The faculty member who teaches medical pathology to medical students or residents — covering disease mechanisms at the cellular and tissue level, autopsy practice, and the clinical reasoning pathology contributes to diagnosis. Half academic faculty, half practicing pathologist.
Most days tend to involve a blend of classroom and small-group teaching, lab and microscopy supervision, and continued clinical practice — leading didactic sessions, walking students through case-based pathology, and signing out cases. You'll often spend part of the time on scholarly work — research, case reports, or curriculum work.
The harder part is often the visual and pattern-recognition nature of pathology learning, where understanding develops over many cases and is hard to accelerate. You'll typically work with learners at varied readiness, while maintaining the technical standards that diagnostic pathology requires.
People who tend to thrive here are clinically expert, patient with the long arc of pathology training, and scholarly. The trade-off is the salary differential with private pathology practice and the cumulative work of academic responsibilities. If you find satisfaction in shaping pathologists whose diagnoses shape patient care for years, the work can carry quiet, durable impact.
Where this role sits in the broader career landscape — and where it can take you.
Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
The faculty member who teaches medical pathology to medical students or residents — covering disease mechanisms at the cellular and tissue level, autopsy practice, and the clinical reasoning pathology contributes to diagnosis. Half academic faculty, half practicing pathologist.
Median pay for a Medical Pathology Teacher is about $106K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $52K to $208K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Instructing, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Active Listening, and Writing.
Most people in this role hold a master's degree.
Employment in this field is projected to grow about 17.3% through 2034, with roughly 229,720 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Health Teacher, First Aid Teacher, and Clinical Instructor.
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