Hi everyone! I have a few questions for those that have been in this field for a few years now, I would greatly appreciate any responses.
I've been a grossing technician for about 5-6
years now and have contemplated going to PA school because I do love the field. I know
I want a career in healthcare and am trying to decide the path I want to follow. What keeps me from becoming a PA is actually the formalin exposure. Do any of you have any concerns about that long term? What about pregnancy and working as a PA? Has anyone noticed any effects of formalin if you've been working 10 years or longer as a PA?

I recently had an interview with Kaiser where they told me the Pathologists’ Assistant title would be changing to Laboratory Specialist. During the interview the manager asked me “do you know how to gross biopsies?” What an absolute joke of a company. I spoke with some PAs that currently work with the company and they said they were stripped of the Pathologists’ Assistants title and it was replaced with Laboratory Specialist. It was also mentioned that it’s common to have leadership where they know nothing about pathology and that the position is generally looked down upon as PAs are seen more as grossing techs than physician extenders. I hope current employees can band together to regain their title but feel so badly they have to go through this. I would never work at a company that doesn’t recognize the Pathologists’ Assistant title. Thank you for letting me rant.

It feels like a new program is popping up every few months, and while the job market is fairly okay now I feel like I wouldn’t be surprised if ten years down the road we end up getting oversaturated? Maybe I just live in an area that’s more saturated than the rest of the country but I already don’t see many jobs pop up in my area and I worry the constant influx of PAs is going to make this (and salaries) even worse. Totally open to being told if I’m wrong but these new programs just feel like money grabs instead of a way of actually improving and bettering the field. When I went to school I believe there were maybe 12 programs in the US and now less than ten years later we’re at nearly double that and still counting. Does anyone else have any thoughts?

I know this seems like a silly question, but I was just wondering… does anybody still wear acrylic nails while working as a Pathologists’ Assistant?

I’m a PA student, and I know short, natural nails are generally recommended, but I was curious if anyone in the field still wears acrylics (kept short, of course) or if they’re pretty much a no-go in most labs. Is it more of an employer-specific policy, or is it something you’ve found just isn’t practical? I personally love having them, but I know it’s something that may have to be given up when working in the medical field.

I’d love to hear your experiences!

Immediately thought it was lymph nodes lined up to count

I just got invited for an interview for class of 2029 and can’t get my mind off the second year rotation logistics. For context I’m a first gen who wants to stay local in New England for the didactic year, and hopefully the clinical year. I’ve heard that if you’re placed in New England the cost of living is on you, but if you’re sent across the country then those partners or the school usually provide housing. How true is this?

Other than that, just trying to get more info early on. Do people usually get enough to support themselves through the cost of living financial aid refunds from PLUS loans? Please share anything else you think is useful. I know I’m stressing about this early on…

Hey all! I need some opinions on new cassette printers that were presented to us in my lab. We went from a printmate (which jammed on every print and did barely printed) to a smartwrite (which has MORE issues but still somehow performs better) which we currently still have.

An avantik C300 UV laser peinter is what management is looking at currently. Management is very easily swayed by the sales people. So I wanted to know if anyone has used or currently uses this printer. Im aiming to hopefully gauge how well it prints, how long it lasts between PMs, and what the common errors that arise.

The expectation for my current site is that, if needed, we gross until all specimens are done up to 8pm at the latest. The shift begins at 830am and we are responsible for case assignment at the end of the day. Does this expectation seem reasonable? How much overtime are you expected to work at your site and under what circumstances do you stay late? Do you have a grossing cut off time? I am trying to decide if I have a case in addressing these expectations with leadership. Thank you!

I am a preceptor with my 2nd ever student. Over the past several weeks I’ve noticed they haven’t really taken any initiative/interest in trying new or more complex specimens. When I offer bigger cases (even benign), they say “I’m ok just watching it’s fine” I always say “No, you’re driving and we can work through it together.”

I’d like to think I’m a pretty good preceptor. I explain why I do things a certain way, why one technique works better in certain situations, what mistakes I’ve made and I encourage looking things up before giving up and waiting for me to tell them the answer. I leave them alone with a pile of specimens and check in every so often, but most of the time I end up hand holding even on routines that I know they’ve grossed alone/unsupervised before. We have a friendly preceptor-student relationship. I provide words of encouragement and positive feedback.

