Tell us a bit about your background and what attracted you to this role?
I graduated from the University of Strathclyde in 2000 with a degree in Biochemistry and Immunology before moving to Southampton to start working as a trainee Biomedical Scientist in Histopathology. I didn’t really know what Histopathology entailed before starting but soon came to love the job and the practical aspects that are needed to process a patient’s sample. Pathology is a very hands-on discipline with little automation and involves handling patient samples multiple times, in a variety of different ways, to get the end result.
I moved to NHS Forth Valley’s Pathology Department in 2006 to take up a Team Manager position, where I was then given the opportunity to do BMS Dissection – traditionally a medical role. Through in house training, supported by the Consultant Pathologists and the Department, I achieved the RCPath/IBMS Diploma of Expert Practice in Dissection.
What do you find most interesting about your job and what are your key priorities?
In my role as an Advanced Practitioner I dissect all specimens that come in to the Department. This includes everything from a skin tag through to a resected organ. Knowledge of the clinical reasons for the sample is crucial as this is what informs what I need to do. It can involve getting something from an entire organ to a tissue sample on a slide, only one cell thick –supporting consultant colleagues to make a diagnosis.
What’s your best quality?
Being organised – I love a plan!
What tips or advice would you give anyone considering a career in pathology?
Visit a Pathology Department first, little is known about the work we do and seeing it yourself will build an informed picture. Talk to the staff working there to consider your career options, as there are so many different routes you can take within the one service.
What possessions do you treasure the most?
A photo album given to me on my 21st birthday with messages from all my family written at the front.
Best piece of advice you have ever been given?
Following the passing of a loved one someone told me “you never get over it, you just get used to living with it” – 21 yrs on and it is true, the raw emotion is there when you least expect it, but everyday life is good.
What scares you most in life?
When my husband says he is going to hang up the washing.
Worst habit?
Leaving things to the last minute – spending too much time on ‘the plan.’
What at the top of your bucket list?
A family ranching trip to Canada.
What makes you happy?
Listening to my daughter laugh – it comes right from the pit of her belly.
Tell us something most people wouldn’t know about you?
I can read just as well with the page upside down, as I can with it the right way up.
