How to Become a Pathologist in India

Pursuing a career in the healthcare field is never out of the trend for the youth of India. Suppose you are also one of the teenagers dreaming about becoming a physician who likes to play with cells, tissues, blood and all to become a detective in medicine. In that case, you are on the right page to learn about blooming career options! Yeah, you are reading it right; we will discuss an exciting career opportunity in Medicine: Pathologist.

Before going into the course description, let’s see what Pathology means in general in simple language. Pathology is one of the branches of medicine that deals with all your body fluids like blood, semen, and Cerebrospinal fluid. It also covers examining cells and tissues to detect cancer and other non-cancerous cell growth in your organs and body. This mainly deals with the underlying causes of disease conditions to help the general physician discover what’s wrong with your cells and tissues and the microbes like bacteria, fungi and viruses associated with the disease.

Eligibility criteria for becoming a pathologist with a medical background

If you think becoming a pathologist in India is easy, you might feel on the wrong side after going through this article. The MBBS degree is the pioneering step in becoming a pathologist. The MBBS degree is a 4&½ year degree comprising nine semesters followed by one year of compulsory internship, which is the pioneering degree in Medicine at the beginning of your career as a pathologist. 

MBBS degree in a snapshot

MBBS degree is one of the lengthiest undergraduate degree programs in India, which has nine semesters to be covered in 4½ years of academic years, followed by one year of compulsory internship in a hospital setup. To get enrolled in this degree, you have to sweat a lot; you need the dedication level to achieve your goals and last, but not least, it needs to sacrifice your worldly pleasures as they cost you your youth.

NEET-UG is the single window entrance examination for your child’s dream to become a physician or doctor as they address it. After completion of 12 grade, students write the NEET-UG exam to get into their dream medical Colleges. NEET-UG examination has three subjects compulsory- Physics, chemistry, biology.

Pathology degrees after MBBS

After completing MBBS, you can go for a diploma in clinical pathology ( DCP) course, one of the least preferred courses for physicians nowadays. You may also go for a DNB pathology course which is also not a trend, or you may follow the most acceptable pathway by doctors to become pathologists, MD pathology. Doctor of Medicine in pathology is the most preferred Postgraduate course in pathology, which is a three-year course in which you need to study under the guidance of a consultant in pathology and learn about the lab work.

The diploma in pathology course chooses eligible candidates from the NEET-PG examination, or several universities may conduct their special examination followed by a viva. This course is a two-year PG diploma course, unlike the DNB course, which takes three years to be completed.

MD pathology is a three-year post-graduation program running in most of the prestigious medical Colleges in India, which is widely accepted across the globe. The NEET-PG examination is a much-needed entrance examination to enroll in your dream medical College in the MD pathology program.

Some non-medical approaches in the field of pathology

Suppose you could not qualify for the NEET-UG examination; it is one of the toughest entrance examinations in India. If you don’t want to go for all the time-consuming routes of MBBS and MD pathology for over 8-9 years, then don’t feel disheartened. Here are some of the non-medical options for you to start a career in pathology. Here are some of the courses you can join to work in the field of pathology to become a part of a medical detective adventure. These are –

 

• BSc pathology
• Bachelor of medical laboratory techniques
• Bachelor of audiology and speech pathology
• Diploma in pathology
• Post graduation in veterinary pathology
• Post graduation in plant pathology
• Molecular biology Pathology
• BSc in forensic science
• BSc Genetics

Conclusion

After joining the course of clinical pathology, there would be ample opportunities to work in various branches of pathology. These are cytopathology, hematology, immunology, histopathology, and forensic pathology. There are many more associated fields in government and private hospitals, diagnostic centers and laboratories. So if blood and other sample culture works are the things which excite you like anything, then here is clinical pathology ready to become your cup of tea!