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Insight into Pathology for Local Students
Written by Communications Team   

The pathology lab at St Peter's Hospital recently hosted a special open day for students from four local schools and colleges to show how their services are at the heart of modern healthcare. Over 70% of diagnoses made in the NHS involve pathology - yet few people know much about this vital 'behind the scenes' service and tend to think of hospital care in terms of more visible staff like doctors and nurses.

Pathology Network Training Facilitator, Nicole McAllister, organised the day in conjunction with Aimhigher Surrey, a national programme which encourages selected young people to progress to higher education. Science pupils aged 16 - 19 years old from Kings College for the Arts and Technology, Woking College, Glyn Technology School and Howard of Effingham School got to see first hand the work of pathology staff in diagnosing and managing disease.
 
 

Alan Peacock with the students from Glyn Technology School.

 
Throughout the day students toured the labs, chatted to staff and took part in various interactive sessions which demonstrated how different pathology specialties work. Many were fascinated to learn that two of the busiest departments, clinical biochemistry (the study of chemicals in body fluids including blood) and haematology (the study and treatment of blood disorders) can process well over 1000 blood samples every day. Together, these two disciplines produce in excess of 4½ million test results per year!

Another area of interest was medical microbiology (the study of infectious diseases) where the biomedical scientists explained how they grow cultures to determine what is causing a particular infection and how it can best be treated. At the forefront in the fight against infections such as MRSA, medical microbiologists have to work quickly to stop infections getting worse or spreading to other patients.

Students also visited histology (the study of solid tissues and organs) and cytology (where fluids and cervical samples are examined). Here they saw how tissue samples taken from patients during surgery could be prepared for examination in order to diagnose or exclude cancer. The students also heard about cervical cancer and how Jade Goody's illness and subsequent death caused a massive increase in demand for cervical screening.

Pathology Services Manager Steve Shiel said: "Generally, I think people are surprised when they come into the lab and see the size and scope of what we do. The students seemed to enjoy the day and I'd like to thank all staff involved for their enthusiasm and help. We always try to support local schools and programmes such as Aimhigher Surrey, in their efforts to inspire able students to think about a career within the NHS. Hopefully we've given some of the pupils 'food for thought' and will see some promising new pathologists and biomedical scientists in years to come!"

Last Updated ( Monday, 23 November 2009 14:58 )