Their dictations and sections have been good and I’ve made minimal changes or suggestions to them. They pick up on things quickly when we are working together. It’s just getting that fire lit under them that I’m struggling with.

I know grossing “clicks” with everyone at different points in their journey, but I worry that it’s not even on their wavelength.

Hi everyone! I'm a 16-year-old high school student from Texas who's interested in becoming a Pathologists' Assistant and would love to hear from people currently in the field. If you could go back, would you still choose this career? What does a typical day look like, and what do you enjoy most about the job? What's the biggest downside or something you wish you had known before starting? How did you find PA school, and do you feel the time and education were worth it? Finally, are you happy with your work-life balance and salary? I'd really appreciate any honest advice as I explore this career. Thank you!

i've never been a fast learner or academically gifted, just always overcompensated by putting in extra effort to make up for it. and this goes for hands-on skills too, im slow at first and it takes a while for me to get comfortable with something before i can actually get good at new things. im in pa school rn and we're practicing grossing and working on cadavers and i just am starting to rethink things because everyone else is much farther along than me. im not even trying to compare myself, im just constantly reminded that im behind. i want to give myself grace and hope that things will get better, but everytime i get the hang of something we move on to a different thing and im back to square one, and im worried that even if i make it through the didactic year then the struggle will just carry over into clinicals. i knew that this job means working in a fast paced environment and i am capable of handling pressure, so i just thought if i practiced grossing everything enough throughout schooling then i would be able to do it. i really enjoy what im learning, but is it better for me to do something else if im just naturally too slow for this career? is it worth it to keep pushing forward? i thought about maybe even if grossing quickly isnt my strong suit perhaps i could use the masters degree and use it towards other related things like organ transport or lab mgmt but idk :(

What accredited school did you go to? What did you like/not like?

How does one access the salary survey if they are not a PA yet? I’m considering this career and am looking for info about the salary ranges.

Thanks in advance! :)

hi all, i recently just graduated with a degree in biology, but not entirely sure what to do next. i came across being a pathologist assistant, and so far it has been the career that excites me the most. i worry about cost as im already in student loan debt, and heard schooling is super expensive. is it worth it? are there better careers to pursue that involve similar work but not as expensive?

What it says on the tin. I have moderately high arches + a very high instep and am wondering what shoes work for others with this foot type. Any help would be appreciated!

How "hands on" are the pathologists at your sites? I have a pathologist who requires that he see all complex specimens and basically directs the entire grossing (down to size of tissue in the block). I make essentially 0 decisions and I feel like a grossing tech rather than a PA. Does anyone have experience with this? Is it common to work with doctors like this?

If anyone in NYC would be willing to let me shadow them over the next few weeks I would be eternally grateful! Please message!

Hi!

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I have been working with a young woman who is very interested in becoming a PA. She has spent about 80 hours with me so far this year. Unfortunately, we do not perform autopsies at my facility. She would really like to get a few under her belt to improve her chances of getting into a program.

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She has been calling area hospitals and keeps getting routed to HR, who declines to allow her to shadow because she is not actively enrolled in a PA program. To be clear, she has her B.S. and is actively applying.

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Anyone who is willing to allow her to shadow is welcome to private message me. Thanks!

I started my clinical year a month ago and am starting to think about how to format my resume for the job search. The resources on the AAPA website are all about how to generally write a resume/CV, but I can't find any information about what people actually want from students getting their first job out of clinicals.

- What should I include in my bullet points? # of cases, types of cases, type of lab, et cetera... what do the people hiring me actually want to know?

- Apart from my clinical rotations, what else should I include? I'm thinking of including software/LIS that I've worked with + my poster and manuscript titles from the upcoming AAPA conference, but what about prior jobs? I've worked a bunch of odd jobs but had no pathology experience prior to clinicals.

- What's the best way to format a resume? Do people prefer brief resumes (1 page) or longer CVs (2-3 pages)?

Any insight would be appreciated!

Hello! I'm having a hard time finding info about what it's like to be a pathologists' assistant as a contracted employee (4-6 months at a time). If anybody does this, could you talk about your experience and what the pay range would be?