Why Do Administrative Things Get in the way of Science

I'm hoping to make this a short post this weekend. The question is why do administrative problems get in the way of research? Instead of concentrating on the task at hand, (ie doing experiments) we have to order said supplies and reagents to keep the lab running efficiently and make sure we have the proper authorization to perform said experiments. Do you know that I need to have committee approval to run any variation of my experiments on my laboratory mice? So instead of performing the experiments, generating the data that can help save human lives, I have to write a protocol revision for our animal experiments this week. Some time this red tape is just completely frustrating.

Just a disclaimer - Stanford is no exception it like this everywhere.

A Sobering Moment

I work primarily on studying basic biological processes in the eye and how that relates to disease mechanisms that cause blindness. This means hours (as many as 80 per week) in the lab conducting experiments and lots of time at home analyzing data and reading. Don't get me wrong, I love my work and I try to enjoy every day even though it is completely frustrating. You see what the general public doesn't know is that experiments work primarily 10% of the time. The other 90% of the time we spend troubleshooting by determining why things did not work as we expected. So, there are times that we as scientist feel frustrated, burnt out and even somewhat depressed.

About a month ago, I was at the ophthalmologist for my own eye problem. Ironically, I have central serous retinopathy, a problem in my eyes with the very cells I study in the lab. Luckily, my condition is reversible and I maintain reasonable sight for most of the time. I was sitting in the waiting room minding my own business and thinking about whether my eye was better or worse and also worrying about whether this would be permanent loss of vision or would I need laser surgery. I almost did not notice the young mother with family in tow that was checking in at the front desk. This is fairly unusual because most patients in a retina specialist clinic are older (at least 60 or above).  I believe I am one of my doctors youngest patients so it is unusual to see another "young" patient. I began thinking that maybe this young woman had the same thing I have. Maybe there is a kindred spirit out there.

I was shocked when the technician called them back - because it wasn't her name they called - it was her grade school aged daughter the doctor was seeing. At that point I looked deep within myself and said that this is God saying get over yourself, stop worrying about your own problems because the worries of others are much greater than your own. I also felt bathed in inspiration that I should be the best eye researcher I could be and to get over my frustrations and work harder at that 90% of trouble shooting. I now truly believe that the most inspirational moments are not always big - they could be as small as a little girl walking into a waiting room.