Just to get some idea

[samisab786]

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Hi you guys,
First off, I don't mean to begin a repetitive post if this falls under one, but I wanted to get a little bit more insight as to pathology. I am not in medical school and am no way "binding" myself to a specialty, but for a while now, I was ready to drop the idea of thinking about medicine and started to think about a masters as an alternative, so that I could somehow combine my interest journalism and knowledge in molecular biology/immunology/etc (I'm interested in the knowledge behind anatomy, disease, etc.). Call me crazy, but I actually didn't know what pathology really entailed as a medical specialty. Although I really love people and have, for a very long time, considered patient contact, I never realized there was a field that was isolated from that component of medicine but instead integrative of laboratory work/etc concerning microbiology, immunology,etc. I have a while to think about what I do and I'm not trying to plan or map out my future, but I do want to get an idea of this field to see if I may possibly be interested.

The thing is, as I mentioned journalism, I love writing and have an interest in broadcast journalism as well. But at the same time, I love the knowledge behind medicine, biology, etc. I know I could become a medical journalist, but I really want to be able to find a way I can put two-and-two together. I want to be able to utilize the knowledge I gain from partaking in a field like microbiology/immunology or something along those lines, so once I found out a little bit more about pathology, I wanted to see if it was possible for me to combine these two fields together. On many websites, I noticed pathologists were involved in academia, but I was wondering if that could be replaced by journalism or something.

Any insight would be great.
Thank you
-Bagel

 

[rirriri]

I never realized there was a field that was isolated from that component of medicine but instead integrative of laboratory work/etc concerning microbiology, immunology,etc.

well, it's not isolated....it's definitely integrated with surgery, internal medicine, heme-onc, and even patient care. we see patients too......and in the future i'm predicting pathology will see more patients than now.....

as for your post, i'm not exactly sure what you're asking. are you asking if you could integrate Pathology and Journalism? The knowledge in Pathology is VAST, and it would take someone very well versed on the basics to actually be able to write about it in an intelligent, articulate, and thought provoking manner. Could you do it? of course....how would you do it? by doing medicine and doing Pathology.....IMO.

 

[Napoleon1801]

Hi you guys,
First off, I don't mean to begin a repetitive post if this falls under one, but I wanted to get a little bit more insight as to pathology. I am not in medical school and am no way "binding" myself to a specialty, but for a while now, I was ready to drop the idea of thinking about medicine and started to think about a masters as an alternative, so that I could somehow combine my interest journalism and knowledge in molecular biology/immunology/etc (I'm interested in the knowledge behind anatomy, disease, etc.). Call me crazy, but I actually didn't know what pathology really entailed as a medical specialty. Although I really love people and have, for a very long time, considered patient contact, I never realized there was a field that was isolated from that component of medicine but instead integrative of laboratory work/etc concerning microbiology, immunology,etc. I have a while to think about what I do and I'm not trying to plan or map out my future, but I do want to get an idea of this field to see if I may possibly be interested.

The thing is, as I mentioned journalism, I love writing and have an interest in broadcast journalism as well. But at the same time, I love the knowledge behind medicine, biology, etc. I know I could become a medical journalist, but I really want to be able to find a way I can put two-and-two together. I want to be able to utilize the knowledge I gain from partaking in a field like microbiology/immunology or something along those lines, so once I found out a little bit more about pathology, I wanted to see if it was possible for me to combine these two fields together. On many websites, I noticed pathologists were involved in academia, but I was wondering if that could be replaced by journalism or something.

Any insight would be great.
Thank you
-Bagel

I really find myself loving the scientific writing that accompanies the research in pathology when you get to write up an interesting case. I think that component is there, but it may be more of an academic center pursuit.

Remember that medical school/residency is at least an 8 year committment. Be sure you know what you're getting into. The rest of medicine has a tendancy to grate on you if your only interest is for pathology.

 

[samisab786]

Thanks guys. I'll be sure to do some more research on this topic 🙂.

 

[Sulfinator]

The rest of medicine has a tendancy to grate on you if your only interest is for pathology.

I agree. I'm wading waist-high through "the rest of medicine" right now as a 3rd year med student. It is slowly draining the life from me. If only I can last 3 more months😳

 

[Dral]

You may also want to look into Radiology. It is another area that doesn't have much patient contact. However, based on your background and your interests, it seems you'd like Pathology better.

To echo what others have said, make sure the decision is right for you. There is plenty of medical research to be done which does not require a medical degree. Pathology is still centered on patient care, despite the fact that you don't see patients directly very often (depending on your area of spec). Thus you should like the idea of being involved in patient care and you need to be prepared for the numerous exams that you will have to take throughout the rest of your life.

 

[samisab786]

You may also want to look into Radiology. It is another area that doesn't have much patient contact. However, based on your background and your interests, it seems you'd like Pathology better.

To echo what others have said, make sure the decision is right for you. There is plenty of medical research to be done which does not require a medical degree. Pathology is still centered on patient care, despite the fact that you don't see patients directly very often (depending on your area of spec). Thus you should like the idea of being involved in patient care and you need to be prepared for the numerous exams that you will have to take throughout the rest of your life.

Don't get me wrong, I do like patient care, but it's one of those things where I might find medicine/patient care attractive at this point in my life and then end up pursuing medicine and realize it's a bigger load than I expected.

Path seems like one of those fields where there is a balance b/w patient-care and clinical exposure (that is how I perceive it based on what I have researched)...and that seems pretty cool to me. Yet again, I am in no way "bound" to this option. Like the title states, just wanted to get an idea.

Once again, I thank all of you for the insight. Really appreciate it 🙂.