Pathology is the medical specialty concerned with the study of the nature and causes of diseases. It underpins every aspect of medicine, from diagnostic testing and monitoring of chronic diseases to cutting-edge genetic research and blood transfusion technologies. Pathologists diagnose every detected cancer in the world.
Pathology plays a vital role across all facets of medicine throughout our lives, from pre-conception to post mortem. In fact it has been said that “Medicine IS Pathology”.
Due to the popularity of many television programs, the word ‘pathology’ brings up ideas of dead bodies and people in lab coats investigating the cause of suspicious deaths for the police. That’s certainly a side of pathology, but in fact it’s far more likely that pathologists are busy in a hospital clinic or laboratory helping living people.
Pathology is the medical science that saves lives by helping other doctors make informed decisions about their patients’ treatments. Pathologists study the cause of disease and the ways in which diseases affect our bodies, across all branches of medicine. The doctors you see in surgery or at a clinic all depend on the knowledge, diagnostic skills and advice of pathologists. Whether it’s a GP arranging a blood test or a surgeon wanting to know the nature of the lump removed at operation, the definitive answer is usually provided by a pathologist. There are nine different disciplines of Pathology.
For further information on each discipline please click on one of the following:
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