this post was submitted on 15 Mar 2024
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I think my job would be understandable at a basic level. My job involves healthcare, which has massively changed since the 1700s, but the basics are still there and would likely make sense to people.
I look at organs to find and document disease.
Anatomical pathologist
Close! But I don't have big enough brains or the paycheck to match lol. You could think of me as a glorified human butcher...far more crude than a surgeon. The pathologist gets the end result after all the blood and guts are out of the way haha. (Unless you're a forensic pathologist...they slug around in guts all day!)
How do you get into that line of work??? Not because I want to, just morbid curiosity. I'm too squeamish.
Haha. Believe me I actually used to be very squeamish as a child. I still am as an adult with certain things...I nope the hell out of there for human vomit (altho it weirdly doesn't really bother me with dogs and cats).
Dunno how it went away...I guess just slowly over time as you get exposed to more and more things. Plus I work in an incredibly well ventilated space, which cuts the grossness factor of any of it down by like 95%. You'd be surprised at how much smell influences your idea of "gross", at least for me. And then if I am a bit grossed out by something, I can freely comment on it and laugh about it with my coworkers because I don't have to worry about sparing a patient's feelings...I only get the organ. I had a brief period of time in school where I had autopsy training...man I could NOT stand the smell and I almost threw up before because I tried to toughen it up and breathe through my nose. Big mistake! Idk how anyone can get used to smells like that. Mouth breathing only for me in that environment.
Anyway, my role is played by different people with different educational backgrounds depending on what country/region you're in. Here in the US, my job requires a 4 year bachelor's degree in basically any field... doesn't really matter as long as you take basic science classes. From there, you enter a specialized 2 year master's degree program. It's similar to physician assistant school except we are paid a bit less (but with the advantage of not having to see patients). Our first year is book learning and our second year is hands on training on how to perform the job.
I was always interested in medical things, but I always hated having to interact with patients. This also allows me to work with my hands and see first hand the actual effects of disease. Cancer is no longer some mysterious, nebulous concept. I can see it with my own two eyes and feel it with my hands. Plus the paycheck is pretty stellar imo...not a doctor salary or anything, but I'm living comfortable as a single adult.
If it at all seems interesting, I'd encourage you to try to investigate more. I am generally hesitant to say my exact job title in public for fear of being doxxed (it's a small field), but I'm always happy to share more with anyone over a DM.
Just wanted to say that I found the description of your job really interesting, so thanks for taking the time to write about it.
There’s absolutely no way that I could do it - I’m far too squeamish. But I’m glad that there are people who can do a job like this, which increases mankind’s understanding of diseases.
Hey thanks haha
That was super fascinating! Thank you so much for taking the time to explain!