My Takeover Challenge
On Monday 19 November I went to Great Ormond Street Hospital to do a takeover challenge created by the Young People’s Forum. I was working in the Dubowitz Neuromuscular Research Labora-tory where I got to look at muscle tissue through a microscope. When we were testing the tissues we were looking for unhealthy fibres to test them and make them healthy again. Another thing I did was separate DNA in some gel. We had to prepare a liquid and then heat it up; afterwards we had to wait for a while for the gel to set. We then pipetted the DNA into some wells in the gel, but then we had to stop to get lunch before the presentation. I had a very good time in the lab because I got to experience the jobs that people do to save lives. I learnt many new things in the lab, like how to tell whether a muscle is healthy. The research they do helps towards new treatments and under-standing conditions like Muscular Dystrophy.
After lunch I had to do a presentation to a group of nurses that were starting their jobs at the hospital. It was scary at first but once I got used to talking to them, it became much easier. I had to tell them about my experiences at the hospital and how I coped with all the stress and pain that I was dealing with. They were really nice and listened to my tips on how to treat their patients. The nurses had to do some activities that helped them understand what patients think when they’re in the hospital.
The takeover challenge at Great Ormond Street Hospital, sponsored by the Young People’s Fo-rum, is where young patients get to take over some of the job