The Career of a Pathologist

Much of the education you are providing for your children is for the purpose of them working in a field that fits their skills and interests. Even the basics of math and communication skills will later prepare them for future careers. Deciding a career path is not easy, but one of the most effective things you can do is expose your children to people who work in various fields of expertise and watch how interested (or not) they are. 

While you may not be able to meet people from a wide-range of jobs in person, you can find sources to read what they share about their career. The interview below is with a Canadian pathologist, Lucy, who shares about her path to this career and her personal perspective on the challenges and satisfaction of her training and work. 

TCS: What has been your path to being a pathologist?

Lucy: For those who don’t know, a pathologist is a type of doctor, and so, as is the case for all physicians, my path has been a long one. And longer still because I didn’t pursue medicine immediately after high school. After I graduated, I went to Bible school and completed a six month certificate course. Then I pursued my love of art at college. For two years I painted, drew, and sculpted and enjoyed it, but I realized that making a living in fine arts would be very challenging and that wasn’t what I wanted. 

I missed academic subjects, like science and math, which I had enjoyed in high school. So, halfway through a Bachelor of Fine Arts, I transferred to a Bachelor of Science program at another institution. It was a difficult transition. I took physics, calculus, and chemistry, on top of many biology courses. These courses helped me prepare for the MCAT—a test that is required to apply to medical school in Canada. I applied to medical school after three years of science, and I was accepted to medical school before I finished my degree—which some medical schools allow. 

Medical school was hard work. Two years of lectures, clinical sessions, and “problem-based learning”—a learning strategy based on teamwork—followed by two years of practical training in hospitals and clinics rotating through all the areas of medicine. Well, almost all the areas. Pathology is not a required rotation in medical school; however, I tried pathology as an elective and I enjoyed it. 

At the end of medical school, I applied for further training, called residency, in pathology. All medical students must do a residency in a specialty like family medicine, radiology, surgery, obstetrics/gynecology, pathology, etc. I interviewed with six pathology programs in four provinces over three weeks. There are a limited number of residency positions so competition can be quite tight. Fortunately, I got a position in a general pathology residency program. There are different types of pathology.

Pathology residency is five years long in Canada. Other residencies may be two to seven years. In the first year, I did more rotating through hospitals. Then I spent four years learning about diagnosing diseases from tissue, blood, urine, and other samples. It was a lot of work, but it was also fascinating! 

While in medical school and residency, I successfully completed the two part Canadian medical licensing exam. At the end of residency, I wrote an exam for pathology licensing. Licensing exams are difficult exams which last several days, testing both knowledge and skills. They are required to practice medicine in Canada

Finally, I did one more year of training in a specific field of pathology, forensics. This extra training after residency is called a fellowship. I went to the United States and trained under forensic pathologists there to gain extra knowledge and skills so that I too could practice forensic pathology. At the time of writing this—only months after completing my fellowship—I still have to sit one more Canadian licensing exam to be qualified as a forensic pathologist.

To sum up, my path involved six years of undergraduate training, four years of medical school, five years of residency, and a year of fellowship training. That adds up to sixteen years of school—which is about average for a medical specialist. Like I said, it’s a long path to pathology.


TCS: How did you decide to become a pathologist?

Lucy: I’ve already said that pathology is a field of medicine, but it might be helpful if I explain a little bit more about pathology before I answer this question. Pathology is the part of medicine that occurs in the laboratory, and the main focus is diagnosis of disease. When another doctor takes a sample from a patient, like drawing blood, taking a biopsy, or removing a tumor by surgery, that sample goes to a laboratory and becomes the responsibility of a pathologist. 

Working with teams of specially-trained technologists, chemists, and microbiologists, pathologists interpret the samples and provide diagnoses to the doctors treating patients. There is a lot of detail and specialized knowledge involved, which I really like. It’s not fast-paced, like in an emergency room. It’s time-consuming, sometimes slow, work, and I like that. Pathologists interact with all other areas of medicine, from surgery to family medicine, and I like that variety. 

And, as I’ve said above, when I tried pathology, it seemed to suit me the best of the different specialties. This is not something I can really explain, just a gut feeling, but a lot of doctors will tell you the same thing, “It fits.”


TCS: What do you like most and least about being a pathologist?

Lucy: Above I said that I like the detail, the relatively slower pace, and the breadth of pathology. I also like anatomy and physiology. A pathologist has to know a lot about the body and how it works, maybe more than any other area of medicine. I get to look inside the body, hold parts of it in my hands, and see the details under the microscope. It’s amazing! The trade-off is that pathologists rarely interact, if ever, with patients so I don’t get to see the outcome of my work.


TCS: What do you enjoy about the sciences?

Lucy: Science is all about asking questions and pursuing answers to understand the world around us. A lot of wonderful discoveries have come from rigorous study. I enjoy that pursuit of knowledge and truth.


TCS: Are there pathologists you have looked up to or who have inspired you along your journey to being a pathologist?

Lucy: Finding mentors in the medical community can be challenging. Doctors are busy, and they don’t get extra time to train students. However, I have met several doctors—not just pathologists—who took the time to teach and encourage me along the way. A cardiologist who came in early to teach small groups of medical students to properly read electrocardiograms. Another cardiologist who, with his wife, welcomed groups of medical students into his home for dinner and mentorship talks.

A pathologist who encouraged me to pursue forensics and recommended me for fellowships and jobs. Two pathologists who, between them, guided me through my first year of practicing pathology after residency. And other trainees, themselves busy doctors-in-training, who took the time to pass on their hard-won knowledge. Last, but not least, I have also looked up to nurses, technologists, chemists, and administrators who demonstrated compassion, teamwork, and a commitment to excellence.


TCS: What skills and what education are required to be a pathologist?

Lucy: I covered the educational requirements in the first question, but I’ll summarize them briefly. In Canada, two to four years of undergraduate training; three to four years of medical school—some programs are only three years long; five years of residency; and, maybe, a year or two of fellowship. The skills required to be a pathologist include near-obsessive attention to detail; excellent written communication skills—to write reports; ability to read and evaluate new studies and to continue to learn and adapt; and collaborative skills. 

Some people think pathologists work alone in their offices and therefore don’t need people skills. Pathology is both an independent pursuit and a team effort, and a good pathologist needs to excel at both working independently and in a team. A pathologist must also have good observation skills for looking at cells under the microscope.


TCS: What courses should students take in high school to be prepared for sciences in post-secondary?

Lucy: Students interested in biology should consider taking chemistry too as there is a lot of overlap between these areas. Likewise, those interested in physics should take math including calculus. If a student is hoping to pursue medicine, the more science courses they take, the better prepared they will be. Some medical schools require applicants to complete certain science courses and the MCAT heavily tests knowledge of biology, physics, organic and inorganic chemistry. The MCAT also has a verbal reasoning and written component so language arts can’t be neglected.


TCS: If a student is interested in learning more about being a pathologist, what steps should they take? 

Lucy: If their local university is affiliated with a medical school, they might try contacting the school to see if they can arrange to shadow a pathologist. This may or may not be available as an opportunity, but it’s really the only way to learn more. Though pathologists are often featured in shows, television doesn’t capture what the job is really like.


TCS: What career options and paths are open to a pathologist?

Lucy: Pathologists can become lab directors, researchers, forensic pathologists, hospital pathologists with a variety of subspecialties, blood bank directors, and associate professors within medical schools.

This article has been written by homeschooling staff writers of The Canadian Schoolhouse (TCS). Enjoy more of our content from TCS contributors and staff writers by visiting our Front Door page that has content on our monthly theme and links to all our content sections.