PATHOLOGIST SALARIES
- Houston: $223,000/-
- Los Angeles: $242,811/-
- New York: $254,000/-
- Seattle: $237,000/-
A Meta-analysis of 2008 MD salary surveys in USA showed that Pathology salaries ranged from $239,000 to $330,000
Probably these figures are gonna surprise you just as they surprised me. But once you begin to understand how the American health insurance system works and that procedures are paid more than physician consults, you will see why the pays are good - besides the fact that pathology residency seats are limited when you compare the numbers with specialties like Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, etc.
Pathology training itself is supposed to be very cool and often calls can be taken from home itself. Lots of sub-specialty options are available for a physician trained in pathology and yeah besides money - life-style is cool and better controlled and a lot of other specialties. Later on, after an established experience and connections, an entrepreneurial pathologist can possibly setup his own lab practice and lifestyle, like a friend's uncle who does work from his own mansion for 4 days a week of work, though most pathologists are still salaried.
Q. How to be a MD Pathologist in the USA ?
A. A 4-year Residency in Anatomic-Clinical or either Anatomic or Clinical Pathology alone makes you a licensed Pathologist. It is suggested to have both Anatomic and Clinical Pathology training to be more 'marketable' for jobs. Until 2 years ago, the training was for 5 years !
Q. What Fellowship options exist after Residency ?
A. Plenty ! 1-year Fellowship options after pathology include:
- Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine
- Chemical Pathology
- Cytopathology
- Forensic Pathology
- Hematology
- Pathology Informatics / Medical Informatics
- Immunopathology
- Medical Microbiology
- Pediatric Pathology
- Selective Pathology
A fellowship in Neuropathology is usually 2 years.
Hmmm...so much for what's good about the academics. On the real world side, the American health insurance is working only for the insurance companies themselves, while failing for the doctors and the patients. Doctors have been watching their incomes reduce and patients have been watching their premiums rise, while we all have been watching the million dollar bonuses that insurance companies executives have been belting up. Little surprise then, that doctors are exploring new options - like this news article about a pathologist who left his practice to indulge in unproven and exotic alternative medicine therapies like magnetic water, testosterone ointments for conditions that author labels "Nothing-Really-Works-Anyway Therapies" (NRWATs) ..LOL
Also read:
- Pathology Residency
NOTE: Salaries here are the 50th Percentile Salaries and may apply to mid-career levels - the lower percentile salaries (for fresh physicians) may actually be lower by 30,000- 40,000 $.
Read more on the American Association of Medical Colleges Website.
Google Keywords to this blog article:
- "pathologist salary 2006"
- "how much are pathology doctors paid in america"
- "route to pathology MD in USA"
Labels: Pathologist, Pathology
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posted by Digitaldoc, MD at 5:44 PM
Comments on "PATHOLOGIST SALARIES"
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Post Your Comment !Hi
Tell me how a foreign pathologist can get a job Here (USA)
GO TO A NEARBY PATHOLOGY CLINIC AND SHOW THEM ALL UR FORGIEN DOCUMENTS AND I GARANNTEED U WILL GET A JOB HERE..FORGIENS ARE MOST LIKLY SMARTER IN THAT AREA..
The above is hilarious...Anonymous has so many spelling and grammatical errors and yet he is giving advice on how to get a job in the US...and his caps lock is stuck
lol at the comments
oh my god you can see that theres lots of people that don't got any thing to do
is that how much a exp pathologist makes or starter
im looking for taking up a degree in pathogly
i likes the pathologies. i become great pathogenologist in the country of texas. Me likes to study the cancers
This is BS. First, second, and third year clinical path docs generally make $180K per year (for a single institution). I know because I live with one and his colleagues are making the above while he has two years of on the job experience (excluding residency and fellowship)and is making $133K at a private practice (responsible for almost forty institutions). You should probably do more research. Oh, and LA offered him only $120K.
These numbers sure surprise me. I worked for 18 years as a pathologist and never saw more than $170 in private practice five years ago; in academic medicine, I earn less with more experience. I was lucky to earn that much. So many of my colleagues were and still are out of work; someone said 30% of us are out of work and I believe it. Things are so tight that dozens and dozens of publications will not get you promoted in academic pathology; in contrast, seven publications in orthopedic surgery yields professorship. Every day I look for a pink slip.
There are no jobs in pathology in the US. There have not been many jobs here for decades. You are much, much better off going to Canada.
Check out the academic salary listing for 2007-08 for univ. Missouri columbia listed on this blog - Prof Pathology made >$300,000 in 2007
Cannot find the Univ. Missouri Columbia site on this blog. One robin does not make a spring. At my institution, non-Chairmen who are professors of Pathology, if they are lucky enough to become professors, make about $180,000. The chances of becoming a Professor of Pathology are, at best, one in five. Everyone else stays at Associate Professor, again only in Pathology, for their entire life. Because I am in a rural location, my salary, at about $170K (it's less than five years ago adjusted for inflation), is higher than it is for persons in a more desirable location.
