Molecular Rotation

A Resident's day-to-day on the Molecular Rotation 

The molecular rotation is usually taken in the 2nd and 4th year of residency. It is divided into 4 weeks each, in which the residents observe a variety of assays in the lab and sign out cases with their attending in the afternoons. The resident rotates through the solid tumor, molecular heme, solid tumor/molecular heme, and lastly the molecular virology, HIV and genetic benches. We get numerous opportunities to learn the workflow in the lab. You get to see a specimen from when it is triaged to how it is processed and finally analyzed during sign out. A few of the exciting diagnostic methods you encounter are Pyrosequencing, PCR Capillary Electrophoresis, Next Generation Sequencing, Real-time PCR and Sanger Sequencing. Residents also attend weekly LOT meetings and molecular conferences. Lastly, residents are asked to give an end of rotation lab medicine presentation about an interesting case and board relevant topic they encountered. 

Rotation Director


Allison Cushman-Vokoun, MD, PhD