What are the best ways to develop sample preparation expertise?

This article on developing sample preparation expertise is a valuable guide for professionals aiming to enhance their analytical processes. The author emphasizes the importance of selecting the most suitable method based on analytical goals, sample types, and available resources. By considering factors such as analyte of interest, matrix complexity, detection limit, sample volume, throughput, cost, and environmental impact, the article provides a holistic approach to sample preparation. The practical insights into comparing different methods empower professionals to make informed choices aligned with their criteria and expectations.

It highly depends upon the region in which you are working. The financial resources available, the equipment being used, and the availability of trained personnel.

You can always use a standardized method to perform any activity. This will help you to compare results and improve regularly. While developing sample preparation expertise you should keep in mind your lab's SOPs and QA program. Assess the potential risk and their mitigation strategies. Make a checklist for the equipment needed during this process. Document everything you do in the logbook.

The best way to develop sample preparation expertise is to learn from your senior/experts. They can better guide you about the challenges in your workplace and how they are troubleshooting them for a long time. Try to attend different training sessions and workshops to develop new skills and to connect with the subject matter experts.

In my experience, this is the fastest way to learn the basics. What better way to develop your technique than to learn from those who have successfully done so before? Combining this with staying up to date with current methods and technologies makes for a powerful tool. Make sure you’re considering multiple sources and not just relying on one article.

Updating with new techniques and sample preparation methods will certainly be a big advantage in terms of saving on time and cost.

Keep your knowledge about your field if your interest is updated. Keep reading the recent articles and other's reviews on different methods of sample preparation. Keep updated with the updates/revisions in the regulatory requirements and ISO standards.

Evaluation helps you to get an idea of where you are standing in your expertise. Keep asking for feedback from your peers and ask them to help you improve. You can use the Proficiency Testing mechanism to evaluate your expertise by comparing the results with international standard.

Seeking feedback is one of the best thing to gain expertise in the field of sample preparation. As it provide guidance, knowledge , concept and technique to be implemented for better outcome.

Hands on experience along with encountering abnormal specimen handling and preparation scenarios really cements what a good/proper sample prep looks like. You can analyze ten thousand samples and the results will be fairly similar but the dissimilar samples are always opportunities to learn something. Whether that be hemolysis, clot, high hematocrit etc, knowing how to best avoid these negative sample aspects is crucial to an efficient lab sampling to result workflow.