How To Become A Surgical Pathologist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a surgical pathologist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

The average surgical pathologist salary is $53,133. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an physiology and anatomy major. It usually takes 4-6 years of experience to become a surgical pathologist. Surgical pathologists with a Anatomic Pathology certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 7% and produce 55,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreSurgical PathologistUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $53,133

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.9

Growth Rate 7%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.16%

Asian 19.91%

Black or African American 3.79%

Hispanic or Latino 6.43%

Unknown 4.09%

White 65.62%

Gender

female 69.23%

male 30.77%

Age - 48

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48

Stress Level

7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.7

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

3.6

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

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Key steps to become a surgical pathologist

Explore surgical pathologist education requirements

Most common surgical pathologist degrees

Bachelor's

47.1 %

Doctorate

23.5 %

Master's

17.6 %

Start to develop specific surgical pathologist skills

Skills	Percentages
Surgical Pathology	35.62%
Laboratory Medicine	22.31%
Clinical Pathology	13.61%
Pathology Services	5.72%
GYN	5.64%

Complete relevant surgical pathologist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New surgical pathologists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a surgical pathologist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real surgical pathologist resumes.

Research surgical pathologist duties and responsibilities

Supervise and manage pathology, microbiology and biochemistry laboratory.
Assist histology and necropsy laboratories attending client's needs by investigating and establishing new techniques and improving current ones.
Define embolic material as originating from delivery catheter, not from study device.

Prepare your surgical pathologist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your surgical pathologist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a surgical pathologist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Surgical Pathologist Resume templates

Build a professional Surgical Pathologist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Surgical Pathologist resume.

Apply for surgical pathologist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a surgical pathologist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

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