I got to do the Modified McMaster Test which is basically a process used to count the amount of parasite eggs in livestock fecal matter.
I guess Haemonchus contortus eggs are funny???
I also got to do a blood smear which is used to view blood-borne parasites like heart worm and other roundworms.
My reflection from that day:
I have very minimal experience with lab work so this day was very interesting to me. As a back-up plan in case vet school doesn’t work out, I have been considering going to grad school for a masters in order to obtain some sort of lab position. I am so happy that we visited the BAHA lab because although I found what we did to be extremely important and interesting, it was not something that I could picture myself doing for a career. I enjoyed the process because it was very interesting to me how seemingly easy it was, but when I was told that they repeat the process for hundreds of fecal samples, I realized that I lack the meditative and focused mindset to do so. Despite this, I really enjoyed going through the steps of the fecal exam.
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