The Public Health Microbiology training experience

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I didn't write blog posts for a while because I was neck-deep in studying for my Public Health Microbiology (PHM) certification. I underwent a six-month program administered by the California Association of Public Health Laboratory Directors (CAPHLD). The program was a combination of remote and onsite learning activities, including lectures and laboratory work.

When my cohort began the program, the instructors warned us that we were undertaking what could very well be one of the most hectic and challenging courses we had ever taken. It was like an M.Sc. in Microbiology but squished into six months of intense training... a boot camp, if you will. We wouldn't survive by being lone wolves; we should study in groups to increase our chances of passing.

 I felt like I just entered Survivor or The Hunger Games.

The course started with the easy topics: basic knowledge, quality assurance and quality control, statistics, and laboratory safety... then we had our first taste of Microbiology when we started with Gram-positive cocci (think Streptococcus and Staphylococcus). The difficulty level kept increasing with no let-up as we tackled enteric bacteria (e.g., coliforms), "special" pathogens, anaerobic bacteria, virology, molecular diagnostics, mycobacteriology, mycology, serology, spirochaetes, and parasitology. We also studied water microbiology, public health law, ethics, and food microbiology.

My circumstances made the course more challenging. I couldn't follow the group study schedule many of my classmates had. I had to learn to block times that I wasn't with Donan (or he's sleeping) to study. I woke up early to read for two extra hours before the long drive to Mommy's office, Donan's school, and then to the Richmond campus of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). I had to be absent from an instructor's after-hours sessions because I was spending quality time with my family.

The instructors were kind and generous with giving us lessons learned from experience. They also wanted to ensure we knew what we were doing in the laboratory exercises (don't think; know). We had a lecturer talk about her first-hand experience with Legionnaire's disease (successfully illustrating how easily people can die from it). A bacteriologist made us listen to the breathing of a child suffering from pertussis (whooping cough), driving home the importance of vaccination programs. An instructor described her experiences in the laboratory during E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks in California (most notably, the spinach samples being dropped off at her home garage). We also learned about the risks of being a microbiologist; the most sobering story was about a microbiologist straight out of college who died of meningitis. He had a lab-acquired infection because he didn't follow safety protocol. Knowing how fast-acting some of these pathogens can be is both important and scary. I was having a blast from listening to my instructors' stories; these beat the textbook-based lectures I sat through in college. I am grateful that my instructors were able to ingrain a lot of valuable information. 

Some days, I felt like I couldn't take in more information. But before I realised it, six months had passed, and we were just days away from the certification exam! It was such a jolt in the system!

The exam took place on the UCSF Mission Bay campus. Nerve-wracking is a good word to describe the exam. I drove to San Francisco with Mommy (who, come to think of it, was always with me for major exams... except my microbiology licensure exam in the Philippines). My cohort sat through two exams, both 90 minutes long. I was always one of the last examinees out of the room (who barely had a chance to review answers because I was answering the exam slowly).


 

Four weeks after the exam, my classmates and I received the exam results. So far, everyone I had asked passed. Now, we're ready to apply for our licences and get started in our careers. 

I appreciate my family's full support so I could finish the program strong. I am thankful to the staff in all the libraries I studied in (Walnut Creek, Concord, San Ramon, Kensington, Albany, Hercules, Orinda, Lafayette, San Pablo, Richmond, and Fairfield). And to the staff at Starbucks (Meeker Ave., Richmond), who accommodated me (I studied there for around 90 minutes most days while waiting for the congested freeway to clear up).

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