Honors Journals: Ongoing Reflection

Cassandra Bivens
8/19/16
Today I met with Dr. Jenna Sprowles, who is a researcher at
Cincinnati Childrens Hospital. She works full time in a lab setting which
houses many different studies involving neurological research on rats.
The lab is called the Vorhees-Williams lab, as Dr. Vorhees and Dr.
Williams are the directors under who the lab functions. The meeting
was fairly briefabout 20-25 minutes. It was like an informal interview,
and Dr. Sprowles essentially told me what I would be doing in the lab.
One of the main things I will be doing at first is dosing the rats. This is
a big part of what the undergraduate students do in the lab, though
she said that I may move on to behavioral testing and even bench
work in the future. As a condition of my unpaid employment at CCHMC,
I will be required to have a two-step tuberculosis test done. Until that is
done and documentation is sent in, I cannot start any lab work. I will be
returning on 8/30 for Dr. Sprowles to show me around the lab and
animal areas and essentially get my feet wet at the hospital before the
real work begins.
I was surprised by the informality of the interviewit took place
in the caf at the hospital, and Dr. Sprowles seemed to already know
that she planned to bring me on board, as she almost immediately
began discussing what I would be doing in the future with the lab. I am
so excited to see what new and challenging things are in store for me
throughout my time here. I cant wait to see how I grow personally as
well as the effects that this may have on deciding what I want to do
with my future career. Though I am leaning toward pediatric oncology
or pediatric neurology at the moment, I am interested to see whether
my experience at CCHMC changes my mind or reaffirms my current
thoughts.
8/30/16
Today I met with Dr. Sprowles again, who prefers to be called
Jenna. After completing all of my TB testing, I did not think that I would
be introduced into the lab so quickly. I was expecting a brief tour of the
lab, but I got so much more. I was at the hospital for about 2 hours.
Jenna showed me around the lab, which was mostly lab benches and
machines for running various chemical testsall things that I will not
be working with for quite a while. Jennas office is attached to the lab,
so I will be reporting there every time I go to the hospital. She then
took me through what seemed like a maze of hallways and a series of
elevators to get to where the rats are housed. I was very surprised
when we had to go through a locker room first, and we had to
completely change out of our street clothes and into scrubs. We then
had to put on a hair net, booties, surgical gown, face mask, and gloves.

After that, we went through an air shower that is supposed to blow off
any excess dirt that could come in from outside and contaminate the
rats environment. After this whole process, we entered the barrier,
which is where all of the rats for the Vorhees lab are kept. Behind the
barrier was another maze of hallways and rooms, each room filled with
floor to ceiling racks containing rat and mouse cages. Jenna informed
me that I would only be working with rats, but some of the other labs in
the hospital use mice, and the barrier space is shared with other labs
and studies. After grabbing a metal rolling cart, we entered one of the
rat rooms and began pulling rat housing units off of the shelves. They
are large plastic bins, slightly larger than a shoe box, and they receive
filtered air and water. Jenna had already checked the schedule and
knew which rats we would need, so she identified them by the
numbers and letters with which they were labeled and showed me how
to do the same. We then rolled the cart into the necropsy room, which
is generally used for dissection purposes; however, when it is not in
use, we can use it for dosing the rats. Each bin contained either a
female rat and her babies, two adolescent rats, or two adult rats (these
adults are only housed together briefly for breeding purposes). Jenna
told me that the female rats are called dams and that her babies are
called pups. Essentially, this is the process from the beginning:
-A male and female rat are put into breeding. They are checked twice a
day for the presence of a sperm plug, which is a white chunk that
indicates that breeding has occurred.
-Once the sperm plug is discovered, the male and female are
separated. The female begins being dosed after a period of time with
either antidepressant or saline. The saline is the control group with
which we compare the effects of the antidepressant.
-The female continues to be dosed until she gives birth. At the time of
birth, we stop dosing the dam and begin dosing the pups with
whichever treatment the dam received. The pups are dosed for 21
days.
Though there is much more to the lab and the study, this is what
I will be doing for now: dosing and rehousing the rats. The studys
purpose is to determine the effects of antidepressant on the
developing adolescent brain; this is meant to mimic the effects of a
human mother taking antidepressants while pregnant. Previous studies
have indicated that there is a possibility that there is a link between
taking antidepressants while pregnant and having children who
exhibits symptoms of ASDAutism Spectrum Disorder.
Jenna took me into the necropsy room with the rats and showed
me how to check for sperm plugs with the rats put into breeding. She
also showed me how to dose them. Each rat is weighed and then
injected with the appropriate amount of antidepressant or saline for

