Pathology (from Greek pathos, feeling, pain, suffering; and logos, study of; see also -ology) is the study of the processes underlying disease and other forms of illness, harmful abnormality, or dysfunction. Within biology but also a branch of medicine, it means specifically the study and diagnosis of the structural and functional changes in cells, tissues and organs that underlie disease. Pathology as a field of knowledge hence forms the basis of the scientific reasoning behind the practice of medicine.

Scope of pathology

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The primary goal of pathology is the study of the four main aspects of a disease:

• Etiology: what causes the disease
• Pathogenesis: the mechanism by which a certain etiological factor causes disease
• Morphologic changes: the structural changes induced in the cells, tissues and organs
• Clinical significance: the functional consequences of the morphologic changes

Pathologists' work

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Pathologists are physicians whose residency varies from 3-4 years followed by fellowship training for most. Because the public rarely meets pathologists, their work is not well understood. Pathology is a large and diverse field that allows a pathologist to participate in multiple areas of the field or focus their scope to a specific area. Essential to everyday surgeries, pathologists are responsible for processing and reporting on all specimens generated during a given surgery. Tissue samples are taken from the submitted specimens, stained, and processed for microscopic evaluation. Microscopic examination searches for disease of any type and this information is returned to the surgeon via a pathology report. Pathologists are also responsible for laboratory specimens. They, along with medical technologists, process specimens at medical laboratories for interpretations. In other words, patients should know that what their doctor calls a "laboratory result" is not a number generated by a black box. Instead, it is the interpretation of the value by a pathologist or a technologist. It is also important to understand that a different laboratory might produce a different value on the same specimen. Pathologists are also called upon to perform autopsies. Autopsies represent less than 5% of the workload of a typical modern pathologist. There exists a subspecialty in pathology that allows for the training of medical examiners who wish to pursue forensics.

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Pathology - Twitter Search

just saw 'pathology'.it pissed off my brain!WHUT DA FUK WUZ DAT?
thewayido (Işıl Tipioğlu) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:48:30 -0000
just saw 'pathology'.it pissed off my brain!WHUT DA FUK WUZ DAT?
Wenn der Meister hier fertig mitm fußball gucken ist, dann schau ich mir erst einmal einen hoffentlich guten Film an #pathology
Wutfrosch (Wutfrosch) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:13:03 -0000
Wenn der Meister hier fertig mitm fußball gucken ist, dann schau ich mir erst einmal einen hoffentlich guten Film an #pathology
studying pathology :____________________( NOT!!! i should be though!...waaaaaaaa'aaaaaaaaa
slowrobottt (afwahj binhussein) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:21:33 -0000
studying pathology :____________________( NOT!!! i should be though!...waaaaaaaa'aaaaaaaaa
@MissNYJets you're welcome..hey, I just read your bio, my niece is also a speech pathology major at Iona College, good luck!!!
tommyjets (Thomas Hensch) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:11:06 -0000
@MissNYJets you're welcome..hey, I just read your bio, my niece is also a speech pathology major at Iona College, good luck!!!
Symptoms without pathology: should we try a little tenderness? http://tinyurl.com/y98czhj
gertruezfrv (Gertrude Combs) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:47:24 -0000
Symptoms without pathology: should we try a little tenderness? http://tinyurl.com/y98czhj
@TwoPeasandPod They probably started with the genetic diseases. Muscle biopsy, pathology, PCR, electromyogram.
manggy (Mark Manguerra) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:42:53 -0000
@TwoPeasandPod They probably started with the genetic diseases. Muscle biopsy, pathology, PCR, electromyogram.

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