I Love Chemistry
I can't believe I just said that, but it's true. I just completed my chemistry rotation at the hospital, and I enjoyed it way more than I had anticipated.
On campus, our degree required us to take 1 year of General Chemistry, one year of Organic Chemistry, one semester of Biochemistry and an Intro to Instrumental Analysis class. I didn't hate any of the classes; they just weren't necessarily my favorite subject.
It occurred to me part of the problem was the "general" part. Chemistry courses on campus can only be just so specific to appeal to multiple majors. It was hard to see where it all fit together in the clinical laboratory. However, in the lab, the "chemistry" is based much more on physiology--now that was a class I loved! You can directly see why these tests are important and how they fit together.
Even though chemistry tests are becoming more automated--I hear some labs are just about completely automated--you can't lose that knowledge. It's important to know the results you are looking at make sense.
There has been some buzz about the new Doctorate in Clinical Laboratory Science, and my rotation in chemistry has confirmed my decision to pursue that degree. Looking at a patient's chemistry panels is like piecing a puzzle together--it requires a lot of understanding and interpretation of results, not just memorizing normal ranges. I would hate to get so used to just reporting out patient results you don't even question them anymore, or worse, you forget what would cause them to be abnormal in the first place.
Anyway, if there are any students out there who have already decided chemistry just isn't their favorite thing... just wait! It will be so much different in the lab, and by different, I mean better!