their body weight. She said that the pups are generally easy to dose,
since theyre so small; however, the dams can be more difficult. She
seemed impressed, however, with my comfort level with the animals.
She said that many students are often very nervous around them at
first. She talked me through the whole dosing and weighing process,
which she said will take approximately 30 minutes once I get good at
it.
Overall, todays experience was so much more involved than I
thought it would be. I was given so much information in such a short
amount of time that it seems a bit overwhelming at the moment;
however, I am confident that it will simply be a matter of adjustment
and familiarity. Even getting around the hospital will be a bit confusing
for a while! However, I am very excited and feel like Im on my way to
having a lot of responsibility and being a part of a very serious
professional community. I feel that I will probably have difficulty with
time management, since I will be working in the lab for 12-15 hours a
week along with a tough course load and a part-time job, but I will
have to find time to make this job a priority, as I feel that I have been
given an incredible opportunity to begin immersing myself in the
medical community.
9/12/16
I am learning very quickly in the lab and am well on my way to
doing things on my own! I have been in several more times for dosing
and seem to be getting quicker at it. The first time I injected a rat, I
was really nervous because I have always had a fear of needles.
However, this fear seemed to only apply to myself being injected with
anything, because injecting the rats doesnt bother me a bit. I am
generally pretty comfortable with dosing the rats, and though Jenna
has accompanied me thus far to make sure Im comfortable with
everything since Im still in training, she seems impressed with how
well Ive been handling the animals.
She has also been accompanying me to the barrier from the lab
every day because there are two access points which require a hospital
badge to gain entry, and I dont have one yet since I had to complete
my animal handling training before I could start the badging process.
The training was online and took 2-3 hours overall, but I learned a lot
about how to better handle the animals and what hospital protocol I
should be following. Jenna and I will be going to get my badge on
Wednesday, so hopefully I will be able to start dosing by myself soon.
Being a part of the lab has so far been an experience that I am
proud to be a part of. It is very exciting to be able to tell people that
Im involved with neurological research, and even though I havent
done much with it yet, I feel that Im on my way to truly becoming a
part of the medical community. Its very refreshing to be treated as a
mature and responsible individual and to be taken seriously. At the lab,

I will be given a lot of responsibility and have a lot of trust placed in me

just showing up to do my job. This is the first job Ive had where I felt
as if I was treated as an equal and not looked down upon for being
young. Jenna has been very helpful and understanding of my work
schedule at my other job, but I would really like to get my finances in
order so that I can quit that job and dedicate more of my time and
effort to my research position. Additionally, once I get my badge I will
be able to come in on weekends, when most people are not in the lab,
so I will be trusted to show up and be counted on to do my job well
without supervision, which is a good feeling.
9/26/16
I finally have my badge, though I have not been granted access
to the barrier facilities yet. I feel very official walking around with my
hospital badge! I will be given access as soon as my name is
successfully added to the protocol for the study, so hopefully it wont
be too much longer. I have completed all of my required training and
have begun dosing by myself, which is a cool feeling. I am really
enjoying my work in the lab so far. Every time Im scheduled to come
in, I do what I need to do and then leave whenever its done, so its
nice that I dont have a specific time requirement to fulfill. As I get
better and quicker at dosing, I will be able to expedite the process so
that I can move on to more advanced things in the lab, such as
behavioral testing. There are several rooms aside from the necropsy
room in our corner of the barrier, and they are all used for various
behavioral tests. Some of them are water mazes, which people place
the rats in and time them to observe their learning habits. While the
rats in our study do not go through behavioral testing, many others in
the other studies within our lab do go through behavioral testing, so I
hope that I will be trained in behavioral testing at some pointit just
sounds so interesting!
I really like the research setting, which is something that I never
really thought about before I began my work at CCHMC. I have never
really considered a career in research, but I am really enjoying what I
do so far. I know that there is so much more to research than what I
have been doing, and I still want to be a pediatric physician, but I
would potentially consider looking into what careers are available in
the research field. It seems that everywhere I look, there are endless
options for careers choices, and its so difficult to pick just one when
you have so many things that youre passionate about.
10/12/16
My work in the lab has been going really well, and I will be glad
to quit my part time job soon so that I can focus on getting more
involved in the lab. Jenna wants to get me started on learning how to
do behavioral testing, which I am really excited about. I would also be

