What is pathology?
Pathology, or general pathology, is the medical specialty focused on the diagnosis of disease through analysis of blood, tissues or urine in a pathology lab. A division of pathology is anatomical pathology (study of organs and tissues to diagnose disease), which is broken into the following subspecialties: forensic pathology (determining cause of death), autopsy pathology (performing autopsies), surgical pathology, and cytopathology (study of diseases on the cellular level). Other subspecialties include clinical chemical pathology (study of antibodies, hormones, immune system and pharmacology), clinical pathology (working directly with patients), hematology (study of blood) and microbiology (study of bacteria, parasites and viruses).
Who are pathologists?
Pathologists are doctors who are concerned with the diagnosis of disease, as well as prevention and treatment. These specialists use a microscope or other diagnostic tools to look at blood, urine or other body fluid specimens and detect chemical makeup in the body. Based on the test results, he or she may recommend additional study of the specimen.
Pathologists typically work in a hospital or pathology lab, and may work in administrative roles supervising divisions of a clinical pathology lab. They may oversee special divisions of the lab, such as the blood bank, clinical chemistry, hematology, immunology and serology, and microbiology. Pathologists are certified by The American Board of Pathology.What types of specimens does a pathologist collect?
General pathology relates to the collection of a specimen or specimens for the diagnosis of disease. The types of specimens a pathologist may collect include:
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- Blood – Usually drawn from a vein through a needle in the forearm, or sometimes pricked from a finger.
- Urine – The “random method” is when a patient urinates into a cup; “clean catch specimen” takes a sample of urine after the outer genital area has been sanitized; and a “sterile urine test” requires catheterization (a tube inserted through the urethra into the bladder to take a sample of urine). Sometimes the patient will need to undergo several urine tests to measure changes in urine over time.
- Sputum (phlegm) – Samples are taken from sputum that has been coughed into a clean container.
- Feces – Collected by the patient into a clean plastic or cardboard container.
- Other bodily fluids– Spinal fluid, pleural fluids (lung or pleural cavity fluids), abdominal fluids, joint fluids.
- Tissue – Obtained from any organ in the body such as liver, bone, brain, skin, intestines, etc.