It was the last month of my internship days and I was assigned in Microbiology department. I love it here. It seems like we’re a bit separated from the main lab drama. That’s up until Dr. Jones (real name withheld) came into play.
Dr. Jones was red faced while walking into the lab. Each step seems to make ground tremble. “This is not good.”, I told myself.
While I was plating some urine samples, Dr. Jones barged in and started yelling at my supervisor. “I ordered a urine culture on my patient’s urine. Why did you cancel my order?”
My supervisor calmly checked her worksheets and told him, “Doctor Jones, the colony count is only 100 CFU/ml. We don’t normally do a culture unless it is more than 10,000 CFU/ml. A colony count that low is most likely a contaminant.
This made Dr. Jones even angrier. “What do you mean?” he said. Back then they used to do cultures on colony counts as low as 50 CFU/ml. I don’t think he realized the futility of doing a culture on a potential contaminant. Plus, the loops we used are calibrated at 0.01. Isn’t 100 CFU/ml the minimum?
Regardless, this experience really stuck with me. I was yet an intern and I have never been so scared in my life! He’s probably a pretty good doctor, but leave laboratory science to the experts.
Submitted by:
Felicity Buenevenidez
Medical Laboratory Technician
New Mexico, USA