working with rats from other studies, and I know that there are some
really interesting studies in the Vorhees lab. One of my friends works in
the same lab, but her study tests the effects of methamphetamine on
adult rats. I am eager to get to work with rats from different studies
and observe the effects of various drugs on their learning and memory
skills.
Everything else has been going really well so far. The dosing is
getting a lot quicker and easier, and it isnt taking me nearly as long as
the first few times, which took close to two hours. Now I can dose and
weigh the rats in about 45 minutes, which is a huge improvement. Its
exciting to see myself making progress at something that was once so
overwhelming to me; it is now becoming second nature, and I feel that
I am ready to learn more challenging things and further immerse
myself in the lab.
One thing that has been difficult for me is the fact that I will
sometimes have to euthanize some of the pups. Since I am a huge
animal lover, it is upsetting to me that when a dam has more than
eight pups, we have to dispose of the others. Of course, we do it in a
way that is as quick and painless as possible when theyre only a day
old, but it is something that I absolutely dread doing. The number of
pups must be kept consistent for the study, so sometimes we do have
to euthanize some of the excess pups. Jenna showed me how to do it
recently, and I was very nervous. Essentially, any pups born beyond
the amount we need must be decapitated with a very sharp pair of
surgical scissors. It is quick and painless for them, and they arent
aware of whats happening, but its still something that really horrifies
me. Its very difficult to stomach killing such small, innocent creatures,
but I understand that it is necessary for the purpose of science. I have
only had to do it once so far, when the dam had 14 pups. Jenna
disposed of the first three extras, and I did the second three. I had to
try very hard not to show how horrified I was. I know that everyone in
the lab has to do it at some point or another and most people are so
used to it that it doesnt phase them, but this really bothered me and I
couldnt get it out of my head the rest of the day. Fortunately, I will not
have to do it often. However, every time I see that a rat has had pups, I
always hope that she doesnt have more than eight so that I dont have
to euthanize any.
While this may seem inhumane or grotesque to people outside of
the research field (or those who are new to it, such as myself), the
hospital does have a Veterinary Services office that ensures that the
animals are well cared for and treated as humanely as possible, which
does make me feel better. I know that Vet Services would never allow
something to happen that would be considered painful, inhumane, or
unnecessary to the animals. It is an unfortunate but unavoidable truth,
however, that animals have to be put through such lengths for the
purpose of research that will benefit humans.

10/26/16
I am finally done with my part time job, so Jenna is going to have
me learn how to do behavioral testing in the lab next week. It will take
more time than dosing, so not working at my other job anymore will
allow me to have time for behavioral testing, which can take several
hours at a time. I know that there are several different behavioral tests,
but she wants me to learn the Morris water maze first. Shes having
one of the graduate students teach me, which I am excited for since I
havent really gotten to know many people in the lab yet. Everyone is
always absorbed in their own work when I see them, and a lot of the
time it can be hard to recognize them when the only part of everyone
that isnt covered when theyre in the rat barrier is their eyes. Dosing
has been taking me only a half hour lately, which is really good. I feel
like Im finally getting really good at it and am working more efficiently.
I dont want to say that Im getting bored, per se, but I am definitely
ready to begin learning how to do more things in the lab, since I know
that there is so much more to the research than just dosing. I am
excited to be challenged again, just as I was when I first began the
research experience.
11/9/16
For the last week and a half or so, I have been doing behavioral
testing with the rats in the Morris water maze, or MWM. Its actually
very simple; there are several different kinds of tests, and each one
requires the rats to do something slightly different. The maze is just a
giant water tank with four places where you can put a pedestal.
Depending on the test, the pedestal is in a different place each time,
and the rat starts from a different position in the maze for each trial. In
three of the four tests, they use visual cues such as shapes painted on
the walls and posters hanging so that they can orient themselves and
find the pedestal within two minutes. For each test, they are timed,
and the data is recorded so that the researchers can compile all of the
data into charts and tables that will be included in the final write-up of
the study. I have been working with rats from various studies, such as
the methamphetamine study and the study that observes the effects
of pesticides on pregnant rats. I have not done any behavioral tests on
rats from my antidepressant study, since they do not go through
behavioral testing; instead, their brains are dissected and the tissues
are put through a series of comparative tests.
I really enjoy doing MWM, though it can be very time consuming,
especially if the rats are just beginning the behavioral testing and
havent quite grasped the concept of finding the pedestal yet.
However, if the rats are far along in their testing, the tests can go very
quickly. On average, I would say that each test takes about 45 minutes,
and I usually run about four tests a day. As you can imagine, this does

