Pathology is a medical specialty that provides the scientific foundation for medical practice. The pathologist works with all other medical specialties, using the tools of laboratory medicine to provide information essential to problem solving in clinical practice.

Many pathologists are generalists concerned with all facets of disease that can be examined in the laboratory; others specialize. Anatomic pathologists use information gathered from microscopic examination and concentrate on abnormal morphology; clinical pathologists obtain and interpret clinical laboratory data as needed for diagnosis and patient care. There are pathology specialties concerned with every category of disease. Graduate training in many of these specialties is described in this Directory under “Training in Specialized Areas of Pathology.” Pathologists can be certified to practice in the following subspecialties in the United States:

Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine
Chemical Pathology
Cytopathology
Dermatopathology
Forensic Pathology
Hematology
Medical Microbiology
Molecular Genetic Pathology
Neuropathology
Pediatric Pathology

Last updated: 10/15/2009