PRESENTATION OUTLINE
PATHOLOGY
Almost nobody knows about being a pathological physician.
Poking peoples intestines after they're dead is a nice way to put it.
Being a pathological physician is kind of like being a forensic scientist, except on a smaller scale.
They hardly meet the patients whom their biopsy (or autopsy ;D) samples belong to, so social skills aren't really needed.
I dream of working in a BSL-4 lab.
And Oli Sykes. Can't forget him.
BSL (Bio Safety Level) is referring to a quarantined room which a bacteria or virus is contained in.
There are four levels, with 1 being where the common cold is at and 4 being where Ebola is held. Level 4 contains agents that are threatening to society, or unknown/highly exotic microbes.
Ebola is a virus that causes internal hemorrhaging out of your main orifices, and there are currently 5 strains, one of which doesn't affect humans, but is fatal in primates. However, another has about an 90-70% fatality when it has had large outbreaks. (Zaire)
Ebola is actually related to another agent that requires BSL-4 containment, being Marburg. Both are classified as highly contagious and threatening to public health on a global scale.
Biosafety Level 4 is required for work with dangerous and exotic agents that pose
a high individual risk of aerosol-transmitted laboratory infections and life-threatening
disease that is frequently fatal, for which there are no vaccines or treatments, or a
related agent with unknown risk of transmission. Agents with a close or identical
antigenic relationship to agents requiring BSL-4 containment must be handled at
this level until sufficient data are obtained either to confirm continued work at this
level, or re-designate the level.
-Center for Disease Control
So, essentially, I'd be handing agents that kill 30-90% of the time, but are really, really messy and unpleasant.
:D
Or stuff that you can inhale, or is transmitted very easily via foamites (touch).
Due to the fact that experience is highly needed in this field, I will likely begin at a level 1 lab, then progress to 4, where I would be handling "hot agents", if I would even get the chance.
Nobody would trust a fresh-out-of-college person with a potential bio-weapon, and for good reasons.
I sincerely hope I bored all of you to death.
