Scan a tissue slide for changes
Put a tissue slide under the microscope and search for cell changes hinting at which illness is present.
Career profile
Pathologist
Pathologists diagnose illness from evidence in tissue samples, cells, and lab results.
From a patient sample, you reach a medical finding. It suits people who like both fine detail and showing how evidence leads to a conclusion.
A day in the life
Talk through an odd result
Talk an odd lab result over with lab staff and the patient's doctor to see how it fits.
Write the diagnosis report
Write your observations and diagnosis into a report the patient's physician relies on to choose treatment.
Answer the surgeon during surgery
In certain surgical pathology roles, you check a fast-frozen sample mid-surgery and answer the surgeon's question.
Quick facts
Medical degree + residency
United States
$312,400 median
United States · May 2025
4.8% projected growth
United States · 2025–2035
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
Medical degree + residencyUsually college, medical school, then three or four years of pathology residency.
Pay
$312,400 medianAnnual national wage for physician pathologists; hourly equivalent: $150.19.
Outlook
4.8% projected growthAbout 300 openings per year nationally, including growth and replacement needs.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You enjoy noticing small visual differences and explaining what they mean.
- You like connecting a laboratory result with a larger medical question.
- You are willing to discuss an uncertain interpretation with colleagues.
Things to weigh
- You may face daily time pressure, and workweeks can run beyond 40 hours.
- The preparation is long: medical school comes before several years of specialty training.
Where AI may help
Software can flag suspicious areas in scanned tissue images. One authorized artificial intelligence tool does this for prostate biopsies after a pathologist's initial review.
What people still lead
For that tool, you still evaluate the slide and make the diagnosis; its flag is an additional clue.
What we can’t predict yet
How much image review software will take over remains uncertain, especially beyond narrowly defined specimen types.
Pay in context
Earnings
The national median is high, but it is not a starting salary or a promise about a particular offer.
The national midpoint
Physician pathologists had a median annual wage of $312,400, with an hourly equivalent of $150.19.
The national spread
The 10th-percentile annual wage was $92,540 and the 90th-percentile wage was $449,970. These describe the wage distribution, not beginner and senior pay levels.
Projected openings
Employment is projected to grow 4.8%, with about 300 openings annually on average. Openings include replacing people who leave the occupation.
Getting started
Build the medical foundation
Typically a bachelor's degree followed by four years of medical school.
- What the route involves
- Complete medical-school prerequisites, earn admission, and study medicine through classroom work and clinical rotations.
- What it can lead to
- A medical degree lets you pursue specialty residency training, including pathology.
- What to check
- The degree alone does not license you. State medical boards also require postgraduate training and licensing examinations; requirements vary by state.
Train in pathology
Four years for combined anatomic and clinical pathology, or three years for either discipline alone.
- What the route involves
- Enter supervised residency after medical school. Anatomic pathology focuses on tissue and cells; clinical pathology focuses on laboratory testing. Combined training covers both.
- What it can lead to
- Completing the required training prepares you to seek American Board of Pathology certification in your chosen track.
- What to check
- Approved exam applicants are board eligible, not yet certified. Certification requires passing the applicable examinations and meeting all requirements; a full, unrestricted medical license is required before exam results are released.
The usual route has two connected steps: medical school, then pathology residency. A Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree can lead to this specialty.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization.
Get established
Learn your laboratory's reporting routines and build a habit of discussing difficult cases with colleagues.
Develop your judgment
Take on more challenging interpretations and help investigate test-quality problems that affect the answers clinicians receive.
Specialize or lead
Further training in surgical pathology can deepen your work on complex specimens and add teaching and oversight of specimen examination.
Where you can work
Teaching hospitals
Diagnostic work shares time with resident teaching and case conferences. You work across specialty teams, and surgical services may need an answer during an operation.
- Indoors
- Lab
Medical examiner centers
Forensic pathologists investigate deaths rather than an ongoing course of treatment. Autopsies involve technical staff, such as mortuary and imaging technicians, and lead to findings about cause and manner of death.
- Indoors
- Lab
- Safety-sensitive
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
Use two labeled tissue images from a biology textbook. Write what you can actually see, then what you would need to know before explaining the difference. Notice whether close observation and separating evidence from guesses hold your interest.
Stay safe: Use educational images only; this is an observation exercise, not a way to diagnose yourself or someone else.
Sources
- O*NET OnLine. Physicians, Pathologists — 29-1222.00. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. May 2025 national Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — pinned SOC 29-1222 values. Accessed 2026-09-29.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment Projections Table 1.2, 2025–2035 — pinned SOC 29-1222 values. Accessed 2026-09-29.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Physicians and Surgeons — Education and Training. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- American Board of Pathology. Booklet of Information. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- American Board of Pathology. Get Certified — Board Eligible Candidates. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- Federation of State Medical Boards. About Physician Licensure. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- Johns Hopkins Pathology. Residency Curriculum. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- Johns Hopkins Pathology. Surgical Pathology Fellowship. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Paige Prostate De Novo Classification Order, DEN200080. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner. Autopsy. Accessed 2026-10-09.