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Master Pre-health academy supports quizzes, terminology, career profiles, and experience guidance across 220 pages for future healthcare students and learners.

Career Library

Technical & Diagnostic

Pathologists' Assistant (PathA)

Dissects and describes surgical specimens for the pathologist — high pay, heavy anatomy, no patients.

Years after high school

Degree

Master's degree

Entrance exam

GRE at some programs

Median pay

BLS does not publish a standalone national median for pathologists' assistants. This profile therefore does not substitute the broader laboratory-technologist wage as if it were PathA-specific.

What the job is actually like

Gross examination: receiving surgical specimens, orienting and dissecting them, describing findings, and submitting sections for processing. Some positions include autopsy work. You are hands-on with human tissue for most of the day.

The path

014 year bachelor's degree in a biological science
022 year accredited pathologists' assistant master's program
03ASCP PA certification

Good fit if

Anatomy and pathology genuinely fascinate you
You want procedural work and strong pay without patient care
You are willing to relocate for one of the few programs

Think twice if

Autopsies and specimen handling would distress you
You need patient relationships to find work meaningful
Competitive, relocation-dependent admissions would deter you

Source-checked career data

Editorial review: September 7, 2026
Review owner: Kraena Pre-Health editorial team
Data period: ASCP and NAACLS role/training evidence reviewed September 2026 · no standalone BLS series
Checked fields: PathA scope, accredited-program route and ASCP credential eligibility; no unsupported proxy wage/outlook

Primary sources

National data are a comparison point, not a personal guarantee. Pay, scope, admission requirements, and timelines vary by location and program.

Job outlook

BLS does not publish a standalone employment projection for pathologists' assistants.

Cost and debt

Two years of graduate tuition against strong earning potential — a favourable ratio, if you can get into one of the few programs.

Licensure

ASCP PA certification

Learn more

AAPA (pathassist.org), ASCP (ascp.org)

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All salary figures here are median annual wages from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 — the most recent full national dataset. 'Median' means half of workers earn more and half earn less. Three things to keep in mind: (1) pay varies enormously by state, city, setting, and experience — a nurse in California and a nurse in rural Alabama earn very different salaries; (2) training lengths are typical, not guaranteed, and programs differ; (3) these numbers change every year. Always verify current figures at bls.gov/ooh before making a decision. For context, the BLS median wage for all U.S. occupations was $50,980, while healthcare practitioner and technical occupations had a median of $86,530 — one of the reasons health care is such a stable field.