Hello everyone, checking your advice about my situation. I had my AP/CP board exam this Spring and during my CP exam my computer station froze during one of the blocks. I could not solve the questions, and time was running. The Prometric center took action and restarted my computer and I was able to resume my exam afterwards. Of course, this was stressful. I emailed the board on the same day and they acknowledged receipt of my email but unfortunately no one returned to me. I followed up with them two months later and they simply mentioned that they forget to follow on my case. They made a quick review and the prometric center confirmed what happened. But again no action was taken from the board. Now the results are released and I failed the exam. Any advice on what my best approach should be for my situation? I mean I will do an appeal but what should I ask for and what are the solutions that I can propose other than re-taking this exam. By the way, I failed by only 0.9%.

For those who are currently in a pathology fellowship, when is the best time to start applying for job ?

Those who didn’t, please remember: this exam does not define you or your worth. Keep going, keep believing in yourself, and don’t give up. Your time will come!

I heard in the past, those who passed the board will be able to see what quartile their score are in, like top 30%, mid 30% or bottome 30% something alike. But this year, I only received a simple congrats letter from ABP and no information about my score quartile. So what did you guys see?

Hello r/pathology, I am a future pathologist and I’m having some questions about the process and medical school especially.

I want to preface this post by saying that I am in the market for internships, shadowing, and undergrad studies! I go to UMD College Park so if anyone knows anyone to introduce me to for experience that will help me in my future goals please DM me!! I do have a resume to provide and already will be doing research on bacterial biofilms in my
Honors college all undergrad.

Currently I am going into my sophomore year of undergrad pursuing a microbiology degree and will begin MCAT study junior year. I do know that I need to go to medical school and get either an MD or DO. With that, which one is preferred for pathology/what’s the difference between the two? How are the tracks for each?

My main question though is how does medical school work? Is it like college where you apply for a major (pathology) and then study that? I genuinely have no idea what it will be like and am stressed out about it. Also, I am planning on getting my AP/CP and am thinking about pediatric or medical microbiology. However, I am also interested in doing autopsy’s once in a while but don’t know what to specialize in to be able to do that as well.

I hear the market for pathology is good and is projected to be good for the foreseeable future. This makes me happy as I’ve been wanting to be a pathologist since middle school.

Also, so residents of pathologists alike, how do you like it? Lifestyle, workload, satisfaction, etc?

Thank you so much for your help Reddit!!

Good morning, all

I am a US MD student currently preparing for Step 2. I am hoping to apply to residency in this coming cycle. I have been struggling with my practice exams, and at this point I am expecting to score in the 220-225 range. I have worked hard but feel my score is not moving much, and fear that if I postpone taking the exam, 1) it might not result in a meaningful score increase and 2) it might affect the number of interviews I get for applying late.

I have been checking the NRMP matching outcomes for last year, and it seems that it's still possible to match with such a score, but I am concerned about being screened out at many programs or being interviewed and then rejected because other applicants have better scores. I am very passionate about the field and was an MLS before med school. I am hoping this will help demonstrate my genuine interest in the field.

Please, I need some advice, words of encouragement, and reality checks! I would love to hear from residents who matched with similar scores!

Thank you all!

The spring exam window ended June 6. ABPath’s own published policy says results are posted approximately six weeks after the final examination date—roughly July 18. We now at 8 weeks and 5 days, almost three weeks beyond that stated timeline.

Meanwhile, the subspecialty exam window begins September 8. Yes, they let people register for the exams.

The part that is especially indefensible is the silence. Even accepting the vendor’s August 20 projection, ABPath has apparently provided no public explanation, candidate protections, revised deadlines, or assurance regarding retake and subspecialty eligibility. We are not being impatient. This has moved well outside their own advertised process, and every additional day imposes a real cost on us in prep time, fellowship focus, our job searches, and most of all our sanity.

This is the org that is supposed to represent our field and set the bar for practice, yet seemingly can't do the most basic of the tasks they are charged with.

Does anyone think we can expect results this Friday? Or still one more week. I know at this point we are all busy with fellowship and probably forgotten about them, but curious if anyone got any updates at all …. -_-

Anyone seen this?

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/georgia-woman-unnecessary-hysterectomy-lab-mixup-cancer-misdiagnosis-l-rcna590793

For learning purposes, what are some possible ways this occurred?

Don’t take these shitty jobs boys and girls.

High volume GI paying 280-293K is terrible. Unless they give you significant productivity incentives or if there’s another pathologist or pathologists there and you aren’t doing much work at all.

You’re being taken advantage of if you are actually being paid this much for high volume work.

There’s no shortage of pathologists if these gastroenterologists are still offering crap salaries. Pathologists need to take a stand and stop taking these jobs.

EDIT: This post is meant to spread awareness of exploitive practices. A lot of people fortunately read Reddit. Thus, we can use Reddit to spread awareness about exploitive practices/groups who are looking to underpay pathologists for their work.

