Pathologists

ANZSCO ID 253915

Overview

Snapshot

Employed
2,100
Future Growth
N/A
Weekly Earnings
N/A
Full-Time Share
69%
Female Share
62%
Average age
45

Summary

Pathologists identify the cause and processes of disease and illness by examining changes in body tissue and in blood and other body fluids, and conduct tests on samples of tissues, blood and body secretions.

Specialisations: Clinical Cytopathologist, Forensic Pathologist, Immunologist.

Medical Practitioners need to undertake further training with the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia to become a Pathologist.

Tasks

  • Conducts tests on body samples to determine nature, stage of development and possible source of illness.

  • Studies effects of selected drugs on diseased organisms to find effective methods for treating specific patients.

  • Performs autopsies.

  • May apply scientific knowledge and skills to investigate crimes by analysis physical and biological evidence.


Outlook

Employment Outlook

JSA produces employment projections to show where likely future job opportunities may be. Employment projections data are only produced for occupations at the broad four digit Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) level. While data are not available for this occupation, projections data are available for the parent occupation, Other Medical Practitioners, under the outlook section.


Earnings and hours

Working arrangements

  • Around 69% of people employed as Pathologists work full-time hours, in all their jobs combined. This is 3 percentage points above the all jobs average (66%).

    Full-time workers work an average of 44 hours per week in their main job. This is the same as the all jobs average.

    Sources:Full-time share and full-time hours: ABS, 2016 Census, customised report. Compared to the all jobs average.


Industries

Main industries

1
Health Care and Social Assistance
94.9%
2
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
1.6%
3
Public Administration and Safety
1.2%
4
Education and Training
0.6%
5
Other industries
0.1%

Regions

Employment across Australia

NSW

37.9% All occupations: 31.6%

VIC

23.0% All occupations: 25.6%

QLD

18.5% All occupations: 20.0%

SA

7.3% All occupations: 7.0%

WA

8.5% All occupations: 10.8%

TAS

1.8% All occupations: 2.0%

NT

0.7% All occupations: 1.0%

ACT

2.3% All occupations: 1.9%

Employment by State and Territory (% Share)

State Pathologists All Jobs Average
NSW 37.9 31.6
VIC 23.0 25.6
QLD 18.5 20.0
SA 7.3 7.0
WA 8.5 10.8
TAS 1.8 2.0
NT 0.7 1.0
ACT 2.3 1.9



Worker profile

Age and gender

Age In Years
45
All Jobs Average is 40
Female Share
62%
All Jobs Average is 48%
  • The median age of Pathologists is 45 years. This is higher than the all jobs average of 40 years.

    A large share of workers are aged 35 to 44 years.

    Females make up 62% of the workforce. This is 14 percentage points above the all jobs average of 48%.

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile and gender share compared to the all jobs average.

Age Profile (% Share)

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Age Bracket Pathologists All Jobs Average
15-19 0.2 5.0
20-24 2.6 9.3
25-34 18.7 22.9
35-44 26.1 22.0
45-54 26.0 21.6
55-59 11.3 9.0
60-64 7.6 6.0
65 and Over 7.4 4.2
Median Age 45 40

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.


Employment Pathways

Education, training and experience

Medical Practitioners need to undertake further training with the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia to become a Pathologist.

Registration with the Medical Board of Australia is required.

Visit

  • Course Seeker to search and compare higher education courses.
  • ComparED to compare undergraduate and postgraduate student experiences and outcomes.

Highest Level of Education (% Share)

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.
Type of Qualification Pathologists All Jobs Average
Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate 34.7 10.1
Bachelor degree 42.0 21.8
Advanced Diploma/Diploma 7.3 11.6
Certificate III/IV 7.5 21.1
Year 12 5.3 18.1
Year 11 0.8 4.8
Year 10 and below 2.4 12.5

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.


Skills and Knowledge

Employers look for Other Medical Practitioners who are caring and empathetic and can work well in a team, with the ability to communicate with a diverse range of people.

Skills

Skills can be improved through training or experience.

  • 80%

    Reading comprehension

    Reading work related information.

  • 66%

    Active learning

    Being able to use what you have learnt to solve problems now and again in the future.

  • 66%

    Critical thinking

    Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

  • 66%

    Writing

    Writing things for co-workers or customers.

  • 66%

    Instructing

    Teaching people how to do something.

  • 66%

    Judgment and decision making

    Figuring out the pros and cons of different options and choosing the best one.

  • 64%

    Complex problem solving

    Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

  • 64%

    Speaking

    Talking to others.

