A Day in the Life of a Microbiologist

By Kirsty Peltz (aka Bacterial Girl).

0850        Arrive at the Institute and head into the Donor Tissue Bank to greet every one, as I'm usually the last to arrive.

0900        Time to start the blood testing. Grab an esky and a glove from the Micro Lab and enter the mortuary reception to pick up the bloods. All admission bloods are tested twice a week for HIV and Hepatitis C and there are usually around 45 bloods. By now the autopsies have begun.

0910        Back in the lab I gown up and throw on a pair of gloves and safety glasses. Bloods are centrifuged and the first stage of serology is begun. While the first incubation is underway I unpack the incubators, turn on the Bunsen burner and start sorting through the agar plates that need to be read.

1000        By now the micro lab is reminiscent of tropical Queensland so I head to the tearoom to rehydrate and catch up on the gossip.

1015        Back to the lab to undergo the second stage of the blood testing and to look at and start identifying any bacteria growing on the agar from the previous days cases.

1040        Ring! Ring! I ungown and throw off my gloves just in time to hear from a pathologist that there is a potential meningococcal case. Lots of samples have been taken for me to test so I head once again into the mortuary. Brain swabs and sections as well as blood cultures and CSF samples have been collected which I take back with me into the lab.

1100        Perfect timing. The incubator used to test the bloods is beeping which means the third and final stage of serology must be carried out.

1130        Set up the clinical micro specimens, package them up and arrange for a courier to take them to VIDRL for PCR testing.

1200        By the time I get back to the lab the timer is beeping again which means the blood samples are ready to be put through the specro to obtain results.

1230        Of the 45 bloods, 4 are Hepatitis C positive. The results for all the bloods are entered into the database as well as the Serology Day Book. One of the bloods is a country case so I notify the pathologist by phone of the results.

1250        Finish identifying bacteria from yesterday's cases, which includes gram staining, catalase and coagulase tests as well as reading standardized ID systems.

1315        Lunch time already! As I head from the lab to grab my lunch I hear that we have a donor which means there will be lots of samples waiting for me to set up when I get back from lunch. Yay.

1355        Enough laughter and gossip for one day so I make my way back to the lab. Pick up the donor samples from the cold room and then pop into the mortuary to see if there are any more clinical specimens. No more for today.

1400        Set up the donor samples, which includes centrifuging 17 skin and heart solutions, before placing a sample of each into a broth for 48 hours incubation. The 65 skin and bone swabs are also placed into individual broths along with the cardiac tissue sections.

1510        More specimens need to be sent off for external testing so all request slips are filled in, samples packaged up and couriers arranged to pick up the eskies.  One delivery is to the Blood Bank down the road so I decide to go for a walk to soak up Melbourne's attempt at sunshine.

1615        Back in the lab to compile the day's microbiology reports. Once these are printed and checked I deliver them upstairs to the pathologists.

1650        Time to clean up and head off home.

The days always seem to pass by way too quick but they are never boring or without challenges and the people I work with make it all worth while.