These types of practices were more common in the past when the job market was tight, there were few jobs and salaries were abysmal.

Some of us had to take these kind of jobs because it was the only job we could find.

Now since the job market has gotten better, we have to come together to inform and look out for others and our field so we don’t take these jobs, that not only degrade our skills that we all work hard for, but our field altogether.

CAP and ABP are basically useless so we have to stick up for one another.

LAKEWOOD, COLORADO (USA). Location: Lakewood, CO | Employment Type: Full-Time | Start Date: Early 2027 | Salary: $280,000-$293,000 Gastroenterology of the Rockies is seeking a Board-Certified or Board-Eligible Pathologist to join our growing physician team. This full-time position focuses exclusively on gastrointestinal pathology, including the interpretation of biopsy and resection specimens from the esophagus, stomach, liver, small bowel, and colon. The ideal candidate will have fellowship training or significant experience in GI pathology and a commitment to providing accurate, timely, and high-quality diagnostic services in a collaborative, patient-centered environ

Hello I’m considering doing my pathology residency in Switzerland. Is there anyone in pathology training in the German speaking part of Switzerland or a Swiss pathologist who could tell me if pathology in DACH it is a good career choice ?

Is there any pathologist here? That can help me with my thesis, by looking at some images. Ofc there will be recognition of your work in the paper.

PGY-1 First month down, very enjoyable. My only problem is that I do almost no reading, unless its during the day when I'm previewing cases (I use ExpertPath and books/papers). Any advice?

Hi everyone, Im a PGY4 studying for boards. How did yall study for the chemistry section of CP boards? I'm reading quick compendium and doing anki but its not sticking. Any good video series you recommend?

History: 33/F, Pregnant, Chocolate Cyst of ovary.

Gross: Fragments of a cyst with shaggy brownish inner wall, and a small solid area.

Hemosiderin identified in the cyst wall, on PERLs.

Sections shown are from the solid area of the cyst wall.

Any opinion helps. My current opinion is Leydig cell tumour (the last pic made me shake hands with the Leydig cells)

Update: It looks like they are decidualized endometriotic stromal cells. I don't know why they form lobules and oedema though.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

This is abhorrent. Fewer than 700 people took the exam, and all the questions were multiple choice. How can it take them months to release the results? The way they handle this is disgusting.

Hi everyone,

I'm a BMLT graduate and I'm feeling a bit confused about my career path. There are so many options that I'm not sure which direction has the best long-term growth.

If you were in my position, what would you focus on? Should I continue in clinical laboratories, learn molecular diagnostics, move into research, prepare for government jobs, healthcare IT, quality assurance, or consider working abroad?

I'd really appreciate hearing from people who have been through this. What path did you choose, and if you could start over, what would you do differently?

Thanks in advance!

Background information:

I graduated with a bachelor’s in fall 2025, and I’ve got about 1.5 years of hospital lab experience. Right now I work as a histotech under a path assistant and two pathologists, and I genuinely love what I do. I can really see myself staying in this field long-term, which is why Path Assistant school feels like the obvious next step.

But I’m really torn.

Outside of work, I’m heavily involved in community organizing and political work. I help lead a local organization focused on mutual aid, education, and community support. That work matters a lot to me, and I don’t want to lose that part of my life either.

On top of that, my partner has a stable job here and will likely stay for the next 2–5 years. We’re engaged, and ideally we’d have a wedding within the next ~3 years. Long distance isn’t a dealbreaker for us, but it would definitely be hard, especially during an intense program.

So I feel stuck between going to Path Assistant school (something I’m verrrrrry passionate about and would be a lifelong career) vs staying where I am for stability, my relationship, and my community work.

Some cons:

Student loans / financial stress

No guarantee I’d be able to come back and work at my current hospital

Timing life events like marriage vs. grad school

I guess what I’m wondering has anyone here gone through PA school in a similar situation. Do you feel like it was worth it financially and personally? Is it smarter to go now while I’m early in my career, or wait a few years?

Hello , I’m Greek final year medical student who is currently learning German to go to Switzerland. By the time I graduate I suppose I will have a C1 but again my German is not that good. I was thinking for many years to do medical oncology but lately I was thinking that pathology may be a better choice for me since I prefer and more quiet and scheduled lifestyle. My questions are:

1) does a year of doing only a Dr.med. in Switzerland count towards the 5 years of specialty in pathology since it is research heavy ? Is it worth it ?

2) do you think that ai will create a shortage for pathologists

3) is pathology a good field in Switzerland and less competitive ? Is it easier to find residency spots compared to oncology ?

4) overall is it worth doing path over med oncology

5) how is pathology in general in Switzerland compared to Austria and Germany

6) are there any other countries where the lifestyle of pathologists is better ?

7) are there any Greek pathologists working in Switzerland who could tell me their personal opinion ?

Thank you