What does a Pathologist do?

What does a pathologist do?

Pathologists are instrumental in the diagnosis and management of health-related issues on a day-to-day basis. They normally work behind the scenes and often do not meet patients face-to-face because they work inside a medical laboratory. The following are some of the duties that Pathologists commonly perform and the diagnostic lab procedures they may interpret:

* Managing hospital labs and clinical facilities.
* Performing laboratory tests and interpreting the results.
* Assisting ordering physicians with medical treatment decisions and patient care.
* Analyzing blood chemistry and cells for abnormalities.
* Look for malignancies in lymph nodes, the thyroid, etc. by performing fine needle aspirations.
* Analyzing samples of tissues taken during surgery via histology using a microscope.
* Analyzing samples to determine if they are cancerous and/or if surgery is necessary.
* Determine a diabetic patient's medication dosage by performing blood sugar tests.
* Test pap smears for cervical cancer or pre-cancerous lesions.
* Examining bodies for the purpose of identifying disease, confirming cause, manner, and mechanism of death through autopsy.

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