The pathologist workforce in the United States is a topic of interest to the health-care community as a whole and to institutions responsible for the training of new pathologists in particular. Although a pathologist shortage has been projected, there has been a pervasive belief by medical students and their advisors that there are “no jobs in pathology.”

  Abstract There has been a recent recognition of the need to prepare PhD-trained scientists for increasingly diverse careers in academia, industry, and health care. The PhD Data Task Force was formed to better understand the current state of PhD scientists in the clinical laboratory workforce and collect up-to-date information on the training and certification […]

The American Board of Pathology (ABP) has recently approved a physician-scientist research pathway (PSRP) for pathologists in training. This new pathway was specifically created to increase the recruitment of new physician-scientists to our specialty. Pathology is a unique discipline that is recognized as both a basic biomedical science and a clinical specialty, and it has therefore traditionally attracted energetic, intelligent physician-scientists, interested in studying disease mechanisms at the cellular, molecular, and genetic level. 

Medical students are often unsure about the viability of a career as a physician in pathology. In particular, they are concerned that pathologists may not have a gratifying lifestyle or be well compensated. These worries may cause angst among medical students considering pathology and among junior pathology residents wondering if they made the correct career choice.