• Question: Why did you choose microbiology instead of something else related to medicine?

    Asked by to Sandra on 19 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Sandra Chiwanza

      Sandra Chiwanza answered on 19 Jun 2014:

      Hi Ellie,

      I didn’t choose Microbiology, it sort of found me. My first degree is in Biomedical Science. This is what we call a multi-disciplinary degree, that is you study many disciplines of the biology and chemistry related to medicine. Such as Biochemistry, Haematology, Microbiology etc… You can visit the following link to learn more and get a more detailed explanation: https://www.ibms.org/go/biomedical-science

      So, I have worked in academic research before looking at cancer of the kidney, I have worked in vaccine manufacturing and also worked in the Immunology department which looks at diagnosing auto-immune diseases such as Chron’s, diabetes…But I was bored and wanted something interesting and challenging. So, I ended up in Microbiology as a secondment as they were short-staffed, then grew to enjoy it and I stayed.

      Unlike most areas of the biomedical laboratory, Microbiology is still very manual, that is the scientists do most of the work themselves instead of the machines. Microbiology involves the study of things that you cannot see with your eye. So, we get for example, someone’s urine sample for a suspected urinary tract infection. You take a sample of this and spread it on a sterile agar plate. the agar plate contains nutrients for the bacteria to grow. So if an infection is present,you get to see your bacteria, yeasts as they grow on the plate in real time. For example, some bacteria are slimy as they grow, some are very tiny, some release chemicals that make them fluoresce. You also get to know more about a patient’s habits than you would ever have wanted to as we diagnose everything from throat infections, fungal infections, food poisoning-causing bacteria etc. Microbiologists know everyone’s dirty little secrets.
      One thing I enjoy about it is you are constantly learning and encountering weird and wonderful bacteria. Out of all the Biomedical Science disciplines, I think the basics for micro-organisms have remained the same ever since they started studying them. So this gives you a very good background for which to expand your knowledge and expertise.

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