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What courses should I take to be knowledgeable in pathology?

I'm currently a freshman physics major that is hoping to become a pathologist in the future. I am on the pre-med track, but I want to be knowledgeable about pathology before medical school. Are there any college courses that aren't on the pre-med track but will help me understand the topics of pathology better?

spring26 medical premed physics pathology
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Michael J’s Answer

Spend time with a Medical Examiner and read Robbin's Pathology from start to finish. Each Medical Examiner has files with X-rays, images, slides, and reports. Go through 50 of these files. You'll learn a lot and know more than your peers.
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Mark’s Answer

In addition to premed courses (general chemistry, organic chemistry, general biology), courses in immunology and histology, if offered at your university/college, can help you become familiar with pathology and will also help in med school. A course in statistics would help with reading and interpreting pathology/medical papers. Spending time with a medical examiner (a pathologist who is practicing forensic pathology) as already recommended is good. I'd also recommend spending time with a practicing pathologist in a hospital or reference lab (big lab not in a hospital like Quest or Lab Corps) setting to get a feel for what most pathologists do. Spending time in anatomic pathology (surgical pathology [tissue biopsies or organ/tumor resections], cytology [evaluating cell) and clinical pathology (clinical laboratory mainly working with blood and body fluids such as chemistry, microbiology, transfusion medicine, hematology, molecular diagnostics) would give you a broad view of the specialty and what it offers to see if it is for you. Reading Robbins Pathology (which covers mostly anatomical pathology) or another pathology book might be a bit much as it assumes you've had courses in normal human histology, physiology, and biochemistry. So pathology books may seem "above your head" and I don't want you to become discouraged about the specialty. Since you will learn pathology in med school, I think getting practical exposure is more important at your stage than reading books. For me, it is an interesting field that is changing rapidly and never gets boring. I also suggest you check out this website: https://www.cap.org/member-resources/resources-for-medical-students. It gives a lot of information about pathology as a specialty and career.
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