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The current troubled state of the global pathology workforce: a concise review
Open accessAbstract
The histopathology workforce is a cornerstone of cancer diagnostics and is essential to the delivery of cancer services and patient care. The workforce has been subject to significant pressures over recent years, and this review considers them in the UK and internationally. These pressures include declining pathologist numbers, the increasing age of the workforce, and greater workload volume and complexity. Forecasts of the workforce's future in numerous countries are also not favourable - although this is not universal. Some in the field suggest that the effects of these pressures are already coming to bear, such as the financial costs of the additional measures needed to maintain clinical services. There is also some evidence of a detrimental impact on service delivery, patient care and pathologists themselves. Various solutions have been considered, including increasing the number of training places, enhancing recruitment, shortening pathology training and establishing additional support roles within pathology departments. A few studies have examined the effect of some of these solutions. However, the broader extent of their implementation and impact, if any, remains to be determined. In this regard, it is critical that future endeavours should focus on gaining a better understanding of the benefits of implemented workforce solutions, as well as obtaining more detailed and updated pathology workforce numbers. With a concentrated effort in these areas, the future of the pathology workforce could become brighter in the face of the increased demands on its services.
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There is a shortage of dermatopathologists in many regions, resulting in pathologist fatigue and burnout.
“Second, there is a shortage of dermatopathologists in many regions, resulting in pathologist fatigue and burnout [4].”
From Artificial Intelligence in Dermatopathology: An Update and Review of the Current Literature (2026) · cites this paper as [4]
The review’s “Number of pathologists” section describes shortages of pathologists in several regions, and “Effects on service provision, patient care and pathologists” reports burnout associated with heavy workloads. It does not establish a shortage specifically of dermatopathologists across many regions, report fatigue, or show that such a shortage causes burnout; its dermatopathology discussion concerns reporting delays. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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References 40 · Cited by 79
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Wolfe C, Phillips R, Laheru D, Fisher R. DP02 (P30) declining staff numbers and increasing workload: is there a solution? Br J Dermatol. 2023;188(Supplement4):ljad113.
Metadata
- Authors
- Walsh, E., & Orsi, N. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Leeds (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Walsh, Elizabeth
- ORCID
- Orsi, Nicolas M
- Venue
- Diagnostic Pathology
- Published
- 2024-12-21
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 163-163
- ISSN
- 1746-1596 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC11662708
- OpenAlex
- W4405656049
- Cited by
- 79
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 55 · 2025: 24
- FWCI
- 7.14
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Diagnostic Pathology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare Systems and Challenges
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Global Health Workforce Issues
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advances in Oncology and Radiotherapy
- Keywords
- pathology workforce, histopathology, pathologist shortage, aging workforce, workload, cancer diagnosis, workforce planning, pathology education, recruitment, service delivery, patient care, financial costs
- MeSH terms
- Pathologists, Health Workforce, Humans, Pathology, Workload
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