Department
Biological Sciences
Advisor
Brittany Nairn
Document Type
Poster
Version
Preprint
Keywords:
Internship, Lab Assistant, Organization
Abstract
From June to December last year, I served as a Laboratory Assistant at Twin Cities Dermatopathology—an associate of Sonic Healthcare, USA. In this role, I worked under Xiao Xie (TCD’s lab Supervisor) maintaining the lab space. Tasks included managing the intake of slides, quality checking, labeling, staining, and coverslipping the slides, organizing them for pathological assessment, updating the patient records, and storing the slides after processing. This role required much diligence and communicativeness as I became the “reference person” to which the histologists, doctors, accessioners, and data records personnel could come with issues or questions that I could resolve or address with the supervisor. Furthermore, critical thinking to answer these questions and solve issues independently, as well multitasking and cohesive focus were also skills that were obligated in such a fast-paced and quality-demanding environment. This role was intimidating when I first started, and it took several weeks before I got accustomed to the tasks that were expected and the way the system functioned. Since we are working with samples from real patients who needed answers back from the doctors as soon as possible, every step of the process had to be done well and with efficiency. Any interruption to the flow severely delayed a patient’s results, and it took some getting used to this kind of pressure. I am better for it, though, because it equipped me with skills of greater independence, focus and management, decisiveness, increased biological understanding, and professionalism.
Recommended Citation
Ryks, Emma and Nairn, Brittany, "Internship in Biological Sciences: Lab Assistant at Twin Cities Dermatopathology" (2024). Science Symposium. 33.
https://spark.bethel.edu/science_symposium/spring2024/schedule2024/33
Included in
Internship in Biological Sciences: Lab Assistant at Twin Cities Dermatopathology
From June to December last year, I served as a Laboratory Assistant at Twin Cities Dermatopathology—an associate of Sonic Healthcare, USA. In this role, I worked under Xiao Xie (TCD’s lab Supervisor) maintaining the lab space. Tasks included managing the intake of slides, quality checking, labeling, staining, and coverslipping the slides, organizing them for pathological assessment, updating the patient records, and storing the slides after processing. This role required much diligence and communicativeness as I became the “reference person” to which the histologists, doctors, accessioners, and data records personnel could come with issues or questions that I could resolve or address with the supervisor. Furthermore, critical thinking to answer these questions and solve issues independently, as well multitasking and cohesive focus were also skills that were obligated in such a fast-paced and quality-demanding environment. This role was intimidating when I first started, and it took several weeks before I got accustomed to the tasks that were expected and the way the system functioned. Since we are working with samples from real patients who needed answers back from the doctors as soon as possible, every step of the process had to be done well and with efficiency. Any interruption to the flow severely delayed a patient’s results, and it took some getting used to this kind of pressure. I am better for it, though, because it equipped me with skills of greater independence, focus and management, decisiveness, increased biological understanding, and professionalism.