Laboratory Technology for Dummies: get to know the lab

Do your employees, for example in office or administration, work with lab equipment and supplies but have never worked in a laboratory themselves? The Laboratory Technology for Dummies workshop offers them the opportunity to get acquainted with the lab world. A workshop participant shares her experiences.

Regina Leeijen is Finance Control Specialist at Sanbio. This company operates as an independent supplier of life science products for research and diagnostics in the Benelux. Sanbio is also a producer and developer of antibodies and antibody-related products of its own brand Monosan. On May 24, Leeijen took part in the workshop: “The turnout was large and we were placed in different groups. That's how I met people from different companies.”

The students who participated in Laboratory Technology for Dummies, a workshop in which FHI collaborates with ROC Rijn IJssel from Arnhem, received workshops in four parts: clinical chemistry/hematology, analytical chemistry based on chromatography, microbiology/food microbiology and molecular biology. During the components, various tests and experiments are carried out in the lab environment, such as a gram test or making a blood count.

Leeijen is enthusiastic about the workshop: “Of the four workshops I did, I enjoyed 'clinical chemistry' the most. We used a microscope to look at blood smears. After some time turning all the screws and knobs, I managed to focus the image. I could even recognize things like monocytes and lymphocytes. That was quite a moment of pride.”

Becoming familiar with the lab

The aim of the workshop is to make participants more familiar with lab equipment and the procedures used. At Leeijen, that goal seems to have been achieved: “During the workshops we also learned how to use a pipette,” says Leeijen. “I have seen this instrument on an invoice before, but I had no idea that it is quite difficult to pipette properly. Several instruments were used, such as a refractometer and a pH meter. I don't remember ever seeing that in high school chemistry class. It was very nice that we were allowed to work with this and that I also managed to actually get an outcome or see something that I was supposed to see.”

Leeijen is happy to have attended the course day: “The workshop is definitely recommended to others. It is a completely organized day. You will be received nicely. The workshops are very easy to follow. I liked that it was told in Jip and Janneke language by a bunch of enthusiastic teachers and students. It gives a good insight into the work in a laboratory, which gives you a lot of experience as a 'layman'. And that experience is also rewarded with a certificate!”