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Pathologist vs surgical pathologist

The differences between pathologists and surgical pathologists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a pathologist and a surgical pathologist. Additionally, a pathologist has an average salary of $61,808, which is higher than the $53,133 average annual salary of a surgical pathologist.

The top three skills for a pathologist include patients, patient care and diagnosis. The most important skills for a surgical pathologist are surgical pathology, laboratory medicine, and clinical pathology.

Pathologist vs surgical pathologist overview

PathologistSurgical Pathologist
Yearly salary$61,808$53,133
Hourly rate$29.72$25.54
Growth rate7%7%
Number of jobs20,34044,179
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 40%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age4848
Years of experience66

Pathologist vs surgical pathologist salary

Pathologists and surgical pathologists have different pay scales, as shown below.

PathologistSurgical Pathologist
Average salary$61,808$53,133
Salary rangeBetween $25,000 And $148,000Between $24,000 And $114,000
Highest paying CityAnchorage, AK-
Highest paying stateAlaska-
Best paying companyUT Medical Group, Inc.-
Best paying industry--

Differences between pathologist and surgical pathologist education

There are a few differences between a pathologist and a surgical pathologist in terms of educational background:

PathologistSurgical Pathologist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 40%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common majorPhysiology And AnatomyPhysiology And Anatomy
Most common collegeStanford UniversityUniversity of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Pathologist vs surgical pathologist demographics

Here are the differences between pathologists' and surgical pathologists' demographics:

PathologistSurgical Pathologist
Average age4848
Gender ratioMale, 40.7% Female, 59.3%Male, 30.8% Female, 69.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 5.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 20.4% White, 59.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 6.4% Asian, 19.9% White, 65.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage13%13%

Differences between pathologist and surgical pathologist duties and responsibilities

Pathologist example responsibilities.

  • Supervise and manage pathology, microbiology and biochemistry laboratory.
  • Provide consultations to care providers and interpret laboratory findings and diagnosis to patients.
  • Screen by ELISA & immunoblots.
  • Result in answering an FDA concern regarding device.
  • Participate in FDA submissions, plan 510k and PMA submissions.
  • Perform oncology markers and hormonal assays by Elisa and Delfia system.
  • Show more

Surgical pathologist example responsibilities.

  • 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.
  • Define embolic material as originating from delivery catheter, not from study device.

Pathologist vs surgical pathologist skills

Common pathologist skills
  • Patients, 31%
  • Patient Care, 11%
  • Diagnosis, 8%
  • GI, 4%
  • GYN, 4%
  • Frozen Sections, 3%
Common surgical pathologist skills
  • Surgical Pathology, 36%
  • Laboratory Medicine, 22%
  • Clinical Pathology, 14%
  • Pathology Services, 6%
  • GYN, 6%
  • GI, 5%

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