The Professor you cite might also make that kind of cash because he or she is able to pull in grants of $2,000,000. It is amazing what University's will pay for people who can pull in grants.
By comparison, the STARTING salary in some Canadian provinces is over $200,000 (that's in American dollars).
The worst part of the field is the huge unemployment. It's sickening to see so many dreams shattered by this horrific field.
One other point. $300,000 is more than the Chairman of my department
makes.
There are always exceptions to the rule. There is a forensic pathologist somewhere who is making, one hears, $450,000! With such things, you have to wonder if something crooked is going on.
A better idea with respect to actual salaries can be obtained by evaluating the reports of the overseers of the University of Texas. Here’s the 2007 report.
http://www.utsystem.edu/BORMinutes/2000-current/8-07meeting1020.pdf
On page 259, you see the Chairman of the Pathology Department (note that he is not made a Full Professor), getting only $182,000! One professor on page 293 got $306,000, but that person happens to be one of the most famous pathologists in the history of the field; it is not a good idea in general to use Michael Jordan’s salary as a guide to what basketball players make. Moreover, that individual assuredly has a lot of grant money coming in. Another similarly salaried individual lies on page 283; presumably you would not say that an epidemiologist in general gets what an MD gets.
Texas, by the way, tends to be on the generous side when it comes to salaries.
Pathology is fun, but it is a terrible choice as a profession. Whenever you change jobs, you have to move great distances because of non-compete clauses. Relative to any other specialty, the pay stinks. Worst of all, employers are ruthless; they tend to fire people just after 1.5 years to avoid paying that IRA. This is not openly admitted; rather the fault is laid upon the hapless employee, who does not learn until much later that fourteen other persons suffered an identical fate. Unfortunately, there is also intense pressure in many cases to be dishonest with respect to patients. Unlike most other medical field, 99% of pathologists will greatly benefit from single payer. At that point, it might be a reasonable consideration as a job.
Pathologist finishing training here. No jobs. No one's biting. the poor house calls!!!!!!!!
As always there are exceptions to the rule. I have worked as a staff pathologist in a San Diego community hosptial for 15 years and made around 650K last year. I estimate either the same or slightly more this year 2009. I think that Pathology is one of medicine's best kept secrets. It's not glamorous but the life style is decent. There are definitely opportunities especially for those who are willing to do extra fellowships in dermatopathology and hematopathology. If I can swing it, I'd like to retire at age 55 (currently I'm in my mid 40's). good luck!
I find the $650K comment from 7/10/09 very hard to believe, or rare for California. I have 2 pathology friends, one graduated from USC, and she had a very hard time 1 year ago finding a job, and she's fellowship trained. The S. Cal market is very tough. I doubt the pay is >$200K in S. Cal, if you can find a job.
The pathology board certification is pain to the neck, especially the clinical pathology. The failing rate is so high. Furthermore, re-certification every ten years make your all your life stressful. To work in the private setting although making more than academic, the job stability is always issue. You can lost your job without reason.....
The job market in pathology is terrible this year in comparison with previous year. May be due to economy dow turn, also the uncertainty health reform. We'll see how it goes in next a few years.
What is the salary of Pathology informatics?
As an AP/CP board certified pathologist with subspecialty training in hematopathology and blood banking (so I will be quadruple-board certified), I can tell you that I have totally and completely wasted the past 10 years of my life on this dying field. I used to enjoy the intellectual challenge of this field. Now, everyday I practice saying "do you want fries with that?" The job market is abysmal, at least in the Northeast. I have a great CV (with research and teaching experience) and lack the personality disorders that are prevalent in this field. Yet, I am still unable to find a job. Thankfully, my husband is a primary care physician and his career is actually going somewhere.
Everyday, a bit more of my self-esteem dies knowing that when I finish my training, I will likely be unemployed. Comparing notes with my friends in other specialties, I have been on some of the strangest interviews ever. I've been told that I have a unique skill set that a community hospital wouldn't use and I've been told by an academic institution that my fellowship training was "too old school" (I did my one of my fellowships last year at a hospital with an excellent reputation) to be useful. I was recently invited to interview for a position that doesn't exist, but the department would like to meet me in case, by some miracle, a position opens in the future. Sadly, I have no other choice than to waste my time chasing windmills like this because nothing concrete has materialized. I have also been questioned as to whether I can still read generally biopsy slides, given my subspecialty training, as if my fellowships negated all of my basic pathology training. There are a lot of unscrupulous pathologists out there that would rather exploit a foreign medical graduate who will work cheap, six days a week, rather than employ an American grad at a half-decent salary. A number of private groups feature money-grubbing docs who would rather split the work of three pathologists among two rather than expend some of their shekels on a third person. Some hire pathology assistants to be physician-extenders.
My best advice to students interested in pathology is to run far, far away towards any other field.
