Pathologists
On the Job
Pathologists are health care professionals who specialize in using human specimens (such as blood or tissues) to diagnose diseases. They work in laboratories, examining and testing specimens with special equipment or materials. They diagnose diseases using techniques such as histology, cytology, immunology, and others.
Typical Work Tasks
People who work in this career often:
- Diagnose medical conditions.
- Conduct research to increase knowledge about medical issues.
- Maintain medical or professional knowledge.
- Prepare reports summarizing patient diagnostic or care activities.
- Present medical research reports.
- Collaborate with healthcare professionals to plan or provide treatment.
- Communicate test or assessment results to medical professionals.
- Analyze laboratory specimens to detect abnormalities or other problems.
- Analyze medical data to determine cause of death.
- Analyze test data or images to inform diagnosis or treatment.
Typical Working Conditions
- The importance of being accurate or exact.
- Freedom to make decisions without supervision.
- Having face-to-face discussions.
- Having telephone conversations.
- Working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions.
- Meeting strict deadlines.
- Working with a group or team.
- Exposure to disease or infections.
- Wearing common protective or safety equipment such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, hard hats, or life jackets.
- Sitting.
This page includes information from the O*NET 24.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Source: You can learn about our data sources in the About Us section.
