Is anyone here involved in patch-clamp research?

Question

I am an MSc student majoring in neuropharmacology. I am learning how to perform patch clamp experiments on rat hippocampal slices but I am facing a lot of difficulties starting from dissecting the animal! My hands always shake while dissecting and mostly I end up with a damaged brain out of which no experimental use could be made.

So far, I have tried dissecting 8 rats but I feel so frustrated already. If you have done any electrophysiological research and know what I'm talking about, how long did it take you to learn the techniques? Is what I'm facing normal? Any tips that can help me catch-up faster and minimize the sources of error and reduce my panic while dissecting? Do you know any websites that might help?

Thank you so much in advance.

Answer 1

One day, You will be using the same hands to save human lives, treat diseases and injuries. Right now, You are in a learning stage and it is normal for your hands to shake. However, practise makes one perfect. So let it be 80 or 800 rats, You just keep on dissecting them  until, You have learn the proper procedure and your hands don't even move a mm here or there unneccesarily. As far as the experiment itself is a concern, You should use silicone elastomer PDMS as a material to interface to the cell membrane.

Wish You Best Of Luck !