My Internship

Throughout this internship I hope to develop skills that will help with future careers. I also hope to learn a lot of new things this year such as lab techniques and information pertaining to certain illnesses. I can continue to improve my communication skills through this job, and also professional network. While on the job, I hope to assist, participate in, and hopefully even lead an experiment at some point. I believe hands on work will be beneficial to my degree in order to get my lab experience.

One of the reasons I chose this site is because I was particularly interested in clinical research. I want to learn more about immunology and how the immune system can differ in individuals. Studying infectious diseases is very interesting because it is something that effects people of all ages, so I believe everyone should take an interest in how their body protects itself. I'm excited to learn about the differing white blood cells and how they indicate what illness you may have. I am also eager to learn how to use different lab supplies and perfect more lab techniques. As a freshman during covid, I didn't have a lot of in-lab practice with experimental procedures and supplies, so I'm hoping this internship will allow me to improve.

Fortunately, much of what I have learned in this internship experience has been very relevant to some of my coursework this semester. Most notably, it has been beneficial to my success in my Genetics laboratory and lecture classes. Much of what we do in my Genetics lab is very similar to what I have learned in my internship. I have improved my use of sterile technique, pipetting, and analysis techniques. In fact, my experience with microscopy and slide preparation in LHSI has allowed me to excel at the same thing in my laboratory classes. Not only that, but as an intern in an immunology lab, there is much I have already learned about genetics. There were a few chapters in my Genetics lecture that pertained to the immune system, and I feel I already had a fair understanding of the material based off of my experience from the internship. There have been many overlaps between my coursework and internship this semester, and I'm hoping that I will see the same relevancy in future courses.

Just in my first semester I have learned a lot. So far, I have learned how to isolate plasma and PBMCs from whole blood, my sterile technique and pipetting skills have improved, I now know how to stain cells, and I am becoming familiar with the Flow Cytometer in lab, as well as data inputting.

In terms of less technical processes, I am learning that it is okay to ask questions and make mistakes. As I have mentioned before, I have lacked confidence in some of my abilities, so it's okay to ask questions when you are unsure. However, I am also learning that I need to take more risks and initiative in lab. If a mistake is made, then I can learn from what happened, and make sure it never happens again. Earlier in the semester I made a mistake when processing PBMCs. Although it was very embarrassing at the time, I've learned from what I did wrong. Now, isolating PBMCs is one of my favorite things to do in lab, even though it may be tedious and time consuming. I'm hoping that as the year goes on, I will find more confidence in myself, and become more efficient at completing different laboratory tasks.

I believe my contributions were very important as they provided a fresh set of eyes and perspective. Not only that, but having another person in the lab allows other members to participate or work on other projects that they normally wouldn't have time for. When i was able to work on experiments independently, my supervisors and coworkers had more time to organize and analyze data from previous experiments. My participation and contributions creates a more productive environment in that the daily work was able to be completed at a quicker and more efficient rate.

With our research we strive to learn more about inflammation caused by virus's and other pathogens. If we can find a definitive correlation between inflammation and aging, then we hope to treat and combat some of the diseases associated with aging. if this research succeeds, I will be a part of improving lives.

During my first month of the internship I was able to meet and work with everyone at this site. Each person is very professional, and a great mentor. I admire their patience and kindness, especially when mistakes are made. There was an incident where I was learning how to do one of the experiments, and I accidentally spilled a patient sample. Fortunately, my supervisors were very understanding and used this as a teaching moment. They demonstrated how to clean up a biohazard, and what to do with the data when you lose a sample. Although I felt awful, they were very reassuring, and professional throughout this incident. This is the sort of behavior I wish to display in my own professional career one day. The level of communication and patience used is something I wish to develop so I can create a positive and understanding work environment as I grow into my professional career.

After the first couple months of my internship I can see a lot has changed since the beginning. The first month I was very timid and lacked the confidence to do a lot. Now, I've grown in my confidence to lead an experiment and document data and patients.

Of course, at first I was training and learning the ins and outs of what we do in this lab. Now I'm starting to narrow down my primary role in this internship. My supervisors have started giving me more projects to participate in and observe. I am very fortunate for the excellent mentorship that Dr. Twigg, Pat Smith, Anmol Bawa, and Rachel Wilson have shown me throughout this process.

