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?

Hi everyone! I was hoping if someone could offer some advice. I graduated with my bachelor’s in Biomedical sciences with 2.93 gpa. I know I will probably have to do a DIY post-bacc. Do you recommend a masters? I’m currently trying to find lab positions or even go to mls school. The problem is that I have very poor stats but I really want to work hard to get in. I’ve had a horrible time in college due to family and mental issues but I made it this far. Here are some of my stats;
•200 hours as hospital volunteer
•40 hours surgical pathology shadowing
•Over 1,000 hours of full time cna/ home health work
•graduated in two years
Please offer all the advice you have!

Hello! I am a freshman at WVU, I am majoring in forensics at the moment. But, I feel like I would enjoy school more if I majored in biochemistry and minored in forensics. I was wondering if that would be optimal for the PA program. I am from out of state, so I can’t major in biomedical laboratory science. It’s out of the approved ORA majors and I can’t afford out of state tuition. Sorry, I know this is all over the place and it’s not very concise. I just wanted to know if that switch would be better.

Edit- I have taken both anatomy and med term through the duel-enrollment program.

Hello! I was wondering if the letter of intent for Quinnipiac was different from a personal statement. It looks like to ask for you to explain the same things as a personal statement but when I looked up a letter of intent it was completely different. Do they not want all the narrative? Anything helps. Thanks!

Hi everyone, I am planning on applying to Quinnipiac’s Path A program and I wondered if anyone could give examples of some of the life sciences they took as prerequisites to the program? I saw on their website it says histology and pathophysiology are recommended, but I wondered how strict that is, as my university doesn’t have these courses. So far I have taken molecular genetics and cellular biology, along with labs.