Interested in Pathology

[tbird9396]

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Hi Everyone,

I have recently become very interested in pathology. I am only a junior in high school but I found this area of medicine really interseting. I am also in a biotechnology program at my school and I have grown a real interest in research and labwork. My question is: are there subspecialties in Pathology? If so, do you mind describing them? Also are some more lab test based then biopsy base. I don't mind disecting things. Ive distected several things in AP Bio and had no issue (i know that dissecting a frog or a cat isnt the same as a human, but still). Its just that I really enjoy doing lab tests myself and being able to get results, which is also a part of the reason that I am interested in pathology because you can make a diagnosis and give answers that others can't. Thanks for reading this and any comments are highly appreciated! 🙂

 

[deleted314957]

i am sure that molecular pathology will be a board certifiable within the field of pathology by the time you come along. you could do a clinical pathology only residency as opposed to anatomic and clinical pathology but that, coupled with molecular path would almost certainly limit you to very large hospital academics.

 

[yaah]

Molecular pathology already is a board -certified specialty. You can do it via either AP or CP, to my knowledge.

 

[sirenomelia]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathology

Hi Tbird. Please see the link above. Most people associate pathology only with autopsies and forensics shows, but it is a very large and diverse field. There are even specialists in animal pathology/ diseases as I see your status is listed as pre-vet. The wiki page does not do it full justice but gives a short introduction to pathology.

 

[KCShaw]

Keep in mind it's also a long way off, so there's time to learn more as you go along.

There are two main certifications within pathology, anatomic pathology (AP) and clinical pathology (CP), which the wiki link describes in very basic terms. Basically, most of anatomic pathology and its subspecialties focus on using the microscope to examine tissue specimens, while most of clinical pathology and its subspecialties focus on various laboratory testing of primarily fluid specimens. That's oversimplified, but is the basic breakdown.

Many residents training in pathology go for combined certification in both, but that isn't required. There are also multiple subspecialties -- some of them with their own formal board certification (see link below), and some which are talked about a lot but don't have their own certification (gastrointestinal, genitourinary, breast, etc.). The American Board of Pathology website lists the subspecialties they certify ( http://www.abpath.org/Exams.htm ) -- I linked to the exams page as each certified subspecialty has its own exam, it's just an easy way to point to a formal listing.

After training, most pathologists do few to zero autopsies, unless one tracks into forensic pathology. Many people find as they go along through college, then medical school, and sometimes not until residency, that their interests change for one reason or another, but I think it's good that you're at least looking down the line and trying to learn what you can rather than stumble blindly into or out of it.