Elaine celebrates 50 years microtomy milestone | News

Congratulations to Elaine Smith, who has completed an impressive 50 years of working within histology.

Elaine, a Biomedical Scientist, started work in a Histology laboratory in October 1972 and is still working part time at Royal Surrey.

She said: “Histology is the study of tissues and organs at a microscopic level. In order to view these under a microscope, very thin sections of tissue have to be cut, adhered to microscope slides and stained. There are lots of other investigations and techniques performed in Histology to enable a diagnosis for the patient. Most of these start with cutting sections.

“When I first started in 1972, one of the first things I learned to do was to cut these sections (called microtomy) which was very difficult at first, but became easier with practice.

"Our workload was definitely smaller in 1972 than it is now, but the way the sections are produced has changed very little. However, some of the equipment is better and some other techniques are now automated.

“I do still enjoy my job. I get a big sense of achievement and knowledge from the fact that although I’m not 'patient facing', I am still helping patients get their diagnoses.”

Tareq Ansari, Deputy Lead Biomedical Scientist, presented Elaine with flowers and congratulated her on her dedicated service, praising her as an inspiration to colleagues and an extremely valuable member of the team.