Public speaking has never been my thing. In high school, I would rush through my presentations just to get them over with, and I would hardly look up from my notecards -- not because I didn't know my presentation, but because looking at my peers made me even more nervous (even though, chances are, most high schoolers aren't really paying attention while their peers speak anyway).

When I went to college at ...

By now, few of us in the industry haven't heard of "Lean," Toyota's production system. To maximize productivity, we have to eliminate "waste," including extra steps, overproduction, product defects, and so on. It's an idea with great appeal, especially if you've watched Hoarders ...

Ballance comes to the Center with expertise in the preanalytical phase ...

The Clinical Laboratory Management Association (CLMA) issued a press release recently indicating that it has moved its headquarters from Wayne, PA to Chicago. CLMA, an association of 3.400 members worldwide, has selected the firm of SmithBucklin as its management company.

Organizations, ...

"SmithBucklin will provide CLMA with best-in-class educational programs, publications, seminars and networking opportunities that will allow us to continue to serve our current ...

Something we as a society have learned over the last decade or so is that when Oprah talks, people listen. If she adds a book to her book club, it becomes a best seller. In 1996 during an episode on mad cow disease, Oprah said she would never eat another burger. She was later sued by Texas cattlemen, claiming cattle prices plummeted after her show aired.

A Time magazine article even credited her with ...

Polymedco Inc., Cortlandt Manor, NY, recently announced that the FDA has granted 510(k) clearance of the OC-Sensor Diana, a high throughput automated system for the immunoassay fecal occult blood test (FIT) used for detecting gastrointestinal bleeding associated with disorders such as colorectal cancer, polyps and colitis.  

The new OC-Sensor Diana system measures 280 FIT samples per hour and ensures quality ...

I'd like to share with you the Top 10 things that I love the most about my job.

1.  I LOVE what I do, both physically and mentally.  Microbiology is very much a hands-on field, at least for now and I enjoy the processes and solving all the little mysteries from day to day.

2.  I love the people I work with.  My department has 12 people and all 12 of them have different personalities ...

In August 2008 I blogged, "Experience teaches that day-to-day, tech-to-tech variation in identifying and counting cells is greater than, and not necessarily caused by, millimeters on feathered edges." In other words, prettier smears don't make counts more accurate.

Recently, our laboratory completed ...

Today The Lancet retracted a paper published in 1998, which fueled the controversy over the link between vaccines and autism.

The paper, a report on "Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children," by Wakefield AJ, Murch SH, Anthony A, et al, ...

Today I started my last round of clinical rotations. I am currently at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, for microbiology.

It was an interesting day. I let my nerves get to me. I forgot how to properly streak a plate and do manual gram stains. I am used to using the automated gram stain machine at work. It does a much better job than I do at gram staining, although my QC slide did come ...

When someone does not speak up or goes along with the crowd, we are fond of saying that person "does not have an independent thought in his/her head." Actually sometimes it's not that they don't think independently, but for whatever reason they are reluctant to express their opinion.

Group think is the tendency ...

Laboratories make their share of errors, and good laboratories have a way to track them so they can be fixed. A number of approaches work, including incident reports, problem forms, log sheets, and random audits. Response depends on severity. Forgetting to check off performance of daily maintenance, for instance, is not as bad as dispensing the wrong unit of packed red blood cells. Which approach works best?

I ...

McKesson, San Francisco, and HP, Palo Alto, CA, recently announced they are collaborating to accelerate and simplify electronic health record (EHR) adoption at independent physician practices across the country. The companies will offer physicians McKesson's EHR/practice management systems bundled with HP office hardware preconfigured for easy installation. A national network of EHR-certified, value-added ...

It's been over a decade since I've had paid time off available.  While I did work part time here and there during school, I never worked a job that qualified for time off.  That wasn't really a problem since I basically had off when I needed it.  Now I find myself in the position of planning vacations!

Our PTO policy allows us to basically use our time as we accrue it.  However, under the ...

Siemens donated ten RAPIDPoint 350 Blood Gas analyzers to Project HOPE. These systems can be used to deliver critical ...

The Maryland Association for Health Care Recruitment is accepting applications for a $1,000 allied health scholarship called the Georgan R. Kline Scholarship.

This scholarship will be awarded on an annual basis to applicants in their sophomore, junior or senior year of their undergraduate program. Applicants must be a resident of Maryland and have a 3.0 GPA.

Completed applications, which include a ...

At a "super users" meeting the other day discussing information technology, an administrator asked managers for guidance. "Help us help you," he said. "Is there anything you need in your departments that can help improve efficiency?"

A few things happened. One, there was no response from any of the twenty or so people in the conference room; he might as well have asked in Klingon. Two, ...

As physicians are inundated more and more by tons of data it has become more important to help them interpret lab data. I personally think of this not as a chore but as a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate our expertise.

We already do that to some degree now. If you think about it, shouldn't a physician know the reference interval for a glucose? Then do we include it on a report? OK, so there are different ...

Harold T. Meryman, 88, an American Red Cross physician who refined the process of freezing blood, died Jan. 10 of coronary artery disease.

Dr. Meryman devised the method of freezing concentrated blood cells for up to 10 years in 1971. This has been especially beneficial for patients with rare blood types. His methods are still used.

He was also the president of CryoBioPhysica, an immunological ...

Last summer I blogged about "mythconceptions" we have about managers - that we are trained, authoritarian leaders - and I thought I'd give it another go. There may be more ideas you haven't considered that can help you succeed on the bench.

Talented bench techs make great managers. ...

Last week I blogged about knowing your family medical history. When you look at  genetic diseases and illnesses in your family tree, that could lead to a discussion on genetic testing.

Some diseases, including breast cancer, have genetic tests ...

In seventh grade I had to take a 6-week course called Family Living. To be completely honest, I don't remember pretty much everything I did in that class, or why it was even called "Family Living."

There's only one aspect of the class I remember. Our teacher, Mrs. Mitch, asked us to write one favorable quality or characteristic of each person in our class. I guess it was an exercise to make everyone ...