For my Sophomore year career day, I decided to shadow a clinical biochemist who works in diagnostics for companies who sell their rapid and effective testing appliances to doctors. The company, called DCN (Diagnostics Consulting Network), is located in a small cluster of other businesses on Palomar airport road in Carlsbad.
Career Day Expectations:
Some expectations that I had for the day were that there would be a lot of observing and minimal hands-on activities, mainly because the work they do is confidential and definitely a meticulous type of work. I definitely expected that I'd be wearing a lab coat and need to wear closed-toe shoes.
In the beginning of the day, I asked Mr. Chung a few questions about things I had researched the previous day like lateral flow assays and the Polymer Chain Reaction (PCR). I found everything I had looked up on what he does in his field to be very interesting, and wanted to know more about the common practices of biochem and how these processes were developed. I also asked questions about the educational experience he had in order to prepare him for the field of clinical biochemistry and consulting, and what kind of plan he had on what he wanted to do in order to get into biochemistry.
A few of my questions included:
How are lateral flow assays applied to your daily work day?
How does polymer synthesize DNA independently?
Did you have a clear path set out for yourself in order to get into the field of biochem?
To what extent do you find your work enjoyable and fulfilling?
What is a typical work day like for you?
Do you ever do gene editing in the lab? (sadly, the answer was no)
What illnesses are you working to develop tests for?
Mr. Chung mentioned lymphoma and other illnesses, especially, blood-borne illnesses.
A reflection on the day.
In all, I somewhat enjoyed my day because I was able to take away some interesting points of consideration on what future steps to take according to what you're interested in. Mr. Chung was able to offer some insightful advice, and the experience allowed me to see what a biochemist's day really entails.
Career Day Expectations:
Some expectations that I had for the day were that there would be a lot of observing and minimal hands-on activities, mainly because the work they do is confidential and definitely a meticulous type of work. I definitely expected that I'd be wearing a lab coat and need to wear closed-toe shoes.
In the beginning of the day, I asked Mr. Chung a few questions about things I had researched the previous day like lateral flow assays and the Polymer Chain Reaction (PCR). I found everything I had looked up on what he does in his field to be very interesting, and wanted to know more about the common practices of biochem and how these processes were developed. I also asked questions about the educational experience he had in order to prepare him for the field of clinical biochemistry and consulting, and what kind of plan he had on what he wanted to do in order to get into biochemistry.
A few of my questions included:
How are lateral flow assays applied to your daily work day?
How does polymer synthesize DNA independently?
Did you have a clear path set out for yourself in order to get into the field of biochem?
To what extent do you find your work enjoyable and fulfilling?
What is a typical work day like for you?
Do you ever do gene editing in the lab? (sadly, the answer was no)
What illnesses are you working to develop tests for?
Mr. Chung mentioned lymphoma and other illnesses, especially, blood-borne illnesses.
A reflection on the day.
In all, I somewhat enjoyed my day because I was able to take away some interesting points of consideration on what future steps to take according to what you're interested in. Mr. Chung was able to offer some insightful advice, and the experience allowed me to see what a biochemist's day really entails.