Activities	According to the American Medical Association's Health Care Career Directory, Pathologists' Assistants, are physicians who examine tissue specimens from patients and perform autopsies to diagnose the disease processes involved. Pathologists’ assistants participate in autopsies and in the examination, dissection, and processing of tissue specimens. They function as physician extenders.
Outlook	Faster-than-average-job growth
Median Income	$85,000 per year in 2007 (AMA Health Care Careers Directory, 2009-2010)
Work Context & Conditions	Pathologists’ assistants work in the anatomic pathology section of a medical laboratory. Almost all laboratories are accredited by national organizations and work is conducted in well lit, well organized, and well ventilated areas. The workday is spent between the laboratory and an office.
Minimum Education Requirements	Master's Degree
Skills	Critical Thinking, Instructing, Active Listening, Time Management, Equipment Maintenance, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Science
Abilities	Visual Color Discrimination, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Deductive Reasoning, Problem Sensitivity, Written Comprehension, Near Vision, Information Ordering, Inductive Reasoning, Oral Comprehension

Job Category		Life, Physical, & Social Science
Job Description		According to the American Medical Association's Health Care Careers Directory, a pathologists' assistant works under the direction and supervision of a pathologist(s). Pathologist Assistants may choose several areas of concentration within the field. If they choose surgical pathology, they may assist in the preparation and performance of surgical specimen dissection by ensuring appropriate specimen accessioning, obtaining pertinent clinical information and studies, describing gross anatomic features, dissecting surgical specimens, preparing and submitting tissue for histologic processing, obtaining and submitting specimens for additional analytic procedures (immunostaining, flow cytometry, image analysis, bacterial and viral cultures, toxicology, etc), and assisting in photographing gross and microscopic specimens. If they choose autopsy pathology, they may assist in the performance of postmortem examination by ascertaining proper legal authorization; obtaining and reviewing the patient’s chart and other pertinent clinical data and studies; notifying involved personnel of all special procedures and techniques required; coordinating special requests for specimens; notifying involved clinicians and appropriate authorities and individuals; assisting in the postmortem examination; selecting and preparing tissue for histologic processing and special studies; obtaining specimens for biological and toxicologic analysis; assisting in photographing gross and microscopic specimens and photomicrography; and participating in the completion of the autopsy report. Additional duties may be assigned relative to teaching, administrative, supervisory, and budgetary functions in anatomic pathology.
Working Conditions		Pathologists’ assistants work the same basic hours of a pathologist. This may include evenings, weekends and holidays. In some settings (usually private medical laboratories) this may also include nights. Most pathologists’ assistants work a day shift with the possibility of some “on-call” time. Seniority may or may not provide increased control over hours worked. At present most positions are full time and permanent positions, but there are a few part time positions available and temporary "fill-in" work also available.
Salary Range		Salaries for pathologist assistants vary with geographic location and type of employing institution. As of 2007, entry-level salaries begin at $75,000- $85,000; upper ranges of salary are $85,000 to more than $100,000.

Education Required		According to the American Society for Clinical Pathology: " Formal education as a pathologists’ assistant is at the bachelors or graduate level. These programs require didactic (classroom) and practical training in medical terminology, medical ethics, human anatomy and physiology, histology, pathology, surgical pathology, autopsy pathology, and computer sciences (laboratory informatics). Additional course work may be required by specific programs to meet the particular institutions requirements to award a degree. Students receive a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree upon successful completion of the training program. Graduates start immediately in a medical laboratory setting with a full range of responsibilities corresponding to the position. There may be varying levels of direction and supervision based on the individual skills of the graduate and the wishes of the supervising pathologist."
Recommended High School Courses		Computers and Electronics, Biology, Clerical, Mathematics, English, Chemistry, Health, Physics, Communications
Postsecondary Instructional Programs		Customer and Personal Service, Medicine and Dentistry, Clerical
Certification and Licensing		To ensure that laboratory professionals are competent to perform high complexity (as defined by Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act ’88), quality laboratory tests, the Board of Registry of the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) gives a national certification exam. Students take this exam after meeting their academic and laboratory education requirements. To be eligible applicants must have: 1. a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university and 2. successfully completed a pathologists’ assistant program accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences within the previous five years. At present there are no local, state or national requirements for licensure. Some states which have licensure legislation either recently put into effect or pending. Those who pass the exam may use the initials PA(ASCP) after their names to show they are proficient in their field. Certification is valid for three years and is desirable because many pathologists prefer certified pathologists’ assistants as part of the anatomic pathology team.

Interest Area		Realistic Involves working on practical, hands-on problems and solutions, often with real-world materials, tools, and machinery.
Work Values		Moral Values Never pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong. Security Have steady employment. Ability Utilization Make use of individual abilities. Activity Busy all the time.
Skills		Critical Thinking Use logic and analysis to identify the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. Instructing Teach others how to do something. Active Listening Listen to what other people are saying and ask questions as appropriate. Time Management Manage one's own time and the time of others. Equipment Maintenance Perform routine maintenance and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed. Reading Comprehension Understand written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents. Speaking Talk to others to effectively convey information. Science Use scientific methods to solve problems.
Abilities		Visual Color Discrimination The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness. Arm-Hand Steadiness Able to keep the hand and arm steady while making an arm movement or while holding the arm and hand in one position. Deductive Reasoning Able to apply general rules to specific problems to come up with logical answers, including deciding whether an answer makes sense. Problem Sensitivity Able to tell when something is wrong or likely to go wrong. This doesn't involve solving the problem, just recognizing that there is a problem. Written Comprehension Able to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. Near Vision Able to see details of objects at a close range (within a few feet of the observer). Information Ordering Able to correctly follow rules for arranging things or actions in a certain order, including numbers, words, pictures, procedures, and logical operations. Inductive Reasoning Able to combine separate pieces of information, or specific answers to problems, to form general rules or conclusions. This includes coming up with a logical explanation for why seemingly unrelated events occur together. Oral Comprehension Able to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

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Job Outlook		Excellent job opportunities are expected for full-time employment, especially for formally trained, certified pathologists’ assistant. Job openings result from the ever expanding responsibilities of the pathologist and the increased workload provided by expanding the availability of medical care to more and more of the population. Employment of pathologists’ assistants is expected to grow faster than for similar occupations for the foreseeable future. Advances in medicine, the availability of medical care to an ever increasing number of elderly people and the availability of medical care to the rural population will spur this employment. With the ever increasing workload of a pathologist, the employment of a formally trained, certified pathologists’ assistant will enable to ease at least one portion of this work in the anatomic laboratory. Pathologists’ assistants quickly become an integral part of the anatomic pathology team, helping the pathologist to provide appropriate, high quality, cost effective, and comprehensive pathology and laboratory medicine services to the consumer.
More Information		American Society for Clinical Pathology, American Association of Pathologists' Assistants
References		Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-2011, Physician Assistants on the internet http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos081.htm O*NET OnLine at, http://online.onetcenter.org/link/summary/29-1071.00 American Society for Clinical Pathology on the internet at http://www.ascp.org/careerlinks/pathologist.aspx#