Yesterday, I got an opportunity to have a preview of what my job will be like. I got to tour
Lutheran Hospital's lab. The lab was divided up into different
categories; such as: microbiology, blood bank, histology, chemistry, electrophoresis, etc. The most interesting part of the whole tour was how I reacted to the microbiology lab. I felt like this was the area I belonged,
never mind the odor that encompasses you as soon as you walk through the door. The smell of microorganisms reproducing. Yummy, huh? As I walked around the lab, I now thank Dr.
Kreps for being such a hands on teacher in Microbiology Lab. Streaking already-prepared,
prepackaged agar plates made from goat blood with urine samples seems like a piece of cake compared to his labs. This probably sounds gross to some, but
microorganisms are on every surface we touch. While some are friendly, others are your worst enemy!
Along in the microbiology lab, the lab techs had some parasites they've collected over the years. One jar had fungus found in the aqueous humor (found in the eye ball). Another jar had a feeding tube with a worm growing every which way through it. There were also
plenty other jars with various worms in them. They also had a special room for
Tuberculosis (TB) testing/growth with negative airflow. Which makes sense, since you can inhale this terrible critter.
Oh, the two other parts I was familiar with were Histology and Electrophoresis. Electrophoresis is neat to compare DNA, RNA, proteins etc. The histology department takes tissue sample from every part that is removed from a body during a surgery. When a leg get amputated, that's where it goes. They once removed a 78 lb uterus from a lady.
So when I got my tonsils taken out my sophomore year at MC, I saw the lab it came too. They keep tissue samples up to ten years, so I'm figuring my tonsil tissue slide is there! So in a sense I belong to this lab because they already have a piece of me.