Deciding you want to become a physician and attend medical school is just the first step of many as you plan your medical career path. The field of medicine is filled with specialties and subspecialties, which means there are plenty of exciting opportunities. But this can also make it increasingly difficult to determine what type of doctor you want to be.

As you examine the different sectors of medical practice, the prospect of working in pathology may pique your interest. Pathologists are often considered a “doctor’s doctor,” as they’re called upon for diagnostic support in a range of different scenarios.

These highly trained specialists are critical in the diagnosis, treatment, and study of diseases of all kinds. Join us as we explore the different types of pathology and outline the details of this important career path.

First, what is pathology?

Simply put, pathology is the study of disease processes. This involves investigating the cause of illness, how it develops, and its long-term effects and/or outcome. Pathologists examine specimens gathered from clinical lab tests or surgical procedures to uncover information that can aid in the diagnosis, exclusion, and monitoring of disease.

For example, a pathologist may examine a biopsied tissue sample for a virus, bacteria, or other infectious agents. In other cases, the specialist may analyze fluid samples for irregularities related to blood disorders.

Depending on a pathologist’s area of focus, their day-to-day work will vary. But generally speaking, these highly specialized physicians interact very little with patients, working behind the scenes as consultants for their primary providers.

What are the different types of pathology?

Pathology is a vast sector of medicine made up of three main branches:

• Anatomic pathology
• Clinical pathology
• Molecular pathology

Underneath these branches are additional subspecialties. If you choose to train as a pathologist, you’re likely to study one or more of the following core branches of the field:

Anatomic pathology

This type of pathology involves the examination of surgical specimens that have been removed from the body to investigate and diagnose disease. In practice, this calls upon physicians to examine tissues and cells under a microscope.

Within the branch of anatomic pathology, you can find the following subspecialties:

• Surgical pathology is the study of tissue removed from living patients during surgery.
• Cytopathology is the study of cells obtained from body secretions and fluids by scraping, washing, or sponging the surface of a lesion or by the aspiration of a tumor mass or body organ with a fine needle.
• Forensic pathology involves performing medicolegal autopsies and investigating and evaluating cases of sudden, unexpected, suspicious, and violent death.
• Dermatopathology focuses on the diagnosis and monitoring of skin diseases by examining specially prepared tissue sections, cellular scrapings, and smears of skin lesions by means of microscopy.
• Neuropathology is the study of diseases of the nervous system, as well as skeletal muscles and their functions; neuropathologists maintain an expertise in the infirmities of humans as they affect the nervous and neuromuscular systems, be they degenerative, infectious, metabolic, immunologic, neoplastic, vascular, or physical in nature.

Clinical pathology

On the other hand, clinical pathologists approach the diagnosis of disease through the laboratory analysis of body fluids and bodily tissue. Rather than examining surgically biopsied tissue, these physicians spend much of their time in labs testing blood and other fluids.

Within the branch of clinical pathology, you can find the following subspecialties:

• Chemical pathology entails the application of biochemical data to the detection, confirmation, or monitoring of disease.
• Immunopathology focuses on the body’s immune response through analysis of blood samples to identify varying types of immune-related proteins that may indicate an autoimmune disease.
• Hematopathology is the study of diseases that affect blood cells, blood clotting mechanisms, bone marrow, and lymph nodes; this involves laboratory diagnosis of anemias, leukemias, lymphomas, bleeding disorders, and blood clotting disorders.
• Blood banking-transfusion medicine requires pathologists who are responsible for the maintenance of an adequate blood supply, blood donor and patient/recipient safety, and appropriate blood utilization; these specialists direct the preparation and safe use of specially prepared blood components.

Molecular pathology

While much of pathology has an anatomic or clinical focus, there’s a third sector of practice that includes aspects of both. Molecular pathology focuses on disease at the submicroscopic, molecular level. These physicians utilize information and practices from both anatomic pathology and clinical pathology while also incorporating aspects of genetics, molecular biology, and biochemistry.

One example of a molecular pathology subspecialty is medical microbiology pathology. Physicians with specialized training in this area are experts in the isolation and identification of microbial agents that cause infectious diseases. They are trained to identify viruses, bacteria, and fungi while also testing them for susceptibility to appropriate antimicrobial agents.

Forge your own path in pathology

If you are curious by nature and are motivated to uncover answers to difficult questions, it makes sense that a career in pathology might pique your interest. And after reviewing the different types of pathology subspecialties, it’s clear just how many opportunities there are for pathologists to make a difference in the medical community.

Most of the hands-on training you’ll need to become a pathologist will take place during your medical residency, but you will first need to obtain a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree. Learn more about the criteria you should be looking for in our article “How to Choose a Medical School: 8 Things to Evaluate Before Accepting.”