Diagnostics
The Diagnostic disciplines include Radiology, both Diagnostic and Interventional, and a variety of Laboratory Disciplines some based almost exclusively in the laboratory, others divided between the lab and the ward
All of them are clinical subjects in their own rights and they make a full contribution to the management of patients and give the doctor in training (and trained) the satisfaction resulting from that.
For example, the practice of oncology depends almost completely on diagnostic imaging to determine the extent of a tumour and on histopathology to establish the precise form of tumour as a guide to the forms of therapy available and appropriate. Increasingly modern, molecular techniques allow predictive testing to assess the suitability of modern "designer drugs".
Medical microbiology both diagnoses specific infectious agents but offers clinical advice on the most suitable therapies as well as offering expertise in Control of Infection, for example Clostridium Difficile and MRSA.
Increasingly, interventional radiology offers a far less invasive approach than traditional surgical techniques to the management of a wide range of conditions. These include repair of aortic aneurysms and stenting of arterial stenoses and the drainage of abscesses deep within the chest or abdomen.
You will find more details on the individual specialties in depth in the pages which follow.
