FUTURE DEMANDS ON MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGISTS ? – The laboratory medicine has changed beyond imagination, many physicians Turing to Laboratory Investigations for simple conditions, which were easily diagnosed in the past with good clinical acumen. Today few clinicians think clinically and optimize the treatments. The future role of Laboratory Medicine is strongly and equally challenged by economic and new technological pressures, it is essential to take a broad view of the discipline and present to the administrators and other decision-makers the full spectrum of activities and benefits of Microbiology Laboratory When I passed my post-graduation in Medical Microbiology, I am called a teacher, and many called me Bacteriologist. The onset of AIDS pandemic brought in awareness on Diagnostic Microbiology, as all are scared about the HIV infection with many opportunistic infections as we were important to screen the HIV infections in the health care setting. With proliferation of many private Microbiology laboratories many entered in to this laboratory business to make easy money employing underpaid, no know ledged Microbiologists increasing errors in the basic diagnosis in many Bacteriological infection, and Antibiograms. Many laboratories need error correction if the Physicians believe in true sense, it will the dangerous to many patients. The accreditation's of the Laboratories can change the working and reporting accountability from the laboratories, Today, the complexity of the health-care environment and the availability of an ever expanding array of laboratory tests have further increased the need for more integration between clinical information and laboratory data. The implementation of request strategies, collection of the specimens for Microbiology is ill done by unqualified people it is an opportunity to a competent microbiologist to get a Urine or a sputum specimen collected with sense of scientific spirit as the diagnostic validation of tests and knowledge of test interpretation were indeed ranked as the most important issues. The importance and the true impact of Laboratory Medicine can only be achieved by adding value to laboratory tests, represented by their effectiveness in influencing the managements with whom we are dependent and of patients and related clinical outcomes. Today, the complexity of the health-care environment and the availability of an ever expanding array of laboratory tests have further increased the need for more integration between clinical information and laboratory data, Advances in science and technology will continue to result in the introduction of more complex, expensive, and difficult-to-interpret tests, many matters will slip into non-medical microbiologists and technicians. As Microbiology professionals, we will remain viable only if we build our own future and educate others about the contribution that appropriate management of Infections in Medicine can and does make to health care effective and useful for well-being of patients with challenges from Competitive economy. All the doctors who quailed in Medical Microbiology should concentrate on Infection control issues and Antibiotic policy or they perish in the system? With automation on the way in major aspects of Diagnostic Microbiology.
Dr.T.V.Rao MD Professor of microbiology and Freelance writer