‘Highlight of the year’

After two years of asynchronous online lab sessions, Tracey Taylor, Ph.D., was thrilled to return to her fall routine in the microbiology lab with M1s in September.

Taylor is associate professor in the Department of Foundational Medical Studies, and assistant dean for Diversity & Inclusion.

According to Taylor, “just having the students physically in the lab was so exciting!”

“I loved seeing them figure out how the MacConkey plates work and seeing the hemolysis on the blood agar plates,” she says.

“Getting to see the light bulb go on (for them) is the true, real privilege of teaching these brilliant future physicians,” adds Taylor.

“Honestly, this really is a professional highlight of the year for me.”

Located in Oakland University’s O’Dowd Hall, near the anatomy lab, the microbiology lab plays an important role in the education of OUWB’s medical students.

Taylor recently took the time to answer some questions about the lab, and talk about just how important it is:

What is the purpose of the microbiology lab at this juncture in the M1 curriculum?

The microbiology labs are hands-on experiences for students that reinforce concepts that are taught in the BFCP-1 sessions in the classroom and in asynchronous modules.

What do you hope they learn from this experience?

Besides learning the material, we really hope to demonstrate to students that things are not as "cut and dry" as they seem in textbooks and in images that we show in class. In microbiology, bacteria are divided in to two main groups based on whether they stain purple or red when viewed under the microscope. One of the things that we hope students appreciate during the lab is that light purple and dark red are really almost the same color, so the distinction is not always as obvious as the textbook images show. There is nuance in these lab diagnoses techniques.

Is it a refresher for most of these students at this point?

There are some students who have taken microbiology prior to starting medical school, so this material is largely a refresher for them, but for many this is brand new material. One of my favorite parts of watching the students in the lab is watching some students teach their peers some of the material. I love watching them explain more difficult concepts to each other!

What kind of work do they do in the lab? 

The students are given worksheets with 10 stations. Many have a clinical scenario described and then the students look at the various agar plates and do biochemical tests to work through the case and come to a diagnosis. Those worksheets are for their own self-study. The lab is assessed as questions on the final exam in the course.

What surprised you the most?

Every year there will be one or two students who will integrate a separate concept from the curriculum into the microbiology lab content, and this year was no exception! I continue to be amazed when students make these complex connections with no guidance from us. These students are so intelligent!

How would you describe the students ... inquisitive? eager to learn? other?

For the most part, most students are inquisitive and eager to learn. There are always some students who view the lab as a box to check and, at the other end of the spectrum, there are some that really embrace the experience. Some students even asked if they could continue to review the material again at a later date! But unfortunately, these are real live bacteria, so they won't survive on these plates indefinitely!