In addition, there is a continuing commitment to support general practitioners, practice nurses and others in the community. Although I do not have direct clinical care of these patients I still feel I am making a significant contribution to their well-being. The laboratory aspects of medical microbiology very much remain a hands-on experience with relatively little automation compared with haematology and clinical biochemistry. The examination of culture plates, distinguishing pathogens from normal flora, still retains elements of an art form. Stained microscopic slides of bacteria and fungi can be beautiful to look at and seeing acid-fast bacilli in sputum remains diagnostically satisfying.
Most medical microbiologists are no longer content to be just laboratory backroom boys and girls.
We venture out into the real world joining, for example, ward rounds on ITU or out-patient clinics in paediatrics. Up to a third of all patients in hospital receive an antibiotic during their stay. At a time of increasing bacterial resistance we have a vital role in helping to preserve the therapeutic potential of these important drugs. Many of us are also infection control doctors. As such, every nook and cranny of the hospital becomes a legitimate place for us to boldly go.