Internship Final Report

-613410-57277000National University of SingaporePeriod 1: 4 Mar 19 – 21 Jun 19Internship Final Report DIPLOMA IN MOLECULAR BIOTECHNOLOGYBYTAN SIN JIE S10174290ECOMPANY SUPERVISOR: Associate Professor Lee Yuan KunNP SUPERVISOR: Dr Lau Quek ChoonSchool of Life Sciences & Chemical TechnologyNGEE ANN POLYTECHNICContents TOC o “1-3” h z u 1.1Description of company PAGEREF _Toc12465621 h 41.2Evaluation of trainings received PAGEREF _Toc12465622 h 41.3Description and evaluation of accomplishments PAGEREF _Toc12465623 h 51.4Applying prior knowledge PAGEREF _Toc12465624 h 51.5Evaluation of workplace safety PAGEREF _Toc12465625 h 61.6Reflection of challenges PAGEREF _Toc12465626 h 61.7Influence of internship on future career choice PAGEREF _Toc12465627 h 6RMB to update table of content2. Table of Contents 3. Abstract or Report Summary 4. Description of your role and contributions a) Description of the company b) Training receivedc) Accomplishments 5. Reflection and Analysis of Internship Experience a) Workplace safety b) Challenges and solutions c) Applying prior knowledge d) Influence on career choice 6. Acknowledgement letter to the companyDescription of companyEstablished in 1905, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine was founded to improve the health and well-being of Singaporeans with its educational institution where health professionals are nurtured as well as a research institution to allow the development and advancements of researchers. Offering two full-time undergraduate programs; Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and Bachelor of Science (Nursing), the school has played a big part in advancing and strengthening Singapore’s healthcare sector.There are 18 departments and 2 centers in NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, respectively the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing studies which allows aspiring nurses to pursue a higher education and prepare them for the professional field ,the Anesthesia, Anatomy, Diagnostic Radiology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Orthopedics surgery, Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, Physiology, Pharmacology, Pediatrics, Psychological medicine and Surgery departments which provides the research area; where on-going researches are happening to have new findings and improve and refine understandings and hypotheses. These departments also offer medical students from NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine compulsory modules in their academic term where they get hands on experiences and lectures to improve their understanding on specific areas of healthcare. Not only do they provide educational programs for the undergraduates, most of the departments also provide postgraduate and residency programs. Lastly, the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, which I am attached to, consist of several professors/associate professors that lead their team in five different areas of research; Antibodies, Anti-Infective, Bacteriology, Immunology and Virology. With future doctors graduating from the school, it is not only important for the school to impart knowledge, but also the ethics and professional conduct required of them. As such, the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Centre for Medical Education was founded to improve not only the students in the area of biomedical ethics but also, the staffs, to ensure that the teaching materials are relevant. As a leading medical research school, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine is involved and has partnership with a few international organizations like Association of Academic Health Centers International (AAHCI), M8 Alliance and the ASEAN Medical School Network. As a member of M8 Alliance, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine has been actively sharing their insights and expertise solutions to help improve and solve global health challenges and have also contributed greatly by organizing and hosting the first ever World Health Summit, Regional meeting – Asia. Apart from that, the school has hosted the third ASEAN Medical Deans’ Summit as well and have shared their research and medical educational development to allow ASEAN to improve together. Locally, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, together with NUS Faculty of Dentistry, has collaborated with National University of Health to form the National University Health system in 2008, where their main aims were to enhance Singapore’s healthcare system and improve standards of the medical institute. This provided opportunities for research-proven clinical care to be put into practice and increased the opportunities of undergraduate research studies which will in turn help improve the community’s well-being.Evaluation of trainings receivedOver the course of 4 months, I was involved in two projects, the studying of microbiome and its relation to Parkinson’s and the Asia Microbiome Project.First projectMy very first task for the first project was sourcing for required documents for the experiment. I found it a very engaging way to learn as during the process, it wasn’t just looking for the protocols but I also had to read up on literature reviews to enhance my understandings in order to decide which method would be appropriate. Together with that, we also had a weekly/bi-weekly presentation where we share our progress with the supervisor and propose new ideas or protocols to try out. Albeit tedious, it was a fulfilling task when I was able to come up with a hypothesis linking the literature reviews to the project. This meant that we were more involved in the project as we were able to give suggestions on the type of experiments we would like to try. When carrying the steps in the protocol, the research assistant would supervise us to ensure minimum level of error and to teach us of some laboratory skills like diluting gel electrophoresis ladder and primers. With the knowledge bequeathed to us, we were able to carry out various experiments on our own. Second project In the beginning, our supervisor demonstrated how we can interpret the data and subsequently allowed me and my intern partner to interpret it together by having a consensus discussion. This was very engaging??? As the consensus discussion compels you to think through your decision and trains you to listen to others’ opinion and come to a conclusion together. Before we could analyze the data, we had to compile the data into different sheets with a rough idea of what conclusions we would want to arrive at at the end of the entire project. This prompted me to constantly question the purpose behind each excel sheet that we do.Description and evaluation of accomplishmentsFirst projectAs an intern for the first project, my role was to help the research team come up with a diagnostic kit for early detection of Parkinson’s. We did experiments to analyze our saliva microbiome and?? Second projectFor the second project, we helped in the analysis of data which has been collected previously. Due to the size of the data, we spent the first few weeks keying in and interpreting the data given as not all was filled up to the best of their knowledge.Applying prior knowledgeFirst projectIn year 2, we took the module Applied Biostatistics where I learnt advanced statistical skills and was taught to put the knowledge from previous year into use. One of the biggest takeaway from the module was the various excel commands and it has benefitted me greatly during the compilation of data as I was proficient in excel which led to the completion of various assignments in a shorter time. Even though data presentation and data analysis was covered in the module, it was not in depth. Hence, the school can also consider having biostatistics related modules for both the semesters instead of just one as this will significantly increase the amount of time we have for the module which leads to more topics being covered. Another method the school can adapt is to start up a CCA for Second projectEvaluation of workplace safetyBefore we were allowed to enter the laboratory, there were several requirements like passing some of the NUS safety online courses as well as checking our hepatitis B antibodies/antigens level. I think checking our hepatitis B antibodies/antigens was a good practice in laboratory safety especially since we were going to handle biological specimens. It was also fortunate that it was required of us to do so as without the test, both of us would have entered the laboratory with low hepatitis B antibody which meant an increased chance of infection. The laboratory had stringent guidelines that only allowed us to enter the laboratory after our research assistant has confirmed our certification of passing for the various courses as well as after our second vaccination shot. Apart from that, the department also organized a safety day where they re-emphasized on two important points; risk mitigation plan for potentially infectious materials as well as fire safety. One interesting workplace safety measurement NUS had was a double door laboratory. In school labs, it is not infrequent that we open the laboratory door with our contaminated gloves on and this means that people with and without glove will touch the same handle thus increasing the transmission level of biohazards. With the usage of double door laboratory and reminder posters, it will ensure minimum level of transmission especially since it is a BSL-2 laboratory. The laboratory has recently implemented a laboratory safety rule of wearing goggles for every experiment. Like all laboratory, personnel entering are also required to wear full personal protective equipment. Despite so, some of them may still forget about it which leads to safety lapses. However, as it isn’t part of the regular procedure, some students often tend to miss out on that point which may result in the occurrence of preventable accidents in the laboratory.Reflection of challengesDidn’t know what was data clean up!!Influence of internship on future career choice Acknowledgement letter to company