Pathologist
Pathologists work in hospitals and laboratories on different areas of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease.
Day-to-day tasks
Depending on your area, as a pathologist you could:
- examine, explain and advice on the results of blood tests, smear tests and tissue removal
- research and develop new tests and treatments
- treat diseases and develop vaccines against diseases and conditions
- organise work in laboratories and supervise staff
- discuss the treatment of individual patients with other health professionals
Skills and knowledge
You'll need:
- knowledge of medicine
- analytical thinking skills
- the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
- knowledge of biology
- thinking and reasoning skills
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- excellent verbal communication skills
- complex problem-solving skills
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
Industry Qualifications
You can take either a medical doctor route or clinical scientist route to become a pathologist.
Medical doctor route
To become a pathologist through the medical doctor route, you'll need to complete:
- a degree in medicine, recognised by the General Medical Council which takes 5 years
- a foundation course of general training which takes 2 years
- a specialist training programme in pathology which can take between 5 to 6 years
There's a lot of competition for places on medical degrees. Most universities will expect you to have done some paid or voluntary work experience in healthcare.
Clinical scientist route
To become a pathologist through the clinical scientist route, you'll need to complete:
- a degree or master's in a science subject like biology, chemistry, clinical or biomedical science which takes 3 to 4 years
- the Scientist Training Programme which is work based, takes 3 years and leads to a master's degree
- the pathology speciality of the Higher Specialist Scientist Training Programme which takes 5 years