If you asked me whether E. coli was indole positive or negative, I wouldn’t have a clue.

Despite being told the answer many times over the years, the answer just doesn’t stick. I simply don’t care..

My colleagues must despair of me.

It is a wonder that I managed to pass any exams at all…

Which brings me to college microbiology exams and my increasing disillusionment with them.

Formal exams in general have not changed much in style over the past few hundred years. They essentially test knowledge that can be held in the head. (I hold very little in my head..)

But most young people have an I-Phone in their back pocket…

The skills that young microbiologists need nowadays are not related to hoarding large amounts of microbiological facts. This is becoming increasingly irrelevant. They need to be able to problem-solve and troubleshoot. They need to be computer savvy and innovative. They need to be observant and be able to spot the unusual. They need to have the patience to tolerate a degree of repetitive work, and they need to be able to get on with their colleagues and build a rapport with lab users.

Do the microbiology exams of today really test these skills?

If it were up to me, I would get the students into the microbiology lab on day 1 of their training (so they can see if they really enjoy it) and keep them there as much as possible. I would pay them part-time for doing some simple tasks in the laboratory (so they don’t finish their degree in lots of debt). The academic part of the course would be primarily online, with occasional small group tutorials. I would ban large group didactic lectures altogether. I would focus on the diagnostic microbiology of today and tomorrow, not of yesterday. I would not have a formal written exam at the end, but rather continuous assessment throughout the training period. I would however advocate an oral examination at the end to ensure the student has a good understanding of the basic concepts of microbiology and has good safety awareness in the laboratory. I would be brutally honest with them in terms of future job prospects and where I see future work opportunities within clinical microbiology.

There are too many people within academic institutions who have too much of a self-interest in keeping things the way they are at the moment.

This has got to change…

Modern microbiology degrees are needed for modern microbiologists.

Michael

I see that most E. coli are “indole positive”. I have just checked Google on my smartphone…