Pathologists

Certification or Licensing

At an early point in the residency period, all physicians must pass a state medical board examination to obtain a license and enter practice. Each state sets its own requirements and issues its own licenses, although some states will accept licenses from other states. The American Board of Pathology and the American Osteopathic Board of Pathology are the governing boards for pathologist certification.

A pathologist can pursue certification along three primary paths—an anatomical pathology program, a clinical pathology program, or a combined anatomical and clinical pathology program. Once a pathologist has completed certification, he or she can earn subspecialty certification in a particular area of pathology. Gaining certification in a specialty generally requires an additional one to two years of training, although there is a potential for combining this training with the standard pathology residency program.