The Queue and Vectors

(from Mary Bohan)

In going to quite a few doctors to try to get my malaria pills and TB test, I definitely found some differences between the Singaporean healthcare system and ours in the US. In Singapore, they have "queues" everywhere, when you walk into the clinic you get a number from an automated machine, and then wait in a waiting room until your number pops up on an electronic screen so that you can even speak with the receptionist. Then you "register" with the clinic, tell them what you need or who you need to see, and then are given another ticket with another number, and wait for that number to be called. Then you have your "consult" for under ten minutes, and then you're given another number to wait for your test or your prescription. Finally, you wait in line again to pay for the services, in cash, which turned into a problem when I didn't have over $150 cash to get my malaria pills yesterday, hopefully I'll get them today. In the clinic for the TB Test, I waited for three hours to see the doctor for about 5 minutes, and then to have an injection which took about 3 minutes. I asked the receptionist a few times whether my number had been lost or forgotten, but she insured me that it would come up, I just had to keep waiting. Everyone else seemed pretty calm about the situation, I guess that's what it's like everywhere. Since most of their services are paid for by the government, they're willing to wait in line for a few hours to get them. The two physicians that I saw were on par with doctors at home, although the one at the TB clinic admitted she knew nothing about malaria pills after I explained my situation to her, and tried to convince me to go to the emergency room, but after returning to work my boss reassured me I'd be fine.

This week I've been preparing for cloning of the Dengue and Yellow Fever samples, using the pGEM-T Easy Vector and the PBluescript II SK(+) Vector. I've been researching the places where the enzymes bind to the samples, as well as the enzymes that bind to both vectors, so that we can choose the appropriate enzymes to use in the cloning of specific regions. I've never studied anything about the subject, except for a day or two in AP Biology nearly four years ago, so I've been pretty much learning as I go along. I'm continuing to maintain and grow my cells in the wet lab, changing the media and checking the cells under the microscope to ensure that they are healthy and haven't become "contaminated," a word I've been fearing for the past few weeks, as not only my work but everyone else's would have to be thrown out.

Next week is my last week at work, except for the friday afternoon and saturday when I return from India, when I'm going to try to make it into work to say goodbye to everyone. I'm continuing to work in the wet lab on my cells, so that they can be used after I leave when the actual wet experiments start. I'm also finishing my work on determining which enzymes to use for the cloning, information that can also be used after I leave. I'm going to have to teach all of what I've been doing to Yinglin, a Singaporean girl who started working in the lab a few weeks ago and who will be taking over my work once I go and using in the next stages of the research, so just showing her where everything is, how it's organized, how I found it, and how to use it will take quite a bit of time.