take a while, but it seems to be getting a little bit faster the more I do
it. I do really enjoy watching the rats swim and seeing most of them
make progress every day. They often look very proud of themselves
when they locate the pedestal in the maze. Most days that I am
scheduled, I run behavioral tests and dose, though sometimes I am
scheduled just for dosing. There are only about 3-4 undergraduate
students in the lab that do the same things I do, so we each have a lot
of responsibility. Now that I have had badge access for a while, it can
be kind of exciting to come in to the hospital on the weekend and be
trusted to do my job even when no one is around. Sometimes I can get
through my entire several hours at the hospital and only see one or
two other people.
I feel that this research position has taught me a lot about
responsibility and what is expected of me as a future professional in
terms of maturity and reliability. Within the last couple of weeks, I
made the decision to change my major from Pre-Medical Biology to PreVeterinary Biology of Animals. This has nothing to do with my
experience at the hospital; however, based on my previous
volunteering and work experiences in which I worked extensively with
animals, I decided that my true passion lies more within the veterinary
field than in the human medical field. However, I continue to be
fascinated by the medical field and plan to absolutely continue my
research; though it does not completely align with my career plans as
it did before, I really do enjoy it and love the feeling that I am
contributing to the human medical community, which I remain
passionate about.
11/21/16
The past few weeks, I have continued my experience with MWM.
Time management has become very important, as any day that I am
scheduled usually takes about four hours, and I am scheduled about
four days a week. Sometimes, of course, it takes less time, but since I
rely on the shuttle bus to take me to and from medical campus most
days, even the transportation can be time consuming. However, I
always leave feeling glad that I have done something to contribute to
the medical community. When I first began at the lab, it was definitely
difficult to manage my time between everything that I was doing and
involved in; however, throughout the semester I have narrowed my
focus to whats really important and challenged myself to put the most
time into the things that are most importantnamely, classes, the lab,
and my personal fitness. Having so much going on has definitely
taught me how to manage my time better and how to prioritize what is
most important to me. Overall, it has been an enriching experience,
and I am glad that I have had this opportunity.
Jenna has been very helpful and understanding of my obligations
to my school work, and she has been a big help during my time in the

lab. She has made herself very accessible at all times and has really
welcomed me into the lab, which has made the whole thing a lot less
stressful and more enjoyable than it would have been otherwise. I do
plan to continue this research next semester, and Jenna has said that it
is okay if I go home for several weeks for Christmas break. I do think
that Ill probably come back to Cincinnati at least somewhat early,
though, because being gone for a full month when I know that I am
needed doesnt seem entirely fair to everyone else. It helps, however,
to know that I will be going back early to do something that I enjoy.
12/3/16
With finals coming up this week, it has been very stressful to
take time away from studying to be at the lab; however, this is
teaching me how to prioritize and make time for what is most
important. It is also showing me the importance of planning ahead and
preparing for finals throughout the semester. I am so glad that I have
paid attention in class all semester and studied diligently periodically
for the past fifteen weeks so that I dont have to try to cram an entire
class of knowledge into my head during finals week. I am really excited
to spend some time at home, but I do think that I will miss the lab at
least a little bit. I will absolutely be excited to go back after Christmas;
Jenna has said that she will have me trained to do some other
behavioral tests. I am eager to further challenge myself and become a
bigger part of the lab in 2017.
As for my future at the lab, I will have to figure out what I am
doing this summer regarding whether or not I stay in Cincinnati and
continue my research. While I would really like to do so, I also have to
consider the costs and whether it would be a smarter decision to live at
home for the summer. I do know, however, that I will continue to work
at CCHMC through at least spring semester. It is incredible to look back
at where I started at the beginning of the semester and how much I
have learned between then and now, and I look forward to making a
similar amount of personal and professional progress throughout spring
semester.