As well as the obvious need to engage students in pathology because of employment, the objective of our Careers and Ideas event was also to convey pathology as a ‘team sport’. Histopathologist, Professor Mark Wilkinson, who helped bring the event together, wanted to recognise both scientific and medical routes into pathology, and the necessity for them to work together in pathology in the future.
One of the rooms at the event held inspiring research-led talks on areas such as genetic sequencing in cancer treatment and research on getting accurate and consistent testing for diabetes. Parallel sessions in another room involved members and others working in pathology giving short careers talks, followed by audience Q&A. The event finished with drinks and networking, which was a really great way to help the students and the professionals to talk comfortably and in-depth about life as a pathologist.
Professor Kevin West delivered a tailored talk entitled ‘So what next?’ in which he went through the abundance of different options in pathology including necessary skills and aptitudes. Kevin said “if you want a career in pathology, you need an interest in people”.
All students who filled out the evaluation survey agreed that they were more interested in pathology having attended the event. One respondent commented “This career path is much more diverse than I first thought” and another responded saying “I learnt amount the importance of pathology and its contribution to society”.
The event would not have run without the great representation we had from members from different spe pathology specialties, including veterinary infectious diseases, histopathology, microbiology, haematology and chemical pathology. We would like to thank the twenty-two volunteers who took time out of their schedule to speak at the National Pathology Week event, Careers and Ideas: Integrating Medicine and Biomedical Research.
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