One aspect that was very different from what I originally anticipated was how busy I would be. Honestly, I struggled with juggling all my responsibilities throughout the first semester between 16 credit hours, two jobs, practices, and clubs. However, everyone in lab has been very understanding when I need to take a step back from lab responsibilities for a day or two to focus on an upcoming project or exam. With a lighter load of coursework in my spring semester, I was able to take up a greater role in the lab.

Now that I am well into my second semester of this internship, there are lots of new things to talk about. I was surprised at how much paperwork and documentation go into research. I feel like I am constantly filling out patient documentation paperwork. And I only have a fraction of the work that the other members of the lab have! I was expecting there to be lots of experiments in this research laboratory, but there is just as much paperwork that pertains to the research, lab tools, and overall organization. I don't mind it though. Sometimes I enjoy filling out these forms. It is a nice break from some of the experimental preps we have to do.

Overall, the past several months have offered me many opportunities to meet other people from very different backgrounds. There is such a diverse group of people in the pulmonary division, and you will often see different labs collaborating on projects. I have had the pleasure to meet and work with others who are very different from myself. I find it enjoyable because it is fun to learn about others and their perspectives. What is also interesting is that every Monday the division holds a pulmonary research conference. In these meetings I get to listen to others present their research, and learn about their methods and practices, which is really cool.

At my internship I feel that everyone is very kind and inviting, which creates a positive work environment. If there were one thing to be unsatisfied about, it would be the amount of tasks to do. I feel that the environment is sometimes very slow-paced. This is because experiments will not happen due to patient cancellations. Although there is not much that can be done to help this situation, I feel a busier environment would be more beneficial for me in the future.

Ideally, my perfect workplace behavior would consist of driven individuals that are great at communication and can create inviting work environments among employees. My current internship does a wonderful job of meeting these expectations. I also enjoy how it is very dynamic. We are always learning about new protocols and prepping for different experiments, that it is easy to maintain an adaptive environment. I enjoy a workplace where I am always kept on my toes and not repeating the same exact thing everyday.

In addition, I have learned a lot from the individuals that I have worked with this year. There are a few coworkers that have very different upbringings or cultures from myself, and I love to learn about the cultural differences and perspective being brought into the workplace. It is important to me that I continue to learn about others perspectives as I continue along my education path.

As someone who is pretty new to a research lab, there have been many ups and downs, especially during my first couple weeks of work. With a lot of practice I am glad to say that all the experiments I have assisted with have had good results. Besides the occasional spill, I've improved greatly with the MINDspeed protocol that requires a PBMC prep. All of the preps I have worked individually on have had a great yield.

Recently, I was introduced to some of the documentation and paper filing of working in a clinical research lab. Although it may be boring at times, this paperwork is essential for sick patients who need a BAL sample processed. I'm glad I improved at this because it gives other employees in lab more time to complete experiments and data instead of spending their time on this tedious task.

Although I have taken a more independent role in some experiments in lab, I still struggle with understanding the basic concepts or purpose behind what we are doing. There are so many studies and experiments underway that its difficult to keep track! Whenever this happens I make sure to ask questions for clarification. Fortunately, much of what we do in lab has aligned with some of the concepts from my coursework. This has also been very helpful for whenever I get confused with a concept.

One of my biggest challenges continues to be my lack of confidence. I have been trying to take more initiative in lab, but I feel my progress is slow going. I realize that there is nothing wrong with asking questions, but my timidness seems to be holding me back a little bit. I have seen some improvement since the beginning of this internship, but I hope with the new semester I can continue to grow, hopefully at a quicker pace than last semester!

Now that we are well into the spring semester, there have been some changes I have noticed. Unfortunately, I don't have many new successes to report because there haven't been many new opportunities lately, but I have noticed a change in one of my challenges. Although my confidence is still lacking, I feel like I'm taking a more present role in the lab. I am understanding the experiments more, and taking part in more lab discussions. I am also glad that my schedule is more forgiving this semester because I am able to attend the lab meetings with Dr. Twigg. These meetings have been very beneficial in helping my understanding of the experiments, and they also provide the opportunity to have more discussions with Dr. Twigg about LHSI.