Hematology

General or Other | Hematology (Medicine Field)


Description

Hematology is the scientific study of blood and blood-forming tissues. It is a branch of pathology, biology physiology, internal medicine, clinical laboratory work, and pediatrics that is concerned with the study of blood, the blood-forming organs, and blood diseases. It diagnoses, treats, and prevents different diseases of the blood and bone marrow as well as of the immunologic, hemostatic (blood clotting) and vascular systems. Because of the nature of blood, the science of hematology profoundly affects the understanding of many diseases. Hematology includes the study of etiology, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and prevention of blood diseases.

Specialization

The laboratory work that goes into the study of blood is frequently performed by a medical technologist. Hematologists physicians also very frequently do further study in oncology - the medical treatment of cancer.

Physicians specialized in hematology are known as hematologists. Their routine basic work includes mainly the care and treatment of patients with hematological disorders. Some of them may also work at the hematology laboratory studying blood films and bone marrow slides under the microscope, interpreting various hematological test results. In some institutions, hematologists also manage the hematology laboratory.

Physicians who work in hematology laboratories, and most commonly manage them, are pathologists specialized in the diagnosis of hematological diseases, referred to as hematopathologists. Hematologists and hematopathologists generally work in conjunction to formulate a diagnosis and deliver the most appropriate therapy if needed. Hematology is a distinct subspecialty of internal medicine, separate from but overlapping with the subspecialty of medical oncology. ...