Healthcare
Physicians, Pathologists
Diagnose diseases and conduct lab tests using organs, body tissues, and fluids. Includes medical examiners.
Median salary (BLS)
$312,400
10th–90th percentile (BLS)
$93k – $450k
Job outlook
+4% (faster than average)
AI exposure
Early-career check: graduates of the matching programs below typically earn $93,000 ten years after starting college — an early-career figure, vs. the all-experience BLS median above. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard.
Plan a path to Physicians, Pathologists
Education
Typical entry: Doctorate / professional (MD, JD, PhD)
Plan my path to this →Typical progression
Junior Physicians, Pathologists
Entry / Junior
$92,540
~2 yrs to advance
Physicians, Pathologists
Established
$312,400
~3 yrs to advance
Senior Physicians, Pathologists
Senior
$381,185
Key skills
A typical day
- •Examine microscopic samples to identify diseases or other abnormalities.
- •Diagnose diseases or study medical conditions, using techniques such as gross pathology, histology, cytology, cytopathology, clinical chemistry, immunology, flow cytometry, or molecular biology.
- •Write pathology reports summarizing analyses, results, and conclusions.
- •Communicate pathologic findings to surgeons or other physicians.
- •Identify the etiology, pathogenesis, morphological change, and clinical significance of diseases.
Fields of study
Any field
Top colleges for Healthcare
Explore all- Johns Hopkins University7% admit · $93,000 grad pay
- Harvard University4% admit · $119,000 grad pay
- University of Michigan18% admit · $87,000 grad pay
- Duke University6% admit · $105,000 grad pay
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill19% admit · $73,000 grad pay
Reputation-based selection; stats shown are outcome data per school.