If you don't like blood - don't go for this career. (Biomedical Scientist)

Member Name: goosey

Product:	Biomedical Scientist
Date:	27/06/09 (143 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Exciting - with excellent prospects and good pension

Disadvantages: Low start pay

I wouldn't say I was a rebel at school, I just didn't take secondary education too seriously until suddenly came the day when we were confronted with the fact that secondary education was about to come to an end and were given a set of options to consider.

~~~~~~~~~~OPTIONS:~~~~~~~
(1) Leave school and find a job, that required no formal qualifications.
(2) Try for further education and study for GSEs
(3) bum around.

The third option was not one I dared consider, nor did I care to work in a shop, restaurant, cafe, laundry or any of the essential but, to me, humdrum occupations on offer at that time. I did consider joining the Wrens, but changed my mind on discovering Wrens did not go to sea, the posts were land based. So - I went for the second option of furthering my education.
By which time, I had realized what sort of career I would like to qualify and train for.
I wanted to work in a hospital laboratory, having re-discovered my interest in biology.
My School headmaster didn't rate my chances there, but I knew I was capable - just never bothered much to share that knowledge.

I have no wish to bore the pants off anyone by recounting my progress through Technical college where I studied the sciences. Suffice it to say it was a two year GCE O level course in English, Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics and Biology.

Once I had left college I applied for a post in a medical laboratory at Oxford, and suceeded in securing a position as a 'Student Medical Laboratory Technician.' From there, by part-time evening studies and practical sessions, the route opened up for promotion to Junior MLT, MLT and up the ranks to senior MLT. The whole process then would take seven years in-training. Thankfully, though that has changed a little since those times, as has the job title. The route up the ranks are by day-release studies to degree level at college.

~~~~Brief Historical of job title changes~~~~~~

The first change from Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT) to Medical Laboratory Scientific Officer,(MLSO) came in the mid to late 60's. More recently, it has been altered, yet again, to Biomedical Scientist.

The disciplines studied are BIOCHEMISTRY, which involves the analysis of chemicals in bodily fluids, for example blood and urine.
HAEMATOLOGY, is the study of blood cells and their abnormalities.
BLOOD TRANSFUSION and SEROLOGY, is the study of immunological reactions and tissue typing techniques
MICROBIOLOGY, is the study of micro organisms such as Bacteria and viruses.
HISTPATHOLOGY, is the study of very thin stained sections of bodily tissues.

I believe that there are now degree courses at university in those disciplines, and any one graduating will possibly stand a better chance, these days of securing a post in a medical laboratory than one who leaves school with A levels. That rule is not set in stone, so take heart.

For a while I worked in a research lab using techniques from most of those disciplines, then I took a post in small path lab where, my main work was in Haematology. Finally I worked in Biochemistry, before leaving the NHS to re-train for another career.

~~~~~THE UPS OF THE JOB~~~~~~

To understand the intricate and complicated workings of the body, is fascinating and sometimes mind boggling; many times I have wondered how we ever survived birth.
When I first came to work in the labs, people were people not numbers or diseases as they sometimes are know today, but even so, often we were encouraged to follow particullarly interesting cases right through to the end, where the end was their post mortem.
It is exciting, after churning out numerous NORMAL results, to come across a comparitively rare ABNORMAL one. It isn't so much the delight in the result itself, as in its discovery - just incase you thought joy in abnormality a heartless emotion.
It is equally exciting, I might add, to find that a suspected 'nasty' diagnosis, to be wrong just by doing a few tests on a blood sample.

~~~~~~THE DOWNS OF THE JOB~~~~~~

In Biochemistry, in particular, I found that the pressures were becoming increasingly hard, mainly because of all the radical changes in the NHS which took place in the late 60's. Bigger hospitals replaced the smaller, more friendly units. Departments became bigger. The equipment grew too. More tests per sample per minute could be acheived and so the changes go on. The upshot being, the more a laboratory could offer, the more was requested.
But equipment will break down, computers crash and the whole process becomes hectic, the knock-on effects reaching each section of every department. Then of course, the costs rocketed which would add more pressure, because we then had to question, or even refuse to do, what might be considered unnecessary tests, so that the essential or more urgent ones were done first.
The on call system, where a team of qualified staff in each discipline, take it in turns to do on call shifts, can also be stressful at times.
A member starts work at 8.30am, and rarely stops before 7.00pm after the statutory meal breaks. He/she can then retire to his/her on-call quarters until bleeped, to carry out urgent analyses on a blood sample. The rules were, that if called up after 4.00am. The scientist would be permitted to have the following afternoon off, otherwise he or she had to work the whole of the following day. Not the sort of shift one could call healthy. However, things may have changed since those days.

After 27 years, I decide to call it a day, preserve my health, re-train for a new career and go from there. Thankfully, I have not looked back or regretted that decision.

Make no mistake, I thoroughly enjoyed my career as a biomedical Scientist It is certainly an interesting, and worthwhile career for any one interested in medicine, people and diseases.

Summary: A wise man will start at the bottom and work his way up the ladder.