Medical Student Education
Training for a career in Pathology
Job Market
Contrary to recent negative information about the job market in Pathology, there are plenty of jobs for qualified trainees. The market is especially good in the Mid-West including Iowa. Iowa trained pathologists have had no difficulty finding jobs in Iowa or more distant locations. Demographics of placement of House Staff for the University of Iowa House Staff Training program in Pathology indicate that approximately 75% of trainees take positions outside of Iowa and 33% enter academic positions.
- Residency Training
- Pathology is an excellent career choice for future physicians who have a strong interest in the mechanisms and morphologic aspects of disease.
- Pathology salaries compare very favorably with other clinical subspecialties.
- Additional characteristics of the clinical discipline of Pathology:
- Pathologists need to have a broad knowledge of disease process including clinical presentation, laboratory, and morphologic aspects of disease.
- Pathologists major contribution to patient care is the diagnosis of disease, primarily by morphologic and laboratory techniques.
- Pathologists direct the clinical diagnostic laboratories, and are involved in implementation of class="no_marg"emerging technologies, including molecular diagnostic techniques.
- Similar to radiologists, pathologists spend a considerable amount of their time discussing the diagnosis of disease of individual patients with other physicians. Pathologists are frequently referred to as "Doctor's Doctors".
- Pathologists practice evidence based medicine, especially with respect to laboratory diagnosis,
- Many pathologists pursue an academic career. Pathology is very appealing to future physicians who are interested in teaching and research.
- More than in any other academic specialty, pathologists can teach and devote considerable time to research. This is because of the laboratory focus of a pathologist's clinical responsibilities.
- Although Pathology has limited direct patient contact, the pathologist does need to maintain a broad knowledge of the clinical aspects of disease. A Pathologist is heavily involved in discussion of patients with individual clinicians, and is a major participant in patient centered conferences such as Tumor Boards and Morbidity and Mortality conferences.
- There is minimal opportunity to put into practice the psychosocial aspects of your medical training.
A booklet "PATHOLOGY as a career in medicine" is available in the Path Learning Center (PLC), 1000 Med Labs.
- Clinical Fellowships in Pathology
- Post-residency training in Pathology is available in
- Surgical Pathology
- Cytopathology
- Neuropathology
- Dermatopathology
- Forensic Pathology
- Molecular Pathology
- Hematopathology
- Clinical Microbiology
- Clinical Chemistry
- Transfusion Medicine