Biomedical graduates turned disease detectives When the City University of Hong Kong first established the Department of Biomedical Sciences, some were doubtful about its graduates’ career prospects. It wasn’t until the first cohort of the Bachelor of Sciences in Biomedical Sciences (BMS) students graduated in 2017, many of them becoming well-paid medical laboratory technologists at public hospitals, that people realized just how promising the future was for these biomedical sciences graduates. Medical laboratory technologists work at public and private hospitals as well as diagnostic laboratories. They perform medical laboratory tests on specimens of body tissues, fluids, blood and urine to help doctors make diagnoses and evaluate treatment. Sandy Lo Ka-ki, 2017 BMS graduate and assistant medical laboratory technologist at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, said her job is like a detective of diseases who works behind-the-scenes to help doctors understand diseases.
Practical programme equips graduates with working skills Sandy has always been interested in public health and medical care but being in the front line was not her cup of tea. “I prefer to work behind the scenes. Two years into the job, I have come to realize that many tasks that seem insignificant have, in fact, a huge implication on patients. A speedy, accurate test result is essential in helping doctors make correct diagnoses and decide on the best course of treatment. Our role is no less important than that of the medical staff at the forefront. It is very satisfying.”
She recalled the time when she had to perform a Thalassemia test for a pregnant woman. She was confused when the blood test indicated possible HbH disease despite a normal blood smear. She and her colleagues kept digging deeper, finally confirming Thalassemia in another blood smear, helping the doctor to make an accurate diagnosis. She said, “Had we given up, the doctor would have made a wrong diagnosis. Our tests helped the patient to reconsider whether she would continue the pregnancy in view of the possible complications.”
賽馬會動物醫學及生命科學院 I 2020 春季
Another alumnus Winnie Wu So-Yat said that the comprehensive BMS programme, consisting of
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