What a pathologist does in a workday

Welcome to The Work Day, a series that charts a single day in various women’s working lives — from gallery owners to stay-at-home parents to chief executives. In this installment, we hear from Sarah Bean, a pathologist who recorded a workday in February.

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Name: Sarah Bean

Location: Durham, N.C.

Job title: Professor of pathology at Duke University Medical Center; pathologist with expertise in women’s health

Previous jobs: During college, I was a restaurant server, did research in a laboratory, did field research on eastern blue birds, was the manager of a dark room and was a Starbucks barista and shift supervisor. During medical school, I was a suicide researcher, and I completed a post-sophomore year in pathology. After medical school, I went to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where I completed residency in anatomic and clinical pathology and a fellowship in cytopathology.

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What led me to my current role: I always wanted a medical practice focused on caring for women. While in medical school, I thought that could be primary care or obstetrics and gynecology, but those medical fields were not a good fit for me. As a pathologist, I am a medical doctor with expertise in all aspects of laboratory medicine, and I’ve tailored my practice to focus on cytopathology and breast and gynecologic surgical pathology.

I love the diagnostic challenges I encounter as a pathologist. It’s my job to review a patient’s medical record in concert with their tissue specimens under the microscope, and perform and interpret tests as needed to determine the best answer. I help patients by providing answers so they receive the best treatment.

How I spend the majority of my workday: Most days you can find me at a microscope for several hours, assessing biopsies and other surgical specimens and creating pathology reports to care for my patients. (Behind every pathology report is a pathologist, just like me!) I also usually have one to two hours of meetings each day.

My workday

6 a.m.: It is time to start the day! After getting ready for work, I take my two kids to school and then commute to work.

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8:15 a.m.: The first 60 minutes of each day are reserved for my passion work. I use this time to eat breakfast, write papers, read, prepare for teaching, prepare for meetings and self-reflect.

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9:15 a.m.: Using the microscope to review glass slides and write pathology reports, I care for my patients. This week, I am teaching a pathology resident. We review our patients’ slides together, discuss diagnoses and co-write each pathology report.

12 p.m.: Lunch time! I love to read the news or listen to podcasts while eating. After lunch, I take a walk through the hospital to get in a few steps.

1 p.m.: This afternoon I have two virtual meetings. Between meetings, I finish caring for my patients. Before leaving work, I prioritize my to-do list for tomorrow morning.

4:30 p.m.: After commuting home, it is time to cook dinner and hang out with my kids until it is their bedtime.

9 p.m.: This is my favorite hour of the day! I use this time to relax — usually spent watching television or reading a book.

10 p.m.: Time to get ready for bed and prepare for another great day.

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