Blowing the dust off my biological agents knowledge.......

So last Spring when I jokingly asked the ADA and HR reps  "Where's the Ebola" after they suggested I work in an containment suit instead of moving the venting chemical tank from the lab I used to work in, it never, EVER occurred to me that I was inadvertently making a prediction about what was to come.

As a former NIAID (National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases) Scientist and with formal training in Biological and Chemical Agents, there are many things I could say about the Ebola issue here in hot arse Texas. I had a thread on the oldpremeds website about it, expressing concerns about treating people infected with Ebola here in the US and it looks like my concerns are coming to fruition for ONE reason: People are sloppy with their infection control practices. Actually, people are often negligent since a huge dose of common sense and proper training could ameliorate many issues with containing a virus like Ebola. For example, watching a popular TV physician demonstrate taking off a containment suit was painful, as I observed him do it wrong on ALL fronts from the way I was trained. For example, I was trained to take off the first layer/contaminated gloves first, then remove other clothing/equipment with the second layer of gloves. Of course, if a country with the financial resources to research Ebola had given a damn about it while the disease was only spreading in some parts of Africa many years ago, this issues may not exist here today. I mean, did the US really think this wouldn't become a problem here one day?

Movin' on, I've got tons going on now in the middle of the semester and with MCAT prep too. I'm also still interviewing with PI s looking for that combo between career and financial support and I'm still finding it a difficult concept that my gender, race, AND my citizenship make me a "minority" in Bio and Translational Informatics. I'm also settling my mind on the fact that I've got some tough computer classes in my near future especially since I'll be taking them at one of the  highest ranked schools in the country. But hey, if you want the best training you have to be willing to take the opportunity to train among the best. Or so my MD/computer trained advisor keeps telling me. ;)