Career Advice

[zoner]

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Hello everyone

To start I apology for my ignoramus knowledge on the career of a Pathologist. Here is my question. Currently I am contemplating pursuing medical school and doing pathology or become a Clinical Laboratory Scientist. What is the difference? I do realize that pathologist have a lot more education and knowledge, but are they both basically diagnosing pathogens? I do realize that there are a lot more diversity in the field of pathology however.

Any information will be appreciated.

I really like science, but I hate routine and repetitious work.

Thank

 

[KCShaw]

A 'Clinical Laboratory Scientist' is one term certain certifying organizations use for what amounts to a med tech/lab tech, where basically one's educational background & specific certifications determines what you are allowed to do in the lab. In broad terms, these are the folks who man the battlestations, so to speak, running the analyzers or performing most of the testing modalities and generally keeping things moving in working order. They obtain results from their testing, but generally don't interpret or apply them to individual patients like a physician. There are a lot of different lab areas for these kinds of people to focus on, but for a given employer you would probably only be focusing on a limited range of those tasks while someone else handles another part of the lab. Most of the jobs are in the 'clinical' lab, rather than the 'anatomic' lab.

Most pathologists work primarily on the 'anatomic' side, reviewing tissue slides for interpretation and diagnosis, and should be directing the labs. Some pathologists work in both 'anatomic' and 'clinical' labs. A few pathologists work only in the 'clinical' lab -- blood bank, chemistry, hematology, microbiology, etc. etc., and function more as a captain of the lab, troubleshooting issues outside the decision tree of the techs, providing interpretations on a small subset of tests, and administrative tasks. Pathologists get paid a little better, have more decision making ability, and avoid some of the mundane daily routine things that techs deal with, in exchange for more responsibility, many more years of education, and a few hundred thousand dollars in medical school debt.

The two may work in the same general area, but do substantially different things on a day-to-day basis. There is also some very basic information on the two roles on the internet/wikipedia/etc.