Pathologist vs therapist

The differences between pathologists and therapists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a pathologist has an average salary of $61,808, which is higher than the $55,943 average annual salary of a therapist.

The top three skills for a pathologist include patients, patient care and diagnosis. The most important skills for a therapist are social work, patients, and group therapy sessions.

Pathologist vs therapist overview

	Pathologist	Therapist
Yearly salary	$61,808	$55,943
Hourly rate	$29.72	$26.90
Growth rate	7%	17%
Number of jobs	20,340	159,770
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	48	41
Years of experience	6	-

What does a pathologist do?

Pathologists are medical healthcare professionals who are responsible for conducting examinations of bodies and body tissues. These pathologists must perform laboratory tests of body fluids and tissues to help primary care doctors make a diagnosis about the health of patients who are with chronic conditions. They specialize in genetic testing that will examine a tissue biopsy to determine whether a tumor is benign or cancerous. Pathologists must also perform autopsies to inform family members of the deceased about the cause of death and help them take preventive action for their own health.

What does a therapist do?

A therapist is responsible for improving the patients' health conditions by evaluating their needs and providing physical and mental support. Therapists are licensed, medical professionals who specialize in different areas to perform treatments and bring relief to patients. Some of their duties include diagnosing patient's problems, performing counseling services, monitoring medication progress, customizing therapy activities for pain management, and consulting other health professionals as needed. Therapists must have extensive knowledge with the medical industry to detect patients' conditions easily and provide effective medications.

Pathologist vs therapist salary

Pathologists and therapists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Pathologist	Therapist
Average salary	$61,808	$55,943
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $148,000	Between $39,000 And $80,000
Highest paying City	Anchorage, AK	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	California
Best paying company	UT Medical Group, Inc.	Childhelp
Best paying industry	-	Government

Differences between pathologist and therapist education

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

	Pathologist	Therapist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Physiology And Anatomy	Psychology
Most common college	Stanford University	California State University - Long Beach

Pathologist vs therapist demographics

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

	Pathologist	Therapist
Average age	48	41
Gender ratio	Male, 40.7% Female, 59.3%	Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6%
Race ratio	Black 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, 4.0% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 11.3% White, 72.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	13%	12%

Differences between pathologist and therapist 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.

Therapist example responsibilities.

Manage ventilator and BiPAP's and create or update care plans per patient needs.
Demonstrate working knowledge of community mental health services identify in the Medicaid guidelines and attain contractual outcomes within designate time frames.
Provide on-call crisis intervention as well as standard treatment, rehabilitation and support services with some interventions requiring specialize therapy services.
Develop and implement an effective curriculum of DBT inform group and art therapy classes specifically tailor for chemically dependent patients.
Provide trauma-inform individual psychotherapy, TREM group treatment protocol, and EMDR.
Utilize current brain base therapeutic techniques to teach clients adaptive skills to utilize in daily lives.

Pathologist vs therapist skills

Common pathologist skills

Patients, 31%
Patient Care, 11%
Diagnosis, 8%
GI, 4%
GYN, 4%
Frozen Sections, 3%

Common therapist skills

Social Work, 23%
Patients, 12%
Group Therapy Sessions, 8%
Crisis Intervention, 7%
Mental Health, 4%
Patient Care, 3%

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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Pathologist
Pathologist vs Therapist

Updated January 8, 2025

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