Pathology
Pathology provides an understanding of the process of disease and is multidisciplinary. It has five main specialties which have further sub-specialties. You can explore these roles in the left hand (computer and tablets) / drop down (mobiles) menu.
A pathology career offers a great range of variety and combines clinical and laboratory work and offers scope for excellent opportunities within research. Whichever branch of pathology that you are interested in, all jobs within pathology will require a very broad and detailed knowledge of medicine.

Training pathway
On successful completion of the foundation programme doctors can competitively apply for run-through posts in chemical pathology and histopathology.
It is possible to train in the specialist area of chemical pathology – metabolic medicine at ST3, however before starting ST3 training you will need:
- either core medical training (CMT)
- or acute care common steam (ACCS)
After foundation programme, doctors can enter haematology via core medical training (CMT) or acute common care stem (ACCS) or via level one paediatrics training. Find out more information about the pathway on the training and development (haematology) page.
Doctors can enter medical microbiology and virology (MMV) after the foundation programme via core medical training (CMT) or acute common care stem (ACCS). You would also need to complete 2 years of combined infection training (CIT) before moving onto higher specialty training. Find out more information about the pathway on the training and development (MMV) webpage.
From six month prior to gaining the certificate of completion of training (CCT) doctors can then apply for consultant posts.
Find out more about:
- the specialty duration and pathways on the Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board website
- the pathology specialties person specifications which list eligibility criteria for run-through posts, CMT/ACCS, and entry into ST3. They include the personal, academic and clinical criteria on which recruitment is based