What is the red cell phenomenon in this blood smear from a patient with multiple myeloma? Agglutination Erythrocytosis Polychromasia Rouleaux Anisocytosis The red cell phenomenon in this blood smear is rouleaux. The massive amount of serum immunoglobulin in patients with multiple myeloma interferes with the normal repellent force between red cells, allowing the … Continue reading “Hematology Quiz: A Patient with Multiple Myeloma”
A 22-year-old male presents with shortness of breath and fatigue. He is planning a trip to an area in Africa in which chloroquine-resistant malaria is endemic, and he was started on a prophylactic antimalarial drug regimen several days ago. A blood smear is performed, and stained with a supravital stain. What are the round inclusions … Continue reading “Hematology Quiz: A 22 Year Old Male with Fatigue”
It was with sadness that I watched the episode of Jeopardy! which featured Alex Trebek’s final appearance. While I hadn’t watched the game show consistently since 1984 when he first began to host, Alex had certainly become an icon in U.S pop culture and I had enjoyed watching him often. The quiz show has always … Continue reading “Truth or Consequences: The Wrong Question”
Working bacteriology benches in the clinical microbiology laboratory often comes with its fair share of questions about the susceptibility of patient isolates. In training, we are taught about breakpoints – clinically essential values which determine if an organism is susceptible, resistant, or somewhere in-between for a given drug. These values are readily accessible to us … Continue reading “Breakpoint Breakdown”
I wrote last as a student in the medical technologist program at NorthShore University Healthcare System in Evanston. Now, as my first post as a certified medical technologist, I wanted to share what the journey was like becoming certified, finding a job, and transitioning into the professional arena. Throughout the program, I felt relatively confident … Continue reading “A New MLS Graduate’s Experience”
Did you know that despite zoonotic transmission of Brucella spp. within United States being rare, Brucella is one of the most common laboratory transmissible infections? This is why is important to be aware that on February of 2019 the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) emitted a food safety alert regarding potential exposures to … Continue reading “The More You Know: Brucella and Laboratory Safety”
As a fitting end to my previous 3-part series on how to prepare for and survive your regulatory inspections, one of the hospitals we provide consulting services to was just visited by The CAP. Overall we did great and I’m proud of everyone there, but the inspectors found a weak area for us to improve … Continue reading “Training and Competency: They’re the Same Thing, Right?”
Gretchen had been the lab secretary for six months, and she was getting comfortable in the role. From her office she scheduled meetings for the manager and paid bills, but her job took her into the lab proper at least once every day. She liked that her job allowed her to wear skirts and sandals … Continue reading “Lab Safety for Every Member of the Team”
In the latest Avengers movie (if you haven’t seen it, beware, there are spoilers ahead), the villain Thanos goes through much trouble to gather all six infinity stones from the far reaches of the galaxy. Once he has them, he snaps his fingers, and half of the people in the universe disappear. While that is … Continue reading “A Snap of the Fingers”
Thus far, we’ve talked about the structure of our blended model of curriculum delivery and the learner experience, but what about the instructor experience teaching in this format? I surveyed a few of our faculty members about their experience teaching in our Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) Program, and their comments about our blended model of … Continue reading “Faculty Insights: Teaching Medical Laboratory Science in a Blended Learning Format”
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