Lab Techniques 101

I have always struggled to understand laboratory procedures. Throughout my undergraduate career as a biology major, I dreaded attending lab. I felt as though the relevant background information was never provided. I would blindly trudge along following a list of steps without any idea as to what I was doing. As a person obsessed with understanding the why behind everything I do, it was a frustrating and disheartening experience.

Admittedly, I was not excited to begin the Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology class. I figured that it would be overly dry and resemble what I had come to expect from lab courses in college. However, I was pleasantly surprised. All of the techniques that I had heard of such as Western blotting, Southern blotting, and SDS-PAGE were explained in depth. When I taught MCAT for Kaplan, explaining organic chemistry and biology laboratory techniques was a struggle. I often found that my students were more knowledgeable in this area than I was. I am considering teaching following this pharmacology program before attending medical school. I am enthusiastic to incorporate my newfound expertise into my teaching.

It was especially helpful to learn about the practical applications of these laboratory techniques. My students would frequently question me and I typically could only provide satisfactory responses. Without clear context, it was a challenge to motivate my students to study this MCAT material. In addition, I can explain why a particular technique is preferential to another, which was problematic in the past. All in all, I've come to appreciate and enjoy the Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology class and am looking forward to the electives for next semester.