How to Become a Pathologist

About Pathologist

Pathology has been one of the popular fields in the healthcare industry with an immense career scope. A career in Pathology would require you to conduct investigative research into the causes and effects of various diseases and illnesses in patients. The need for a skilled and qualified pathologist, both nationally and internationally, due to high demand for such professionals in different settings. With an inevitable increase in the world’s population, this need for skilled pathologists will keep increasing, especially with new and more dangerous diseases and illnesses spreading across the world, pathologists will be able to find lucrative career options throughout their lifetime.

Eligibility to become Pathologist

As is the case with every other professional career paths, aspirants would be required to earn and present academic and professional credentials to pursue a career as a Pathologist. As per the norm, the eligibility for a career in pathology is as follows:

• Graduated in MBBS degree at the undergraduate level, followed by either a Diploma or MD in Pathology or equivalent course recognised by the MCI.

• Candidates must ensure that they have earned the necessary license to practice in different medical establishments.

Note:

It is important to have earned a degree certificate in the field of Pathology, especially, in order to pursue a career in the field.

Types of Job Roles Pathologist

Like many other medical fields and other healthcare specialities, graduates will be able to pursue a career as a Pathologist in different specialities as well. In the field of pathology, there are two prominent branches of pathology, viz. Anatomical Pathology and Clinical Pathology. These two prominent pathology branches offer sub-branches, under which the aspirants will be able to pursue a career in.

In either of the cases, a pathologist, there will be certain duties that would common in both the branches, such as collecting and recording data from different investigatory, laboratory or autopsy reports and further analysing such data. Along with these, the job role of a pathologist would include evaluating different techniques of curing different diseases, invention and production of different tools and technology for pathological experiments, among other duties.

Check out the different Career Paths as a Pathologists that are on offer in India.

Anatomical Pathology:

Here are the job profiles that will be available to you under Anatomical Pathology.

Cytopathology: The process and study of human cells that have been obtained either in bodily fluids or by scrapping. Here a pathologist would extensively study the extracted cells and learn about the causes and effects of different illnesses and diseases.

Histopathology: Histopathology is the science of studying tissues and cells in order to determine the changes and overall history of diseases in a particular body. Here, a histopathologist would be required to take a sample of either skin, tissue, or even bone to understand the causes and effects of certain diseases, usually through a process known as a biopsy.

Forensic Pathology: Forensic Pathology deals with the determination of the causes of death in a living being among others through tests. Being a part of forensic medicine, forensic pathologists are responsible for providing information regarding causes and time of death, usually pertaining to cases where the patient is either a victim or suspect of malpractice.

Clinical Pathology

Here are the different sub-branches of Clinical Pathology which can be pursued by aspirants in India.

Haematology/Haemopathology: Haematology or Haematopathology is the sub-branch of pathology where professional would conduct tests and analyse different blood-related diseases. Here a Haematologists are required to collect and analyse blood samples for the different blood diseases.

Immunology/Immunopathology: This is the field of pathology which deals with the different diseases of the immune system. The professionals of this discipline are crucial for transplant surgeries and understanding the different issues relating to the immunodeficiencies, rejection of transplanted organs along with conducting analysis’ of blood samples.

Chemical Pathology: Under this field of pathology, pathologists conduct biomedical investigations of various different bodily fluids such as urine, blood and cerebrospinal fluids. Through the field, professionals would be able to monitor and diagnose various diseases through such tests and reports.

Employment Sector/Industry for Pathologist

Being one of the popular medical disciplines, there re different areas of employment for a Pathologist are immense, ranging from hospitals to private clinics and personal businesses as well. Check out the list of areas of employment for a pathologist in India:

• Government and Private Hospitals

• Medical Laboratories

• Drug Manufacturing Factories

• Biotechnological Industries

• Pharmaceutical Industry

• Own Business

• Pathology Clinics

Top Recruiting Agencies for Pathology

Being a popular field in the medical industry, many different recruiting companies take special interests in fresh graduates of pathology. Some of them include:

• Dr Lal Pathlabs

• Suburban Diagnostics

• Thyrocare

• Medall Healthcare Pvt Ltd

• SRL Diagnostics

• Oncquest Laboratories Ltd

• Lucid Diagnostics

Pay Scale/Salary of Pathologist

Pursuing a career in the field of pathology, like any other field, requires one to gain as much experience as they can, in order to build a lucrative career path. However, an initial annual package offered to a Pathology graduate can range anywhere between ₹10,000 - ₹25,000 per month. Here are the different pay scales that are offered commonly across India.

Note:

The salary mentioned above are just estimates and should be considered only for reference purposes. The actual pay packages offered to Pathology graduates in India can vary, depending on different factors such as job profile, academic and the company they have been enrolled in.

Books & Study Material to Become Pathologist

If you have chosen to pursue a career as a pathologist, then you might need to prepare intensively for the subjects. While preparing from the study material that has been offered to you at the undergraduate and postgraduate level would be enough to help you crack the final examinations, referencing other books and research papers in the field would provide an in-depth understanding of your respective field.

• Textbook of Pathology Harsh Mohan

• Robbins and Cotran Review of Pathology 

• Essentials for Clinical Pathology Shirish M. Kawthalkar

• Concise Pathology for Medical by Patel P.

• Concepts in Pathology Mishra D

• Essentials of Gross Pathology by Tyagi

Pros of becoming a Pathologist

• Opportunities for career growth and a lucrative pay scale are immense

• Result-oriented career path, allowing for higher job satisfaction

• Dynamic career paths and daily objectives

Cons of becoming a Pathologist

• Requires long working-hours in closed-off quarters

• Can get messy (variable depending on job profile)

• Requires a lot of patience, skill and qualification to earn a lucrative career.