What will the pathologist be doing in 2001? Speculations of a hospital practitioner.

Abstract

The 21st century looms ahead, and physicians are increasingly anxious about what the practice of medicine will be like in the future. Pathologists, like other physicians, are holding conferences and writing papers in an attempt to predict what lies ahead. From the perspective of one community pathologist, the future looks bright as far as work opportunities. The jobs that will need to be filled will include familiar ones and numerous new tasks. There will be plenty of jobs; but will there be enough skilled pathologists to fill these positions? The answer depends on our ability to attract the needed physicians into pathology and to give them the needed variety of skills to survive in a new work environment.