So, I am starting micro in a few weeks and was wondering if there was a lab component similar to systems pathology (looking at light micrographs). What about identifying microbes based on their morphology (ex. under EM)?
Is there a histological component to microbiology?
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There are definitely Gram Stains and other stains of specimens from affected sites, but, for us, at least, we didn't have the light micrographs on the exam. We didn't have a separate lab though. We discussed these types of diagnostics in class.
That being said, we still had descriptions of the different microscopy based diagnostics in clinical case based questions on our exams. i.e. "Gram stain from sputum specimen showed gram + cocci. What is the most likely cause?"
That being said, we still had descriptions of the different microscopy based diagnostics in clinical case based questions on our exams. i.e. "Gram stain from sputum specimen showed gram + cocci. What is the most likely cause?"
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Precisely. You need to especially know the unique descriptors: gram (+) diplococci = strep pneumo, gram (-) diplococci = neisseria, gram (+) in cluster = staphylococcus, gram (+) in chains = streptococcus, the acid fast organisms, the too small to see (mycoplasma, spirochetes), the unique cell walls (mycobacteria), etc. Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple breaks that all down really well.
And you'll need to know the fungal morphologies for Step 1. Coccidio, Blasto, Histo, Candida, Mucor, etc. I only mention it because I totally blew them off the first time around.
