Clinical Pathology

Clinical Pathology is a medical specialty that deals with the diagnosis of disease based on the laboratory analysis of bodily fluids, such as blood and urine, as well as tissues, using the tools of chemistry, clinical microbiology, hematology and molecular pathology. This specialty requires a medical residency.

Overview

Clinical pathologists work in close collaboration with medical technologists, hospital administrations, and referring physicians to ensure the accuracy and optimal utilization of laboratory testing.

Clinical pathology is one of the two major divisions of pathology, the other being anatomical pathology. Often, pathologists practice both anatomical and clinical pathology, a combination sometimes known as general pathology. Similar specialties exist in veterinary pathology.

Branches of Clinical Pathology

Clinical pathology is itself divided into subspecialties, the main ones being clinical chemistry, clinical hematology/blood banking, hematopathology and clinical microbiology and emerging subspecialties such as molecular diagnostics and proteomics. Many areas of clinical pathology overlap with anatomic pathology. Both can serve as medical directors of CLIA certified laboratories. Under the CLIA law, only the US Department of Health and Human Services approved board certified clinical pathologists are eligible to be medical directors of high complexity testing laboratories.

Clinical Chemistry

Clinical chemistry is generally concerned with analysis of bodily fluids for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. It is an applied form of biochemistry.

Clinical Hematology

Clinical hematology is concerned with the diagnosis of blood disorders.

Hematopathology

Hematopathology involves the study and diagnosis of diseases of blood cells including anemias, leukemias, lymphomas, and diseases of the hemostatic/coagulation system.

Clinical Microbiology

Clinical microbiology is concerned with the diagnosis of infectious disease. Pathogenic microbes, their growth, their morphology, and their metabolic byproducts are all used as tools to diagnose infection.

See Also

• Anatomical pathology
• Pathology
• Medical laboratory
• Medical technologist

References

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