consultants practice.
Stage A
This stage approximates to the first 3 months in the post. Fellows will familiarise themselves with the cut-up manual and procedure; the day-to-day running of the reporting room, of which they will take charge. Fellows will review all cases processed for reporting and write a surgical report.
Early in the post those Fellows with a dermatology background should spend one day in the laboratory following the processing of tissue after prosection, and cut a section. They should also observe the technical aspects of immunocytochemistry.
Stage B
From 3-6 months Fellows should take increasing responsibility for preparing histochemical and immunocytochemical request forms for discussion with the supervising Consultant.
Stage C
Between 6-12 months Fellows should be developing a detailed understanding of reporting complicated cases, including: lymphomas with associated immunocytochemistry; difficult adnexal tumours; alopecia samples; dermal spindle cell tumours and sarcomas.
At this stage Fellows will make arrangements to attend immunfluoresence reporting sessions once per week by arrangement with the IMF department.
Fellows will begin to present cases at the MDM's under supervision of the responsible Consultant.
Stage D
Stage D of training begins after 12 months in the post. At this stage Fellows should be able to write surgical reports for difficult and complex cases, including referral specimens. During this period a Fellow with a dermatology background should be rosted for attachments in General Histopathology, which ideally will include the following:
1. Haematopathology; including systemic lymphoma classification and diagnosis; metastases; large cell and follicular lymphomas; bone marrow interpretation including the typing of leukaemias.
2. Breast pathology; some experience of the common breast malignancies
3. Salivary gland tumours; the more common tumours, which have some resemblance to cutaneous adnexal neoplasms.
4. Gynaecological pathology; particularly CIN and VIN, and the common malignant tumours.
5. Other sub-specialities: gastro-intestinal, urological and respiratory, with particular emphasis on tumour pathology.
A short attachment period in the department of Oral Pathology is also required.
Subject to satisfactory progress, all Fellows will now have the opportunity to present cases at each of the MDM's in the absence of a Consultant.
By the end of Stage D, the trainee should be able to demonstrate a level of knowledge and skill consistent with practise as a consultant in dermatopathology in the National Health Service.
Guy's and St Thomas' celebrates, respects and values the diversity of its staff and patients. We review our policies, procedures and practices to ensure that all employees, patients and carers are treated equitable according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or study's at the Trust, or accesses our services is discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or belief, age, gender identity , gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity/paternity, or marital/civil partnership.
Applications are welcomed from applicants with a disability. We can make reasonable adjustments and offer support and advice in a variety of ways throughout the application process. Equality of opportunity is our policy.
As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends.
Flexible working
We are committed to supporting all employees to achieve a healthy work life balance and to work in a way that is best for them and our patients. We will consider all requests to work flexibly, taking in to account the individual's personal circumstances as well the needs of the service. We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their individual circumstances with the recruiting manager as part of the on-boarding process.
Your e-mail address is important to us - We communicate to all job applicants via the e-mail address which has been provided on the application form. Please ensure that you check your e-mail on a regular basis.
Please apply for this post by clicking "Apply Online Now."

Guy's and St Thomas' is among the UK's busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.
Guy's is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas' has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children's Hospital.
Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions.
Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients.
In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research.
We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King's Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King's College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit.
Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of 'good'. Our adult community services achieved a rating of 'outstanding'.
The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients.
We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS.

As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends.
Creating a world-leading Academic Health Sciences Centre.
All our vacancies can be viewed on our website.
Our excellent benefits include final salary pension scheme. Please visit our website to find out more.