Pathologist Salary

In medical science, pathology is the branch that deals with abnormal changes brought about by diseases in cells, tissues, and organs of the body. People who have specialized in human pathology are called medical pathologists. The same disease related studies are also done for plants and animals, but as you know they are entirely different. Before you decide whether pathology and related patient care suit your career path or not, learn the job responsibilities and average pathologist salary range, which you can make out of this challenging profession.

Pathologist Job Description

Pathology is the intermediary field between basic science application and detail medical science. A pathologist does the work of examining the nature, causal factors, development, symptoms, and overall effects of a disease. For this purpose, blood sample, urine sample, and tissue sample are tested for presence of bacteria, fungi, virus, or in short, diseases. To be more precise, a pathologist works as a consultant to other physicians and is directly involved in diagnosing a disease condition (or tracking its developmental stages). Based on the test results, the best treatment for the patient is determined by the concerned physician.

The actual job profile and salary of a pathologist depend on which field he/she has opted. Some are engaged in teaching pathology subject in medical schools; whereas some are interested in laboratory testing. Consequently, the pathologist can work as professors in universities and researchers in scientific labs, forensic labs, and medical labs. Also, there is speech pathology, which deals with assessing, identifying, and treating speech related disorders in patients. Speech pathologists work in schools, hospitals, private facilities, and home health care services.

Average Pathologist Salary

As expected, the salary range of a pathologist varies from one professional to another, depending on the field he is working. Although the job profile is highly respectable, pathology lecturers and professors who are engaged in academia are paid a slightly lower income (about USD 100,000 according to 2003 data) than those working in health care settings (about USD 120,000 as per 2003 salary data). Other factors that help determine a medial salary of a pathologist are geographical location, years of experience, employee credentials, specialization, and the hiring organization. A freshman who has recently completed the degree will draw about USD 40,000 and more per year out of this profession.

According to the 2006 data concerning salary ranges for jobs, the median salary of a medical pathologist was approximately USD 214,984. In the data of the same year, the average speech pathologist pay was USD 70,180 in nursing care facilities and USD 53,110 in elementary schools. At present, the salary of a medical pathologist in United States falls between USD 239,000 to USD 330,000. Coming to forensic pathologist salary, those having an experience of 10 years or more will get a maximum pay scale of about USD 200,000 or more annually. Other benefits provided to pathologists are paid holidays (for a certain number of days), paid vacations, retirement plans, and health insurance.

Similar to other medical jobs, pathologist career prospect is highly impressive for the coming years. With the expansion of health care industry, the demand for expert pathologists will be higher. Highly qualified pathologists are also hired in government offices related to agriculture, horticulture, and public health. Besides working in hospitals and public sectors, they are employed in private companies that deal with production of therapeutic drugs and plant insecticides. Those employed in the private clinics and diagnostic laboratories having sophisticated equipment are paid a higher income, and their job responsibilities are challenging too. Last but not the least, one can open his/her own clinic after gaining experience in the relative field. In such case, the earning potential depends on the number of hours invested on a daily basis.

With this information, I hope you have learned about what is the expected pathologist pay scale. If you have a passion for medical science, laboratory testing, and inclination for detection, you can definitely opt for this challenging career. With relative years of experience, you can switch on to teaching or consultancy fields. In order to become a medical pathologist, you need to enroll in a medical school and obtain a degree in medicine (MD). After holding the doctoral degree, further training in pathology is required. For better career opportunities, it is best to qualify the licensing examination.