What does an anatomic pathologist do?
Anatomic pathologist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real anatomic pathologist resumes:
- 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.
- Observe therapy services provide by speech language therapist, occupational and physical therapist.
Anatomic pathologist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 23% of Anatomic Pathologists are proficient in Necropsy, Dictation, and Diagnosis. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Organizational skills, and Physical stamina.
We break down the percentage of Anatomic Pathologists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Necropsy, 23%
Assisted histology and necropsy laboratories attending client's needs by investigating and establishing new techniques and improving current ones.
- Dictation, 23%
Perform dissections of tissues with dictation of a gross description Preparation of clinical summary using Path-Sys software
- Diagnosis, 23%
Interpreted laboratory finding and diagnosis to patients.
- GLP, 19%
Employed as a veterinary pathologist in the Division of Drug Safety working on the development of novel therapeutics in GLP environment.
- Surgical Pathology, 8%
Provided surgical pathology and cytology services, and laboratory supervision of forty technicians in 330-bed community hospital.
- IHC, 3%
Edit and create IHC protocols as needed.
"necropsy," "dictation," and "diagnosis" are among the most common skills that anatomic pathologists use at work. You can find even more anatomic pathologist responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. One of the key soft skills for an anatomic pathologist to have is communication skills. You can see how this relates to what anatomic pathologists do because "physicians and surgeons need to be excellent communicators." Additionally, an anatomic pathologist resume shows how anatomic pathologists use communication skills: "programmed and provided instruction in the use of augmentative and alternative communication devices. "
Organizational skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling anatomic pathologist duties is organizational skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "good recordkeeping and other organizational skills are critical in both medical and business settings." According to an anatomic pathologist resume, here's how anatomic pathologists can utilize organizational skills in their job responsibilities: "led organizational efforts to achieve iso 9001 certification of laboratory services. "
Physical stamina. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of anatomic pathologists is physical stamina. This skill is critical to many everyday anatomic pathologist duties, as "physicians and surgeons should be comfortable lifting or turning disabled patients, or performing other physical tasks." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "observed therapy services provided by speech language therapist, occupational and physical therapist. "
Problem-solving skills. anatomic pathologist responsibilities often require "problem-solving skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "physicians and surgeons need to evaluate patients’ symptoms and administer the appropriate treatments." This resume example shows what anatomic pathologists do with problem-solving skills on a typical day: "result interpretation and laboratory diagnosis emission, doubts solution and remote assistant to veterinary clinicians; cytology samples collection. "
The three companies that hire the most anatomic pathologists are:
- Baylor Scott & White Health4 anatomic pathologists jobs
- Emory Healthcare2 anatomic pathologists jobs
- Tempus2 anatomic pathologists jobs
Compare different anatomic pathologists
Anatomic pathologist vs. Pathology laboratory director
An Associate Professor of Pathology specializes in teaching pathology courses to undergraduate and graduate students at universities or colleges. Their job entails developing curricula and course materials, administering examinations and quizzes, organizing laboratory activities and demonstrations, facilitating discussions, and keeping an eye on their academic progress. They may also participate in various research programs, pathology projects, and committee works. Moreover, they organize seminars for the students and invite experts as guests, helping to broaden the students' knowledge and insights.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between anatomic pathologists and pathology laboratory director. For instance, anatomic pathologist responsibilities require skills such as "dvm," "acvp," "necropsy," and "histochemistry." Whereas a pathology laboratory director is skilled in "regulatory agencies," "infection control," "lis," and "speech language pathology." This is part of what separates the two careers.
The education levels that pathology laboratory directors earn slightly differ from anatomic pathologists. In particular, pathology laboratory directors are 30.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an anatomic pathologist. Additionally, they're 3.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Anatomic pathologist vs. Associate professor of pathology
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that anatomic pathologist responsibilities requires skills like "dvm," "anatomic pathology," "acvp," and "necropsy." But an associate professor of pathology might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "research projects," "immunology," "resident training," and "american association."
In general, associate professors of pathology achieve similar levels of education than anatomic pathologists. They're 0.7% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 3.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Anatomic pathologist vs. Molecular genetic pathologist
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, anatomic pathologists are more likely to have skills like "dvm," "anatomic pathology," "acvp," and "necropsy." But a molecular genetic pathologist is more likely to have skills like "dna," "molecular genetics," "pcr," and "immunology."
When it comes to education, molecular genetic pathologists tend to earn similar degree levels compared to anatomic pathologists. In fact, they're 2.9% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 5.7% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Anatomic pathologist vs. Surgical pathologist
Even though a few skill sets overlap between anatomic pathologists and surgical pathologists, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an anatomic pathologist might have more use for skills like "dvm," "anatomic pathology," "acvp," and "necropsy." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of surgical pathologists require skills like "laboratory medicine," "clinical pathology," "pathology services," and "gyn. "
Surgical pathologists reach higher levels of education compared to anatomic pathologists, in general. The difference is that they're 10.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 9.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of anatomic pathologist
Updated January 8, 2025
