Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
Physicians, Pathologists
Diagnose diseases and conduct lab tests using organs, body tissues, and fluids. Includes medical examiners.
Also called: Anatomic Pathologist, Cytopathologist, Dermatopathologist, Forensic Pathologist, Hematopathologist, Neuropathologist
- Median pay in Greater Boston
- $285,240
- $137.14/hr
- Jobs in Greater Boston
- 240
- Massachusetts 2024–2034
- +1.7%
- 10 openings a year
- Typical U.S. entry requirement
- Doctoral or professional degree
- plus Internship/residency
Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.
Pay range in Greater Boston
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $93,100 | $236,560 | $285,240 | $330,820 | $459,920 |
10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.
What you’d do
- 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.
- Read current literature, talk with colleagues, or participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in pathology.
AI and this job
AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.
Moderate exposure59 of 100
The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:
- AIOE 63
- Language-model AIOE 62
- GPTs-are-GPTs 52
Observed AI use today: Substantial (Anthropic Economic Index)
AI exposure for pathologists is moderate, and observed AI use is already substantial. AI tools can help with looking at microscopic samples for patterns and with drafting pathology reports. Diagnosing disease, tying findings to a patient's condition, and talking with surgeons and other doctors still rely on the pathologist's training and judgment.
Likely to change
- Screening microscopic samples for abnormalities
- Drafting pathology reports and summaries
Still relies on people
- Making final diagnoses from many kinds of tests
- Discussing findings with surgeons and physicians
Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.
Training near Boston
College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).
0 programs near Boston (plus 3 graduate)
No programs below a master’s degree near Boston map to this job. Tick the box above to see graduate programs.
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