To all who have participated in the discussion of Lilith's problems:

It is true that a problem associated with working in small research labs is
that your experience will be limited and that is why the histonet is so
important. I have been working in histology in small labs since 1975 ( the
precambrian, I think!) and in some areas I still feel rather green. No question
is too facile, provided always that it is not a case of running to the histonet
before consulting the textbooks you have in your lab. Even so, the textbooks
don't contain (why is this) the gems that we all gain by experience, things
that we know and do almost by instinct, I suppose because such things don't
sound scientific.

It is also true that technicians are often expected to get a lot of things
right the first time and I have found that it is valuable to have contacts in
routine labs. I was fortunate in that there was a large histology lab in the
hospital I was attached to when learning and that they were alway happy to help
me. I was actually seconded to them for a while to learn some techniques and to
work alongside them in the role of a junior doing supervised work for them.
This was invaluable and gave me confidence and knowing their routine, I knew
just when not to ring up with my queries!  So, I guess what I am saying is that
if your boss won't pay for you to do some courses, he may be willing to allow
you to organise a secondment to a larger lab where there is a wider variety of
work done. Even if this is of limited duration it can still be useful and if
you plan ahead you can glean a lot of knowledge from it. Incidentally, in the
modern world it is not acceptable not to train personnel. Here in the UK
ongoing training is positively encouraged by the government via schemes like
"Investors in people" and also by our professional bodies through CPD
(Continuing Professional Development) schemes.

I think I have said enough so I will shut up. Have a nice day all of you  and
it is great to be part of the histonet community.
Best wishes

Margaret

Margaret Blount
Colworth House
Unilever Research
Beds
UK
margaret.blount@unilever.com