Day One

Well Dr. Pittman, and anyone else out there who happens to be reading this blog, today was my first day at work in the neuroscience lab. Since I haven't asked permission to used anyone's names in this blog, I'm going to refrain from doing so at this point. After seeing a rainy, cold mess this morning, I walked over to the MUSC Basic Sciences building to meet up with a post-doc fellow who is doing research in the lab where I am working. She was really nice, and told me more about the work that is being done in the lab. I got a tour of the lab, and got a run down on what the plan was for the rest of the day. I saw rats that had already received cannulas via surgery, and watched as their catheters were cleaned out to prevent infection and clogging. I also saw where the rats were kept when not in use during a given experiment, and saw operant boxes, where the rats spend time self-administering. Because I am still waiting to hear about my TB test, I was not allowed to do a lot of work, but I was able to help throw away rat food, give new rat food, and similar tasks. Overall, today was a good starting point, and I'm sure that as I learn more about the lab I will have a better idea of what I am going to be doing on a daily basis. More tomorrow!