  • 59%

    Active listening

    Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

  • 57%

    Science

    Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.

  • 57%

    Monitoring

    Keeping track of how well work is progressing so you can make changes or improvements.

  • 55%

    Learning strategies

    Figuring out the best way to teach or learn something new.

  • 52%

    Coordination with others

    Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.

  • 52%

    Management of personnel resources

    Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, and choosing the best people for the job.

  • 52%

    Time management

    Managing your own and other peoples' time to get work done.

  • 50%

    Social perceptiveness

    Understanding why people react the way they do.

  • 50%

    Systems analysis

    Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect it.

  • 50%

    Systems evaluation

    Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

  • 45%

    Management of material resources

    Providing the right equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do work.

  • 43%

    Serving others

    Looking for ways to help people.


Knowledge

These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.

  • 96%

    Medicine and dentistry

    Diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities, including preventive health-care measures.

  • 90%

    Biology

    Plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, how they rely on and work with each other and the environment.

  • 86%

    English language

    English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

  • 76%

    Education and training

    Curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

  • 70%

    Customer and personal service

    Understanding customer needs, providing good quality service, and measuring customer satisfaction.

  • 67%

    Computers and electronics

    Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

  • 64%

    Chemistry

    Chemical composition, structure, and properties. How chemicals are made, used, mixed, and can change.

  • 63%

    Clerical

    Word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office work.

  • 63%

    Personnel and human resources

    Recruiting and training people, managing pay and other entitlements (like sick leave), and negotiating pay and conditions.

  • 62%

    Administration and management

    Business principles involved in strategic planning, leadership, and coordinating people and resources.

  • 61%

    Public safety and security

    Use of equipment, rules and ideas to protect people, data, property, and institutions.

  • 57%

    Psychology

    Human behaviour; differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; research methods; assessing and treating disorders.

  • 55%

    Law and government

    How our laws and courts work. Government rules and regulations, and the political system.

  • 54%

    Mathematics

    Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.

  • 51%

    Production and processing

    Raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and ways of making and distributing goods.

  • 41%

    Communications and media

    Media production, communication, and dissemination. Includes written, spoken, and visual media.

  • 36%

    Economics and accounting

    Economics and accounting, the financial markets, banking and checking and reporting of financial data.

  • 32%

    Engineering and technology

    Use engineering, science and technology to design and produce goods and services.

  • 32%

    Physics

    The physical laws of matter, motion and energy, and how they interact through space and time.

  • 29%

    Sales and marketing

    Showing, promoting, and selling including marketing strategy, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.


Abilities

Workers use these physical and mental abilities..

  • 84%

    Inductive reasoning

    Use lots of detailed information to come up with answers or make general rules.

  • 80%

    Problem spotting

    Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong, even if you can't solve the problem.

  • 80%

    Oral comprehension

    Listen to and understand what people say.

  • 79%

    Oral expression

    Communicate by speaking.

  • 75%

    Deductive reasoning

    Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.

  • 75%

    Written comprehension

    Read and understand written information.

  • 66%

    Written expression

    Write in a way that people can understand.

  • 64%

    Near vision

    See details that are up-close (within a few feet).

  • 63%

    Sorting or ordering

    Order or arrange things in a pattern or sequence (e.g., numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

  • 63%

    Categorising

    Come up with different ways of grouping things.

  • 61%

    Flexibility of closure

    See a pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) hidden in other distracting material.

  • 61%

    Speech clarity

    Speak clearly so others can understand you.

  • 57%

    Speed of recognition

    Quickly make sense of and organize things you can see like letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

  • 55%

    Speech recognition

    Identify and understand the speech of another person.

  • 55%

    Brainstorming

    Come up with a number of ideas about a topic, even if the ideas aren't very good.

  • 50%

    Finger dexterity

    Put together small parts with your fingers.

  • 48%

    Colour discrimination

    Notice differences between colours, including shades of colour and brightness.

  • 45%

    Perceptual speed

    Use your eyes to quickly compare groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

  • 43%

    Memorization

    Remember things like words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.

  • 39%

    Selective attention

    Pay attention to something without being distracted.


Activities

These are kinds of activities workers regularly do in this job.

  • 90%

    Making decisions and solving problems

    Using information to work out the best solution and solve problems.

  • 89%

    Looking for changes over time

    Comparing objects, actions, or events. Looking for differences between them or changes over time.

  • 86%

    Keeping your knowledge up-to-date

    Keeping up-to-date with technology and new ideas.

