INTRODUCTION TO THE LABORATORY TESTS FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS DURING THEIR PRACTICUM

Currently, the lack of laboratory practices in health degrees capable of offer a real approach to the lab work, leads to an unrealistic vision of the research career what could discourage students from becoming a researcher. For that reason, this work seeks to introduce students into the fundamental aspects of scientific practice through the training in different techniques, handling of lab instruments as well as data collect and analysis.

Researchers use experimental models in order to characterise biological process, understand the pathogenesis of a disease or study the mechanism of action of new drugs. Among the models used, we will focus on culture cell because it is more affordable and easier to work with than the use of animals. At the same time, cell culture allows a large number of fast and easy tests, widely adopted in many laboratories. Thus, the main objectives of this work are to teach students:
(1) to select the steps to follow in a laboratory research and
(2) to choose the correct techniques to carry out a test.

For this purpose, students work in teams of three members, and each one carries out all steps. The professor gives an introduction about cell cultures and different cell lines so:
(1) the first stage is to select the appropriate cell line for your experiments, then
(2) analyse the media requirements for cell culture,
(3) conduct different tests in our culture and finally
(4) interpret the results.

These all stages have to be supervising by professors and laboratory technicians who lead the students to follow the correct way to get the initial proposed goals. This kind of check improves the communication with the students and help to evaluate the knowledge achieved by the students.

After the application of this methodology, students could become more familiar with the laboratory. They should be able to:
(1) set out the culture cells to be analysed, selecting the suitable cell line,
(2) collect all data and
(3) understand the results obtained.

In conclusion, the development of laboratory tests in the last year of a Health Degree would help students to enhance their learning experience and further develop critical-thinking skills. During the conference, the different tools employed will be presented, as well as a discussion on the advantages of applying this kind of approaches on practical lessons for carrying out laboratory tests.