CLINICAL LAB SCIENEC

30
ESSENTIALS OF CLINICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE
Critical Reminder
Job Opportunities
• Broad scope of practitioners in
the laboratory
• Good career mobility within a
clinical laboratory
• Technical personnel range from
assistants to doctoral scientists
• Some professional positions require
extensive education
body fluids, mainly plasma and serum. But urine, stool, respiratory or mucosal
secretions, exudates from inflammation, and fluids from body cavities such as
pleural, pericardial, peritoneal, and synovial fluids, as well as cerebrospinal fluid
(CSF), are also important specimens used in the diagnosis of disease conditions.
Clinical pathology focuses on the clinical laboratory rather than surgical specimens,
which histotechnologists, cytotechnologists, and anatomical pathologists
study. In modern clinical laboratories, most of the routine studies are automated
and large amounts of data are quickly produced, requiring comparison and correlation
of laboratory test results.
The clinical pathologist is responsible for overseeing the work of laboratory
technologists and technicians. Quality assurance and, in particular, quality
control programs are analyzed by select section supervisors under the direction
of the clinical pathologist to ensure the validity of test results. Some clinical
pathologists exhibit more individual interest in this area than others and
review quality control results on a regular basis. These specialized physicians
often perform interpretations of highly complex studies, but their chief role
is to serve as a consultant to practicing clinicians to guide the treating physician
in the proper laboratory examinations and to provide an interpretation
of the results. Efficiency dictates that appropriate studies should initially be
performed for both the diagnosis of a condition or the evaluation of a patient’s
prognosis or his or her current condition. In some areas, nonpathologists, such
as other physicians or those with Ph.D. degrees, may conduct or supervise clinical
laboratory tests and perform administrative and clinical activities within
the medical laboratory, functioning in a role similar to that of a
board-certified clinical pathologist.
Doctor of Laboratory Medicine (D.L.M.)
As a relative newcomer to the field, the doctor of laboratory
medicine (D.L.M.) requires a Ph.D. in which many of the courses
required of physician students are also required of this professional.
The D.L.M. is knowledgeable in all areas of clinical
laboratory medicine and operates in a consultative manner with
practicing physicians in the interpretation of sophisticated laboratory
tests.
Clinical Sciences Specialist
Clinical chemists, and clinical microbiologists in particular, are
increasingly achieving a higher role than previously and are found in larger laboratories,
research laboratories, and medical centers. These specialists often have a
Ph.D. degree in a scientific area such as clinical chemistry and biochemistry, immunology,
or microbiology. These specialists are sometimes hired at a master’s degree
level in their area of expertise, and then they pursue a 3- to 5-year doctoral program
that requires a research project that is incorporated into a published dissertation.
These scientists direct, manage, and supervise their particular departments since
they have a greater body of knowledge about their respective fields than any other
laboratory worker, including providing consultation with the pathologist. These
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