With healthcare gaining much importance over the years, the pathology lab services are also becoming essential. The field provides a great career option
Sector overview
Think about it. If you fall ill, what’s the first thing the doctor orders before you can be treated really well? Yes, even for something as small as an infection, or something other graver diagnoses, the doctor first asks you to go get a few tests at the pathology lab. With the necessity of the pathological services, new labs are forming up everywhere where state-of-the-art facilities.
This branch of medicine is also advancing so rapidly. The analysis is done through the inspection of organs, bodily fluids and tissues. This could prove to be a fruitful field for someone who is interested in healthcare and would like to have a fixed time job.
Today, stress levels are high and lives are becoming very fast-paced. This triggers a host of medical conditions, and with the way the tests are used for the minutest things, this allied industry is bound to do well. If you walk across any neighbourhood in any city, you will find at least one or two pathology labs, if not more. Behind the doors of these labs solutions of many problems are found and these detections can provide solutions to many problems for prevention of diseases.
In India, this industry was always big, and has gained momentum over the last few months, especially with the new germs and health conditions cropping up with each passing day. With health insurance coming up in the picture, the industry is provided further impetus. Also, with changing lifestyles, healthcare takes a big chunk of the house-hold income pie, and lifestyle related problems like blood pressure, diabetes and others are proving to be constant providers to the labs. There is also a shift in focus from the treatment of illness to wellness and prevention, and an emerging opportunity in women’s health services as well.
To get there
To enter this field, you need training. There is no doubt about that. The route is also linear. You need to opt for any programme that will lead to the profession of a pathologist, you need to opt for the science stream after class 10 (SSC or equivalent). You also need to opt for subject combination physics, chemistry and biology. The different programmes for the pathology are offered my medical colleges as well as universities. Undergraduate and postgraduate courses are offered.
The admission to the undergraduate courses depends on the marks obtained in the HSC or class 12 examination. After completing the programme, you can work in related fields as well. The institutes in Mumbai are:
- Topiwala National Medical College, Mumbai Central
- Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College,Parel
- Padmashree Dr DY Patil University, Navi Mumbai
- Mahatma Gandhi Mission’s Medical College, Navi Mumbai
- Maharashtra Institute Of Medical Science & Technology, Byculla
- NCRD’s Sterling Institute of Pharmacy, Nerul
- Damyanti Institute, Bhayandar
- MGM Institute of Health Sciences, Mumbai
- Asian Institute of Health Sciences,Navi Mumbai
Market and remuneration
For this field, there are many openings, and they exist in all kinds of organisations. Openings exist in hospitals, medical centres and pathological labs. There are all kinds of labs – big and small. There are other centres attached to multinational hospitals. After a few years, there are high possibilities to start out on your own as well.
You need to, however, realise that skill and expertise is important in this job. You need to understand that the loyalties of the customers are formed with the staff of the lab and how smooth they are with their operations. It is the trust placed within the staff that builds the customer base. In fact, several customers provide feedback on the technicians at the labs, and the softness they observe in drawing blood or administering injections. Accuracy also matters.
For those who are interested in higher education, research is also an option. Medical research needs personnel who are trained and interested. Research has provided scope for the development of a lot more in the field.
The biggest advantage of the field is that it allows you to work flexible hours or even part time, however it suits you and how you can negotiate with the place you work with. Pathological management is a new area in this field, and programmes are available for it. The field also needs a huge amount of investment to start out on your own, so if that is the ultimate goal, you need to plan in advance.
Salaries depend on the kind of place and job, and the person as well. A fresh graduate in the field earns anywhere between Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 35,000 per month to begin with.
A student says
Saylee Gore, Pursuing her course
It is a refreshing change to study something in this field, and not be in the usual management or engineering fields. This field needs a lot, it take a great deal of study, and a person who has an eye for detail and is particular about certain things.
Almost on a daily basis, you will be working on different diagnoses, and the work might be of a mundane nature as well. But there will be certain days that you do will be surprised with your work. Your advancement in the field will depend on what you learn on the job and the kind of equipment you have experience with.
Within the years of study, a lot of emphasis has to be laid on research and reading, so please be ready for that. In the first year, students learn about anatomy, cell biology and chemistry, among other things. Pathologists need to work without emotion, otherwise they would be spending a lot of time feeling bad for the person they are testing for.
Often, the pathologists say that it helps that they do not always see the person, and while testing they often refer to the patient by the case number or just by the name. That’s how they distance themselves from the patients. Often, doctors might consult with pathologists on certain difficult tests.
An aspirant asks
Meera Sharma, FYJC science student
Ihave thought a lot about this profession, and I think that I want to become a pathologist. My aunt works in a lab, and she is also very encouraging of the fact, and thinks that it could lead to a good career. I am, however, very worried about the handling of the fluids that come in, and might also be slightly afraid of syringes. What do you say?
Professional Teena Todi answers: If you are ready to work in the field, then you have to be absolutely certain that you are okay with syringes as well as the fluids that come in. You will be working with all the safety equipment like masks and glasses. You have to work with tough and difficult samples every day, and you have to work towards getting used to all of that.
Since you already have an aunt who is in the field, you could ask her to take you to her lab one day to just show you how the work is done. You can take a look at the way the work is done, and how things are handled in a lab. It will give you a fair idea of how the profession works and whether or not you are likely to work in the field accordingly. You should take a call on this once you know better. Your aunt can also help you to decide about the ‘yuck’ factor.