Sadly, I am now too overqualified to do anything else and too far in debt to just drop the whole thing and go to law school or get an MBA. So, I guess I should set my sights on being a trophy wife, because all of my hopes for a successful, independent career have been shattered.
how about teaching at a medical school? Are there jobs there?
I suspect you put off this same sad attitude when interviewing- little wonder no offers- Who would want to hire this sad pathologist- dealing with death and cancer is bad enough let alone a partner that is such a downer. Good luck with the trophy wife- hope you have a happier outlook on that-
Where are all these pathologists looking for job? I tried to hire last year, and all I got was nutjobs asking for a huge amount of money, and scoffed at 200K salary. I'm hiring right now, but no suitable candidate has applied. I'm in northeast, pretty good location. Where are you looking when you look for job?
How can I contact the gentelman hiring now?
Look people - there is a wide variety of positions out there in pathology. It is a great field with intellectual challenge and interest. For trainees - don't fall into the Anatomic pathology only trap since the future belongs to those who have strong diagnostic skills but also understand laboratory medicine and have advanced training or expertise in molecular pathology.
With regard to salaries, if you are well trained at top tier place, genuinely like pathology and put in the effort to really learn it you will be well compensated. Active private practices are looking for good pathologists trained at name brand places who add value to the group and will make 400-600K at partnership. Academics are much less but can be more rewarding intellectually. Starting salaries as assistant professor can range form 140K - 180K and senior staff who are productive can be in the low-mid 300s. Note that published salaries by Universities likely DO NOT reflect total compensation since this is just the med school salary and does not include practice plan or hospital salary components (great way to mislead the public).
This post has been removed by the author.
I would also like to contact the manager in the NE looking to hire.
No one will do it cheaper than me, and I'm a decent pathologist to.
I'd like to add my experience to the discussion. I am AP/CP board certified and have been practicing for about 12 years. I left my last job 18 months ago after a dispute with my employers. I didn't have a job when i quit but wasn't at all worried about finding another. BIG MISTAKE. Here I am 18 months latter and in my opinion the US job market for pathologists is terrible, lousy, and next to non-existent.
I can hardly get anyone to even look at me let alone seriously consider hiring me. There are jobs out there but the competition is fierce. Admittedly I am a dinosaur not having a fellowship, but you would think 12 years in a busy practice would equal 1-2 years of fellowship. Apparently not.
I am as frustrated as I have ever been about this and am beginning to wonder if I will ever practice pathology again. I would advise anyone considering pathology as a career to think long and hard about it. I would not recommend it.
It is not a bad specialty as far as quality of life and daily practice. Far from it . I would think it would have to rate fairly high in those areas, The problem is it's too hard to find a job- just too many pathologists chasing too few jobs.
With respect to pay I think the figures given here around 225,000/year is probably about right, although My top salary was 175,000/year. Of course some people make more and some insanely high incomes but those are exceptional. But what difference does it make how much it pays if you can't even find a job.
If anyone here knows how I can get a job I would appreciate it. I really need to work, and NO ONE will do it cheaper than me.
There. I feel a lot better now. Thanks for reading this.
I see that not much has changed over 25 years. Job market has fluctuated, but never excellent. I made a good fortune from my work, and I can attest that 400k for 40 hrs of regular work, in a partnership, is a norm. I do not doubt a few select (and lucky) ones can make more, and much more.
My advice to students:
1-for shy and reserved individuals pathology will be stressful (probably, this is just the opposite of common belief). So if you are shy and reserved, I would strongly recommend some other specialty.
2-US pathology practice pattern allows for exploitation of "many" by "few". Too often, this "few" will hold an exclusive contract with hospitals, will hire "many" at lower wage and keep the difference and job security for themselves.
Although, I became very wealthy from pathology (from honest and hard work), I would strongly dissuade "most" medical students from going into the field.
To Blog Author:
I posted something last night and would like to edit before it is made public.
Could you allow me it?
Thanks
Readers can't be editors - but you are welcome to post it as a new comment, and I shall remove the old one. Thanks !
I'm about to finish fellowship and also find a lack of jobs that fit what I've been trained for. Fortunately I did pick a field that does have a lot of jobs open but I'm picky with location. In general, for those aspiring to be pathologists, the job market is the 2nd worst of all medicine fields (only behind Nuclear Medicine). Know that going in. Sometimes you just have to know where to look.
As for salary. I've seen posted salaries of 400k and 450k for pathology jobs. So spare me the 170k only...
There is so much discrepancy here in what pathology salary is. Could people please state where they are getting the number and what geographic area/state we are talking about? And also clarify the number of years in practice, and what fellowship/subspecialty training associated with the salary amount.
One reason why the job market is even worse is that GI and GU docs are going out opening their own laboratory to collect on what the pathologist is making and also charge for the facility fee. They hire their own pathologist at a fraction of cost, and drive community pathologists out job. You really should be looking into political action to prevent this kind behavior.
Where did you find the posted salary of 400-450K? are you talking about dermpath? I really can't imagine that being general pathologist.