A microbiologist may be known as a Bacteriologist, a Chemist, or a Medical Laboratory Technician, but the duties are cut across the board. If you want to have a snippet of the day-to-day life of a microbiologist, you have come to the right place. Here is a brief description of their daily activities.
What does a microbiologist do?
A microbiologist looks closely at infectious diseases belonging to different patient groups. They are also involved in outbreak management and the control of infections and perform microbiological analysis, where the aim is to stop the rapid spread of an outbreak or disease. The workload is varied but exciting, allowing you to apply scientific knowledge and principles to solve clinical issues.
A close look at the day-to-day work life of a microbiologist
If it’s time for you to apply for microbiology jobs, knowing what lies ahead will help you prepare for work life. Generally, your day will start at 9 in the morning, when the first hour is spent handing over from your colleagues and checking emails.
Also, it’s advisable to interpret and authorize clinical samples processed in the lab first thing in the morning. From there, your day will involve answering calls from doctors in the hospital where you work and from the community. You will also pick up salient results and look at a clinical specimen that needs to be tested.
You may also be needed in meetings with infection control nurses, virologists, and clinical scientists if you are testing the cause of an outbreak and looking for a way to control it. Meetings include the discussion of problematic cases where your expertise is required.
You may end your day in another meeting, but this time to discuss transplant patients. Your day will typically end at 5 pm, leaving you with enough energy to enjoy your evening. However, whenever you are on call, the hospital may call on you after working hours if they need your assistance. Usually, a phone call is enough to sort things out.
Daily tasks you will need to handle
- You will investigate the relationship between diseases and the organisms that cause the disease. This will also include the control of epidemics and antibiotics' effects on the organisms in question.
- You will also provide health services to health departments, physicians needing information for diagnosis and treatment, and community environmental health programs.
- You will also use sophisticated equipment in your daily duties. This includes thermocyclers, electrophoresis units, fluorescence-activated cell sorters, gas chromatographs, and electron microscopes.
- You will examine cultural, physiological, and morphological characteristics and identify them in human beings, food, and water. You will also classify the organisms.
Every month, you will be expected to prepare technical reports, study how humans, animals, plants, cells, pathogens, and toxins, and conduct necessary chemical analyses of substances such as alcohol, enzymes, and acids.
Now that you know how your day will turn out, you can start applying for jobs and join a college that offers microbiology.
