ADVANCE Discourse: Lab Knowing Let’s forget about money for a second. I know that can be difficult – what, with all of those pesky adult responsibilities and everything, but bare with me.  If money wasn’t an object, and your physician wanted to order a test that you knew wouldn’t be covered under your insurance, would you get ...

The introduction of new drugs that combat disease and infection at the genetic level has been a landmark breakthrough, both for laboratory science as well as for patient treatment plans. Cell-based therapeutics, on the other hand, stand to become influential in the coming years. A recent story from Newswise reported cell therapy as the next ...

I remember when the Body Worlds Exhibit came to my local museum. I couldn’t believe it -- those were real people. My dad laughed when I told him about it and said, “That’s why you really have to read the fine print when you sign up to be an organ donor.” Being an organ donor, I was horrified. As genetic research continues and breakthroughs are ...

I love attending parties. For one, I get to unwind and spend time with friends. But I also love the opportunity of meeting new people and hearing about their lives. I have long realized that I learn much more from listening than I do from talking and there is no shortage of folks wanting to talk, especially at a party. This last Friday I attended ...

It’s hard enough to work in an environment where there’s some uncertainty—perhaps regarding job security, technology implementations and effects and the like. Today, however, there’s monumental vagueness or doubts on a host of issues directly impacting healthcare, including the Budget Control Act, sustainable growth rates (SGR), bundled payments, ...

I often hear “He is just being passive aggressive” or “Her problem is she is passive aggressive” to dismiss behavior we don’t like or understand. A passive aggressive person has always seemed to me someone who mucks up the works without having the assertiveness to confront a challenge head on or the maturity to discuss a matter openly.  The ...

If you could have your genome sequenced and unlock all of the secrets your DNA holds, would you? I asked that question of Dr. Robert Daber, technical director of Clinical Genomics at the Center for Personalized Diagnostics, and Dr. Jennifer Morrissette, scientific director of the Cytogenics Lab and director of the Center for Personalized ...

Two items of news caught my attention this weekend. Tomorrow the Supreme Court will start hearing arguments about the constitutionality of  the healthcare reform law; the so called Obamacare.   Is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148) aimed at bringing basic healthcare to more Americans  or government ...

When nurses switch to 12-hour shifts, I wonder if back injury claims increase. Nurses and nurse assistants literally do the heavy lifting in hospitals, and patients aren’t getting smaller. Forcing fifty- and sixty-something people with a lifetime of cumulative spinal stress to lift an extra four hours a day seems foolhardy. The question was ...

I admit that every once in a while, I find myself dealing with a student that is struggling to learn the basic and essential principles of the material we are teaching while the rest of the class has moved on and ready for new material. By no means, are these weak students. They have met the rigorous admission criteria and their academic records ...