This week, I am at Integrated Pain Solutions. Today was my first day. It was an amazing day, and I learned a whole ton of stuff about a field of medicine I was previously only vaguely familiar with. Integrate pain solutions is a cozy lab, office, and store space converted from an old kitchen style store. But, inside, a lot of really advanced testing is going on.
We (Eric and I) started out with a tour of the facility and the lab stations. After meeting with Dr. Zhong (also known as Dr. Sean) in the “war room”, we visited the “gold room” where the urine samples are held. These urine samples were sent to the lab for basic toxicology reports (drug and alcohol testing). We saw how they are tested.
Next, we introduced to the two 1/2-million-dollar mass spectrometers that the facility has for toxicology for other clinics as well as analyzing their own CBD oils. We learned about the difference between CBD and THC (THC will give a high, CBD will help with pain and inflammation). We also learned about the legal facets of making and testing CBD oil.
Later, Dr. Sean and Crystal showed us how mass spectrometers work through a series of explanations and YouTube videos. This included info about isotopes, quadrupoles, how the specific molecules are given a charge (so they will move with a magne
tic field), also we learned about adduct ions and the general mechanism of a mass spec. My favorite parts were where I could apply my recently gained knowledge from ADV chemistry to my newly developing
understanding of the methods used in the lab. Also, the use of quadrupoles was really interesting.
Then, we went to lunch with Crystal and Dr. Sean. You can find great chicken salad sandwiches in Pinehurst!
After lunch, we looked at distillation, used to make CBD oil. The distillation equipment was in the process of being installed. We also had a look at the multitude of CBD hemp products sold in the store at the front of the building. We also practiced analyzing a CBD oil sample. We saw linear regression and other mathematical concepts in action. We also took a look at a third mass spectrometer used to analyze all of the samples from Dr. Taylor’s clinics. At the end of the day we were dizzy from the number of things we had learned; it was a truly remarkable experience. I am excited for tomorrow.
