Working in the Laboratory

This week was the last week of the holidays in the mid-semester break.  However, I was not on holiday but working hard at uni.  We had lab classes for Medical Microbiology and so for the first time we got to play with pathogenic bacteria.  It actually wasn’t too bad although at the end of the week I could see clearer than ever before the gaps in my knowledge when it comes to microbiology.  We had to identify some unknown organisms that were given to us at the start of the week.  We had to plate them on to selective agar and run several tests on them to determine what type they were.  By the end of the week however, I was no closer to saying for sure what they were.  I could plate the bacteria up and run the required tests such as coagulation, oxidisation and staining that were required.  I could say whether the tests were positive or negative, whether it was gram positive or negative and whether it was cocci or rod shaped.  However, this knowledge needed to compared to our knowledge of certain bacteria.  That is where my knowledge fell short.  I was only able to identify the bacteria when I used the computer identification tests and software.  Despite my poor performance at least it has given me an idea of what I need to know before the final exams.  Now I’ve just got to learn!