Hematology: Blood smears on a glass slide, stained and ready to be examined under the microscope.

Hematology: microscopic image of a normal blood smear. a:erythrocytes, b:neutrophil, c:eosinophil, d:lymphocyte.

Bacteriology: Agar plate with bacterial colonies.

Bacteriology: microscopic image of a mixture of two types of bacteria stained with the Gram stain.

Clinical chemistry: an automated blood chemistry analyser.

Clinical chemistry: microscopic image of crystals in urine.

Clinical pathology, Laboratory Medicine (Germany), Biopathology (Greece), or Clinical/Medical Biology (France, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria...) is a medical specialty that is concerned with the diagnosis of disease based on the laboratory analysis of bodily fluids such as blood and urine, using the tools of chemistry, microbiology, hematology and molecular pathology. Clinical pathologists work in close collaboration with medical technologists.

Clinical pathology is itself divided in subspecialties, the main ones being clinical chemistry, clinical hematology/blood banking and clinical microbiology.

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 known as general pathology. Similar specialties exist in veterinary pathology.

Licensing and subspecialties

The American Board of Pathology certifies clinical pathologists, and recognizes the following secondary specialties of clinical pathology:

• Chemical pathology, also called clinical chemistry
• Hematopathology
• Blood banking - Transfusion medicine
• Clinical microbiology
• Cytogenetics
• Molecular genetics pathology.

In some countries other subspecialties are under certified Clinical Biologists responsibility:

• Assisted reproductive technology, Sperm bank and Semen analysis
• Immunopathology

In some countries in South-America, Europe, Africa or Asia, this specialty can be exercised by non-physicians, such Pharm.D after a variable number of year of residency. For example, in France, Clinical Pathology is called Medical Biology ("Biologie médicale") is both exercized by M.D. and Pharm.D and this residency lasts four years. Specialists in this discipline do not call "Clinical pathologist" but "Clinical Biologist".

See also

• Pathology
• Medical laboratory
• Anatomic pathology
• Medical technologist
• Veterinary pathology
• Biological pharmacist
• ARUP Laboratories
• Residency (pharmacy)
• Clinical Biologist
• Laser capture microdissection

External links

• American Society for Clinical Pathology
• American Board of Pathology
• College of American Pathologists