Pathology and Pathologist – what kind of a medical career this specialty creates

Pathology and Pathologist

The research and study of the disease have been something that has been more than important in medicine. Medical professionals, medical researchers, and relevant people & organizations are always keen on hearing news regarding how a certain disease can be tackled.

Even for diseases that are not of pandemic status, it is hence important to understand how to find diseases faster and diagnose them quickly to give patients a new ray of hope and the best chance for recovery and rehabilitation too.

To help explain the term ‘Pathology’ and to explain the job roles of a ‘Pathologist’, it would be wise for our dear readers to read this article to learn more about this career path. What can med grads expect if they decide to become a pathologist after med school will also be discussed?

What is Pathology?

Pathology and Pathologist is the study of disease. This field of medicine is the foundation of caring for patients in real-time and ensuring that they are healthy. The sooner a doctor can find and diagnose what ails a patient (diagnoses a disease), the sooner they can work on getting the patient on the road to recovery.

Pathology involves not just the diagnoses but also a vast understanding of the causes and effects of the various kinds of diseases happening. At the moment, all pathologists have their hands full due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

What is the job role of a pathologist?

Doctors who studied diseases are known as pathologists. They can work in an array of capacities and roles to improve their understanding of different kinds of diseases. While pathologists hardly work directly with patients unlike general practitioners do; the former often carry out laboratory tests in helping diagnose patients they never met.

Such collaborative effort pathologists have with general medical doctors is vital to helping get patients diagnosed faster. This minimizes the negative effects a disease can have on a patient’s body.

Additionally, apart from collaborative diagnosis, pathologists often carry out detailed and lengthy research for improving the public’s understanding of certain diseases to look for new ways in locating a disease quite quickly.

Pathologists can research certain specific types of diseases as well as specific diagnostic tools, or both for finding diseases. Some pathologists are researchers in studying the human genome to look for diseases that have genetic linkages and weaknesses.

Additionally, to testing and research, some pathologists can be found working in a more analytical and consulting role. They can also work as medical examiners, forensic consultants, and other service-based positions helping police and other law enforcement bodies and investigating bodies to find the needed information.

As patients can be suffering from more than one disease or have more than one underlying competition, the main task of these investigative pathologists is to extract the correct information from a real perspective and find the cause of death in a patient.

How is it like becoming a Pathology and Pathologist?

No physician can call themselves a pathologist unless and until they have undergone rigorous training after specializing in pathology and checking the areas of pathology interesting to them the most.

Despite being broad, pathology is a flexible medical field. Pathologists can hence carefully craft a career path that is both rewarding and fulfilling.

Education and Training

For medical grads to become Pathology and Pathologist, they must first complete an undergraduate program of four years (either pre-med or a relevant undergraduate degree). After completion of this program, the student must then complete the Doctor of Medicine (M.D) program in medical school (Whether it is Florida Atlantic University Medical School, Any of the top Caribbean medical universities, and the like).

Upon graduation from medical school, med grads must complete residency lasting anywhere between three to seven years, and that too on the subspecialty chosen.

While some pathologists complete fellowships or continue education, the additional training is less common in comparison to other medical specializations. It is primarily recommended for pathologists in specific subspecialties like pediatric pathology and dermatopathology.

Specializations of Pathology

Here are the specializations of pathology, which are as under:

• Cytopathology.
• Neuropathology.
• Hematopathology.
• Forensic pathology.
• Clinical Informatics.
• Dermatopathology.
• Pediatric pathology.
• Chemical pathology.
• Molecular genetic pathology.
• Medical microbiology pathology.
• Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine.