Microbiology (Medical/Clinical) Jobs
Medical Microbiologists work in hospital pathology and medical laboratories and in clinical settings - including in intensive care or surgical departments. They also provide internal and external support across healthcare settings, including primary care and community settings. They undertake a variety of tests and investigations which inform clinical practice and support diagnosis, treatment, management, and prevention of disease. They supervise and manage medical laboratories, conduct diagnostic tests, analyse and interpret results, collect data, write reports, train junior staff, and contribute to on-going research in medical microbiology and health care. They undertake rapid diagnosis, and are responsible for providing high quality clinical advice, which includes advising clinicians on prognosis, treatment options and individual responses to treatment. They are responsible for infection prevention and control, outbreak management, antimicrobial stewardship, informing public health policy, and supporting the development of evidence-based advances in microbiology and medicine - including quality control and assurances of tests, laboratory operations, clinical management and treatments. Some roles involve the development of new treatments and pharmaceuticals for infections and infectious disease, investigation of emerging disease outbreaks or imported infectious disease. Some roles provide direct clinical care to vulnerable patients, for example, immune-compromised or transplant patients, those with sepsis or complex trauma or surgery. Medical Microbiologists work autonomously and as part of multi-disciplinary teams of medical, nursing, pathology and laboratory staff. To qualify in this field, doctors complete foundation and core (ACCS, BBT or IM) training, followed by 2-years of Combined Infection Training, and a further 2-3 years of higher training in Medical Microbiology, which can be combined with Infectious Diseases (dual CCT), and leads to a FRCPath, and specialist registration with the GMC.