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Association of Anatomical Pathology Technology | ||||||
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| Inside
the mortuary: the role of anatomical pathology technicians |
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The role of the anatomical pathology technologist has never had as high a profile as at present. How the dead are treated is of ever-increasing importance in public expectation. |
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What is an
anatomical pathology technician? The more we can find out about the causes of people’s deaths, the more likely we are to help prevent it happening to others. And when a death is unexpected, it can be important for legal and other reasons to discover the cause. Anatomical pathology technicians assist the pathologist in conducting these post-mortems, taking tissue samples and maintaining equipment. They also keep legally required mortuary records. It may sound macabre, but in fact it is absorbing work that can have important consequences. |
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| Anatomical
pathology technicians have a range of responsibilities: record-keeping,
maintaining the mortuary and post-mortem room, and ensuring equipment
and instruments are clean, sterile and ready to use. They help the
pathologist (a specialist doctor) to examine the body and take samples
for analysis, and after each post mortem prepare the body for storage
or collection by undertakers.
Anatomical pathology technicians liaise with a range of people including medical staff, police, and most importantly, relatives of those who have died. It’s important that you should be able to deal sympathetically with people who may be grieving, and respect different religious and cultural attitudes to the dead. At the same time, it would fall to you to keep track of property and samples, and to ensure that all the paperwork required by law is efficiently dealt with. |
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