Clinical pathologists work in hospital labs and pathology groups to practice as consultant physicians, developing and applying knowledge of tissue and laboratory analyses to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of individual patients. As scientists, they use the tools of laboratory science in clinical studies, disease models, and other experimental systems, to advance the understanding and treatment of disease.
Clinical pathologists in a pathology group administer a number of visual and microscopic tests and an especially large variety of tests of the biophysical properties of tissue samples involving automated analyzers and cultures. Sometimes the general term “laboratory medicine specialist” is used to refer to those working in clinical pathology, including medical doctors, PhDs and doctors of pharmacology.
According to the world’s largest professional membership organization for clinical pathologists and laboratory professionals, the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), “Pathologists are problem-solvers, fascinated by the process of disease and eager to unlock medical mysteries, like AIDS and diabetes, using the tools of laboratory medicine and its sophisticated instruments and methods. Pathologists make it possible to apply scientific advances to improve the accuracy and efficiency of medical diagnosis and treatment.”
Becoming a pathologist entails one of the lengthiest education and training tracks of all physicians. Requirements include four years of undergraduate study, plus four years of medical school, plus a minimum of four to five years of post-graduate training in pathology residency.
The American Board of Pathology certifies clinical pathologists, and recognizes the following secondary specialties of clinical pathology:
Clinical pathologists work in close collaboration with clinical scientists (clinical biochemists, clinical microbiologists, etc.), medical technologists (MTs), clinical laboratory scientists (CLS), hospital administrators, and referring physicians to ensure the accuracy and optimal utilization of laboratory testing.
Clinical pathology is one of the two major divisions of pathology, the other being anatomic pathology. Often, pathologists practice both anatomical and clinical pathology, a combination sometimes known as general pathology.
According to the ASCP, “there are approximately 12,000 board certified pathologists in the U.S. who practice their specialty in community, university, and government hospitals and clinics, in independent laboratories, or in private offices, clinics, and other health care facilities.”
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 11 – August 12, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: After publishing research in JAMA Network Open showing a coming shortage of pathologists in the United States, the researchers heard from pathologists whose experience in the job market did not match what the researchers found. Anecdotal evidence indicates that the demand for pathologists may vary widely from region to region and in urban
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXIV, No. 16 – November 20, 2017 issue
CEO SUMMARY: With each passing year, the primary role of hospital and health system labs evolves in a different direction than that of independent lab companies. This trend is a response to the creation of integrated delivery networks paid on value and how they are scored on their ability to keep patients out of hospitals
By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXIV, No. 12 – August 28, 2017 issue
IMPORTANT CHANGES ARE POISED TO TRANSFORM genetic testing. As this happens, there will be a new crop of winners and losers among genetic testing labs.
Recent events can be interpreted as favoring two trends that most genetic testing companies consider as unfavorable to their interests. One trend is adoption of genetic test prior-authorization programs by health
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXIV, No. 7 – May 15, 2017 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Among the major themes to emerge from the more than 60 sessions and 100 speakers at this year’s Executive War College on Lab and Pathology Management were the accelerating pace of integrated care, the growth of precision medicine, and use of big data to guide physicians. Other issues centered on labs’ need to
By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXIV, No. 4 – March 13, 2017 issue
IT IS TIMELY TO ASK THE QUESTION, “Are the nation’s clinical laboratories prepared to deal with the multiple challenges already visible in the healthcare marketplace today?”
What leads me to ask this question is the unexpected number of deals involving the hospital lab outreach programs announced since the start of the year. Certainly the sale of
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXIV, No. 3 – February 21, 2017 issue
CEO SUMMARY: At the University of Michigan Medical Center, the Department of Pathology is learning new ways to add value that include face-to-face meetings with patients as part of UMMC’s patient- and family-centered care initiative. One lesson learned is that patients appreciate the opportunity to get a better understanding of the results from both anatomic
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXIV, No. 1 – January 9, 2017 issue
December 27 was the 100th birthday of pathologist Jan Steiner, MD, FRCP (C), FCAP, remembered by many long-serving lab executives and clinical pathologists as one of the co-founders, along with James Root, PhD, of Chi Laboratory Systems in the late 1980s. This was a time when he was already in his 70s. He worked with Chi
By Mary Van Doren, from the Volume XXIII No. 17 – December 19, 2016 issue
This is an excerpt from a 3,200-word article in the December 19 issue of THE DARK REPORT. The complete article is available for a limited time to all readers, and available at all times to paid members of the Dark Intelligence Group.
CEO SUMMARY: THE DARK REPORT’S annual list of the Lab Industry’s Top 10 stories for
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXIII No. 17 – December 19, 2016 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Within THE DARK REPORT’S list of the Top 10 Lab Industry Stories for 2016 is one story of disruption that might have been one story of disruption about to happen. The disintegration of Theranos during 2016 is the big story about a self-proclaimed disruptor of the lab industry that finds itself struggling just
By R. Lewis Dark, from the Volume XXIII, No. 8 – June 13, 2016 issue
OFFICIALS AT THE FEDERAL CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES are at what may be the most important crossroads in the history of clinical laboratory regulation since Congress passed the CLIA 1988 legislation. Will CMS pursue the severe sanctions it disclosed to Theranos, Inc., and force the lab to close? Or will it soften its
