| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Clinical and Medical |
| Level | Mid level |
| Reports to | Laboratory Director |
| Direct reports | Senior Lab Technician, Lab Technician, Infection Control Nurse |
| Experience | 2 to 6 years after MD in a hospital or NABL-accredited laboratory |
Microbiologist (Clinical) job description template
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Job title: Microbiologist (Clinical)
Department: Clinical and Medical
Reports to: Laboratory Director
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
A Clinical Microbiologist heads the microbiology section of a hospital or diagnostic laboratory and usually serves as the infection control officer. They supervise cultures, sensitivity testing, serology and molecular tests, report critical results to clinicians, publish the hospital antibiogram and guide antibiotic choices. They also investigate outbreaks and check sterilisation and OT surveillance. A good clinical microbiologist releases accurate reports fast, keeps the lab ready for NABL and helps doctors use antibiotics wisely.
Key responsibilities
- Supervise the processing of blood, urine, sputum, pus and other cultures, and verify identification and sensitivity reports before release.
- Phone critical results such as positive blood cultures and resistant organisms to the treating doctor, and record who was told and when.
- Run serology, rapid tests and molecular tests such as PCR for TB, viral loads and respiratory panels, with proper controls.
- Prepare the hospital antibiogram at fixed intervals and use it with the stewardship team to update the antibiotic policy.
- Serve as infection control officer, reviewing hospital-acquired infections, hand hygiene audits and isolation practice with the infection control nurse.
- Investigate suspected outbreaks, collect environmental samples and recommend control measures to the infection control committee.
- Check sterilisation quality through biological and chemical indicators from CSSD and OT, and review OT and water surveillance cultures.
- Run internal quality control and external quality assessment for the section, and keep records ready for NABL audits.
- Guide the needle-stick and blood exposure protocol for staff, including testing and prophylaxis advice.
- Train technicians and nurses on sample collection, biosafety and segregation of laboratory biomedical waste.
Requirements
- MD or DNB in Microbiology
- Valid registration with the National Medical Commission or a State Medical Council
- Training in infection control or molecular diagnostics is an advantage
- 2 to 6 years after MD in a hospital or NABL-accredited laboratory
KRAs and KPIs for a Microbiologist (Clinical)
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Report turnaround | Culture and sensitivity reports released within 72 hours for 90 percent of samples |
| Critical results | Positive blood cultures informed to the clinician within 1 hour of detection in 100 percent of cases |
| Quality assurance | External quality assessment results within acceptable limits, with every deviation investigated |
| Infection surveillance | Hospital-acquired infection report presented to the infection control committee every month |
| Antibiogram | Antibiogram published on schedule and shared with all clinical departments |
| Accreditation | Zero major non-conformities in the microbiology section at NABL assessments |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: Automated blood culture system, Automated identification and sensitivity system, Biosafety cabinet, Real-time PCR machine, Laboratory information system, Autoclave and incubators.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Laboratory Director, Head of Department (Clinical)
Interview questions for a Microbiologist (Clinical)
- A blood culture flags positive at 11 pm. What do you do before morning?
- How do you build an antibiogram that clinicians will actually use?
- Three ICU patients grow the same resistant Klebsiella in one week. How do you investigate?
- Your external quality result for one organism was wrong. How do you find the cause?
- How would you persuade a senior surgeon to stop routine antibiotics after clean surgery?
- What would you look for during an inspection of the CSSD?
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What does a clinical microbiologist do in a hospital?
A clinical microbiologist runs the microbiology laboratory, which grows and identifies bacteria and fungi, tests antibiotic sensitivity and performs serology and molecular tests. They report critical results to doctors, prepare the antibiogram, lead infection surveillance, investigate outbreaks and check sterilisation quality.
What is the difference between a clinical microbiologist and a pharma microbiologist?
A clinical microbiologist is usually a doctor with an MD in Microbiology who tests patient samples and advises clinicians on infections and antibiotics. A pharma microbiologist typically holds an MSc and tests water, clean rooms, raw materials and products for contamination under manufacturing quality rules.
Is the clinical microbiologist also the infection control officer?
In most Indian hospitals, yes. The clinical microbiologist usually acts as infection control officer and works with infection control nurses on surveillance of hospital-acquired infections, hand hygiene, isolation, outbreak investigation and antibiotic stewardship, reporting to the hospital infection control committee.