  • 86%

    Researching and investigating

    Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.

  • 81%

    Monitoring people, processes and things

    Checking objects, actions, or events, and keeping an eye out for problems.

  • 79%

    Making sense of information and ideas

    Looking at, working with, and understanding data or information.

  • 79%

    Communicating within a team

    Giving information to co-workers by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 77%

    Collecting and organising information

    Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or checking information or data.

  • 75%

    Documenting or recording information

    Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

  • 75%

    Training and teaching others

    Understanding the needs of others, developing training programs, and teaching or instructing.

  • 74%

    Checking compliance with standards

    Deciding whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.

  • 74%

    Giving expert advice

    Providing guidance and expert advice to management or other groups.

  • 72%

    Planning and prioritising work

    Deciding on goals and putting together a detailed plan to get the work done.

  • 71%

    Building good relationships

    Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.

  • 71%

    Explaining things to people

    Helping people to understand and use information.

  • 69%

    Communicating with the public

    Giving information to the public, business or government by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 64%

    Thinking creatively

    Using your own ideas for developing, designing, or creating something new.

  • 57%

    Estimating amounts, costs and resources

    Working out sizes, distances, amounts, time, costs, resources, or materials needed for a task.

  • 57%

    Providing office support

    Doing day-to-day office work such as filing and processing paperwork.

  • 47%

    Working with computers

    Using computers to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.


Interests and demands

Learn about the daily activities, and physical and social demands faced by workers. Explore the values and work styles that workers rate as most important.

Interests

Interests are the style or type of work we prefer to do. All interest areas are shown below.

  • 95%

    Analytical

    Ideas and thinking. Searching for facts and figuring out problems in your head.

  • 62%

    Practical

    Practical, hands-on work. Often with plants and animals, or materials like wood, tools, and machinery.

  • 48%

    Administrative

    Following set procedures and routines. Working with numbers and details more than with ideas, usually following rules.

  • 43%

    Helping

    Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.

  • 24%

    Creative

    Working with forms, designs and patterns. Often need self-expression and can be done without following rules.

  • 14%

    Enterprising

    Starting up and carrying out projects. Leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes require risk taking and often deal with business.


Values

Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.
  • 81%

    Achievement

    Results oriented. Workers are able to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

  • 81%

    Independence

    Work alone and make decisions. Workers are able to try out their own ideas, make decisions on their own, and work with little or no supervision.

  • 76%

    Recognition

    Advancement and the potential to lead. Workers are recognised for the work that they do, they may give directions and instructions to others, and they are looked up to in their company and their community.

  • 69%

    Working conditions

    Job security and good working conditions. There is usually a steady flow of interesting work, and the pay and conditions are generally good.

  • 67%

    Support

    Supportive management that stands behind employees. Workers are treated fairly by their company, they are supported by management, and have supervisors who train them well.

  • 62%

    Relationships

    Serve and work with others. Workers usually get along well with each other, do things to help other people, and are rarely pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.


Demands

The physical and social demands that workers face most often are shown below:
  • 100%

    Being exact or accurate

    Be very exact or highly accurate.

  • 97%

    Freedom to make decisions

    Have freedom to make decision on your own.

  • 96%

    Frequent decision making

    Frequently make decisions that impact other people.

  • 96%

    Impact of decisions

    Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.

  • 95%

    Face-to-face discussions

    Talk with people face-to-face.

  • 95%

    Telephone

    Talk on the telephone.

  • 93%

    Unstructured work

    Have freedom to decide on tasks, priorities, and goals.

  • 92%

    Indoors, heat controlled

    Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.

  • 89%

    Time pressure

    Work to strict deadlines.

  • 86%

    Consequence of error

    Work where mistakes have serious consequences.

  • 86%

    Electronic mail

    Use electronic mail.

  • 81%

    Contact with people

    Have contact with people by telephone, face-to-face, or any other way.

  • 81%

    Disease or infection

    Be exposed to disease or infections.

  • 81%

    Teamwork

    Work with people in a group or team.

  • 75%

    Wear common protective or safety equipment

    Wear equipment like safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hard hats or life jackets.

  • 74%

    Spend time sitting

    Spend time sitting at work.

  • 72%

    Letters and memos

    Write letters and memos.

  • 66%

    Responsible for outcomes

    Take responsibility for the results of other people's work.

  • 65%

    Health and safety of others

    Take responsibility for the health and safety of others.

  • 64%

    Competition

    Compete with others, or be aware of competitive pressures.

Occupational Information Network
O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 29-1069.07 - Pathologists.


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