Internship Helps Marine Biology Major Build Confidence Running Hematology Analysis

June 24, 2018

Samantha Davern ’19, Marine Biology
Alaska Sea Life Center (Seward, Alaska)

Working at the Alaska SeaLife Center presents unique challenges, especially in a fast-paced environment. I am the only fellow in the vet lab, so a lot of the responsibility falls to me, especially when the laboratory coordinator, Natalie, is out of office or busy with other projects.

One challenge I faced was my first or second week in. It was Natalie’s day off and the veterinarian drew blood from one of our ice seals in rehab, and I was responsible for running the entire hematology analysis on the sample. Before then, I was shadowing and helping Natalie when I could when it came to using the machines and making blood smears. I knew I wasn’t great at making smears yet, as they always came out clumped and uneven, so I was nervous about having to do it on my own. I had been practicing almost every day of that week, but I was unable to get them right.

As the veterinarian and the technicians were in rehab, and thus quarantined, I was completely on my own to run blood. I was a little overwhelmed and, for a few moments, couldn’t remember how each of the instruments were used or which blood tube and serum went with what. I took a deep breath and went about it slowly, remembering a little more of what Natalie showed me with each second.

I was still super unsure of myself, but still made sure everything was going smoothly. When it came time to make the blood smears, I remembered what Natalie had told me the previous afternoon, and how maybe if I change the way I’m holding the slide, it would turn out better.

So, I changed my positioning, and I was able to make two good blood smears.

I felt really excited for a few moments before continuing with the analysis, feeling a little more confident than I had before. When the smear was dried and stained, I had to go through it and count the white blood cells and differentiate them, which was also difficult as it was otter blood, and I had never looked at otter blood before, only seals.

I used the table provided and tried my best, but I made sure that the veterinarian knew that my numbers may not be accurate since I had never counted otter blood before. She was really understanding and made me feel better about it, and when Natalie returned the next day, we went through the slide together and, as it turned out, my numbers were not as far off as what I was expecting.

I learned to be more confident in my ability to run the analysis on my own, and to not constantly second guess myself while working on it on my own. Samantha Davern ’19

I learned that it was okay to admit that something may not be super accurate right away, and that it takes time to get really good at any skill, but that eventually you’ll get there.

These are all important lessons to know in the future, especially as I continue down a path that will hopefully lead me to veterinary school and a Ph.D. program. I know I still have a lot to learn, but I am willing to take the time to learn it.

The Bergami Summer Internship Program is funded through the generosity of Board of Governors member – and former Board Chair – Sam Bergami ’85 EMBA and his wife, Lois, and the Division of Student Affairs. The students are blogging about the experience throughout the summer.