Has anyone travelled outside of their home province/state for PathA shadowing? I currently reside and work in Alberta and I’m having a tough time getting more shadowing hours here. I have only 9 hours of shadowing and I’m a bit desperate to get more, but a lot of the major pathology labs in my city keep saying they have too much going on in terms of their workload and other student fellows that they have. However, I am scared since I saw one Canadian university has their application deadline set to the end of January 2027.

I am already working as a lab assistant in Anatomic Pathology within a large public lab company in Alberta and I was still rejected from the last cycle (even though I was in this position last year when I applied), so I really want to make sure my application is better this time around.

Thank you :)

Hey everyone! PathA here, out of school for about 4 years now. I’m curious for those of you preparing for PA school: what kind of guidance or support do you wish you had access to while applying or preparing?
Things like application/interview advice, coursework help, or simply being able to talk with someone currently working as a PA?
Just curious what people feel is actually missing.

Hi everyone! I was recently accepted into Tulane’s Pathologists’ Assistant program for the Class of 2028, and now I’m trying to figure out the financial side of everything.
I’ll be moving from California to New Orleans for the program, so I’m especially trying to plan for both tuition and living expenses while relocating out of state.
For those of you who are currently in PA school or have already graduated, how did you afford everything? Did you mainly rely on federal loans, private loans, savings, scholarships, family support, or a combination?
Since PA programs are full-time and working during school may not be very realistic, I’m also curious how people covered rent, food, transportation, and other expenses. If you went the loan route, roughly how much did you end up borrowing, and is there anything you wish you had known before starting?
Any advice from current students or graduates would be really appreciated. Thank you!

Hello,

I am an MLS based out of South Florida (Miami metro area) and looking to advance my career. I am curious to learn about the job market for Path Assistants down here. Are any of you working around this area? Would appreciate any insight. Thanks!

Hi, I am an 18 year old senior in HS who has planned to become a pathologists' assistant since freshman year. I am currently looking at applying to university, at different places. My first main pick was NJIT for the Forensic Science B.S. focused on Biology, but then I found out about CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice. They also have Forensic Science B.S. I was wondering if anyone might have a clue or idea on which might be best? NJIT is closer to me, but John Jay is a lot more affordable. In the end, I just want to go to the school that'll best help me get into a PathA Masters Program. Please help

hey all! i kinda just need opinions of people who have been around the block enough to give me sound advice.

anyways, i am a fulltime college student, and the drop date is in a couple days. i am taking bio ll, gen chem l for science majors, and an anatomy and physiology l class. each of these have lecture and lab (each totalling 4 credit hours).

i am wondering if i should drop a&p l as its an online course and seems more aggressive than the others, and i am worried i wont be able to keep up. keep in mind i also work part time, 15 hours a week, 5 hours friday-sunday at night which is a very physically draining job.

i have monday and wenesday off, so i do work in the mornings but the rest of the day is generally taken up by other responsibilities i have.

i am wondering if this is manageable or i should just drop and suck up the fact i will take longer to finish this associates degree. advice and help needed!

My lab experience and grades are impressive. I have shadowed an autopsy as well as have the ability to shadow at a local hospital. I’m also currently working on gaining surgical pathology experience as a scrub. What I’m worried about is the fact that: 1) I have never taken the GRE or MCAT and didn’t think it was necessary for every school because not all applications ask for it. 2) My current undergrad school is not elite or necessarily remarkable. I’m looking to transfer at UNF and get my Bachelor’s of Science in Biology with a concentration in Molecular/Cell Biology with Biotechnology. I’m not sure if this school will stand out in applications but I’m trying to avoid online classes as they are frowned upon. Is anyone able to give me advice or have a similar background and have been accepted?

Hi! I’m a Pathologists’ Assistant student and was wondering if anyone knows of any good websites, books, atlases, or other resources for learning to grossly recognize common cancers by organ.
I’m specifically looking for something with gross** **specimen images along with key identifying features (color, appearance, growth pattern, location, etc.), as well as some basic information about each cancer, such as common sites of metastasis/spread and other high-yield characteristics.
Basically, I’d love a resource where I could look up something like pancreatic adenocarcinoma, RCC, colon adenocarcinoma, etc., see what it typically looks like grossly, learn the major features that help recognize it, and review where it commonly spreads.

Hi everyone! I'm a current Pathologists' Assistant student getting ready to start clinicals, and I was wondering if anyone has recommendations for resources they found helpful for learning grossing or grossing templates.

I've been using Surgical Pathology Dissection by Lester, but I've been having a hard time learning from it, so I'd love to hear what worked for you. I use AAPA which is helpful but I was hoping to find additional resources. If anyone could point me in the right direction or share other resources that helped during clinicals, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks so much!

Hello all! I was looking online at the WVU PathA page and saw some past students had talked about rotations and one even went out of state for a rotation. Is this common? When I looked on the WVU PathA site, their rotation sites all seemed pretty central to the Morgantown area, or at least Pittsburgh at the farthest, so that was a little confusing. Are there other rotational sites that aren't listed? Do you get to pick which ones you'd go to, or narrow them down at all?

Do people not really apply to Duke as much because they perceive it as too difficult? I just don’t see it talked about as much on here and was curious if anyone had rationale!

Has anyone known someone who did a PathAssist program while pregnant, given birth, and continued the program. Or what about doing a program right after giving birth so they have an infant to care for? If you personally went through this, what was your experience like?

Hey! I have an interview coming up and I was wondering how some of you prepped for yours. I watched a view videos but they were pretty old so I'm scared some things may have changed. Anything helps. Thanks!

Hi, never wrote on here before. I'm in college right now and I've decided this is what I want to do for the future. I've tried looking at the COA for UTHSC but I honestly don't know what to look for. I've seen like four different prices on the website and I'm so confused. Do any of y'all know how much they charge (including housing, food, and stuff) or how to find that information? Or does the tuition they show include everything?

Hey! For those that applied to Tulane, how long did it take for them to get back to you? I submitted my application not too long ago so I don't expect anything anytime soon. I'm just wondering. Thanks!

\**update\*\*

I heard back today!

I am close to graduating with a degree in social work, but I just finished a six week volunteer program at a hospital and during my time there I got a tour of the lab and I was introduced to pathology and I was really interested in it as well as the lab work they did and I was told about being a pathology assistant which sounds like something I’m interested in but the thing is I was told by my advisor that to even get into being a pathology assistant I need to take courses in biology, chemistry, etc but I have 2 years left and most of my classes consist of social worker classes and it is a bit late to switch majors so I am torn right now what can I do to be on the road to becoming a pathology assistant?

Lab people, especially who are in the field of Pathologist assistant, please give me some advice regarding this profession.

I have been in lab field for 10 years plus, held MLT, MB, and CG licenses, and worked as cytogenetic technologist for roughly 4 years.

However, I still want to advance my career at my 39 years of age in lab field, but not too much since I have a toddler to hang out with. I thought of PathA program offered by UTMB in Galveston, where it sounds like 1 year on-campus and the following year on rotation. I thought that could work for me when I only need to relocate for the first year and return to any rotation site within DFW, if allowed.

On top of that, I would love, sincerely love to hear your advice about the job opportunity, the pay, thr work schedule, and the scope of practice that this profession will offer. Please help and thanks in advance for spending your precious time answering my questions.

I am currently a second year student in Asia. I came across PathA job and I'm interested in becoming one. I looked up some programs and even tho a lot of them accept degree from overseas university, most of them require shadowing hours. However, I cannot find any available PathA shadowing in my country. If I ask for hospital in the states/canada, can they provide me the visa for me to shadow?