NYSC
Working the Hormone Bench
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”
-Steve Jobs
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Working at The Hospital Labs has definitely been an experience, I'll tell you that. Diving into it, all hands on deck, like i have has given me a pretty good view of what Medical Laboratory Science is like in Nigeria. From my very own personal experiences, to those that i have merely witnessed - pooh!- let's just say that it is a lot and lucky for you, that gives me a lot to talk about.
For starters the public health system in Nigeria totally sucks. I am not one to tear down what i can't build but seriously, we have enormous issues. Now, i know what you're possibly thinking.. Nigeria is a developing country and as such should be given a chance to, well, develop.. i felt the same way during the first couple of months when i was still wet behind the ears. But now, completely disillusioned as i have become.. well like i said earlier i am not one to tear down, so i'll focus on my expericences.
As soon as my provisional license was released i was put to work. Being able to actually work the machines and DO the tests themselves now - "working the bench" - i was assigned. My first "bench" was hormonal analysis and my training began immediately.
I admit that there was as much excitement as there was apprehension and in hindsight i believe that both were very accurate reactions to have had, after all with great power comes great responsibility. I just didn't know it yet.
There
are different benches based on the tests run on each one. In the
Chemical Pathology Lab, for instance, we have the following benches:
hormones, electrolytes, liver test functions (LFTs), renal function tests (RFTs), glucose, urinalysis and PEPFAR (which is a special treatment clinic for HIV positive patients).
I worked the Hormone Bench with a med lab scientist for two weeks. Prior to this point, I had collected samples, labelled and registered them, spun and separated them and then stored (as needed). The scientist I was working with had a schedule: He collected sample all through the week and then ran them on Thursdays as a batch - this is supposed to be more economical. The only downside to this was that I had my CD (community development) days on Thursdays which essentially meant that I missed watching him run. He did however explain the theory to me (beware of air bubbles or cloths etc) but I wanted to practice.
I worked the Hormone Bench with a med lab scientist for two weeks. Prior to this point, I had collected samples, labelled and registered them, spun and separated them and then stored (as needed). The scientist I was working with had a schedule: He collected sample all through the week and then ran them on Thursdays as a batch - this is supposed to be more economical. The only downside to this was that I had my CD (community development) days on Thursdays which essentially meant that I missed watching him run. He did however explain the theory to me (beware of air bubbles or cloths etc) but I wanted to practice.
One Friday I got
lucky. Because of the very high number of tests that had accumulated over the strike period, he had had to run tests on both Thursday and
Friday so i got to watch. One of the joys of clinical biochemistry is that almost everything is automated and this was no exception. The results were ready in about 2 hours and I entered the results on the request forms and had them signed. I begun feeling like a fully fledged scientist.
I would later find out that The Hospital Lab is very possessive of its beloved and expensive Cobas E411 (hormone immunoassay machine) and therefore no one but a select few are allowed to handle it AT ALL. But they couldn't burst my bubble.
I would later find out that The Hospital Lab is very possessive of its beloved and expensive Cobas E411 (hormone immunoassay machine) and therefore no one but a select few are allowed to handle it AT ALL. But they couldn't burst my bubble.
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Unfortunately, my two weeks were up at this time and I had to change benches. This time to the LFT bench.
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