Through this blog I have shared a few experiences of mine in reaching outside of the laboratory to work with the physicians and other healthcare professional to improve patient safety and patient care. Yes, to do consultation at the level that I have described, and will continue to describe this blog, advanced education beyond the […]
Read more "Empowering A Profession"I first want to thank everyone who voted in the poll in my last blog post. There has been a total of 266 votes thus far, and since I love statistics and analytics like every other scientist, here are the current totals: Question: What do you think about the DCLS? 48.65% I love […]
Read more "Take Me Out to the BAL Game!"This post I wanted to take a poll. This poll – the first in the blog so I hope there are not any technical glitches – is about your current thoughts on the DCLS. I imagine that if you have gotten this far in following my blog, then you’ve read the posts up until now. […]
Read more "Wanna answer a question for me?"So today was a definite win! Whenever I’ve been asked for my assistance on a case by a physician who has never asked before I always call it a win. [Insert happy dance!] This request came from a very respected Infectious Disease physician who currently has two possible cases of tuberculosis uveitis (translation for the […]
Read more "To TB or Not to TB – That is the Question"OK, so I’ve had quite a few messages from some of you regarding one of my recent posts where I said that it was the fault of the medical laboratory that the physicians are asking the laboratory questions to the pharmacists. So much that I felt I needed to explain this position a bit more. […]
Read more "Let me explain – I’m not that crazy"One of the responsibilities of a DCLS is patient education. We educate patients about why their doctor has ordered certain laboratory tests, why there is a certain timing or preparation that is needed for some tests, why they should be compliant with their laboratory testing, and what their tests results mean. Not every patient is […]
Read more "Patient Education: The Good, The Bad, The Abusive"So you know that I’ve been in school (for quite a while now) working towards earning the DCLS degree. I had a conversation very recently that I would like to share with you because it was quite a revelation. But first I want to share a phone conversation I once had with an amazing nurse […]
Read more "We’ve neglected it, so someone else was asked"I’ve been doing some clinician consulting for a few years now, gradually building up to my current residency as my knowledge base grew. And just when you think you’ve seen it all … someone has a “hold my beer” moment. The fundamental purpose of the DCLS is to improve patient care by reducing medical error. […]
Read more "Just When You Think You’ve Seen It All – Hold My Beer"This is a question that I get asked fairly often: Why can’t an MLS do this? If the questions that were being asked were fairly straightforward, then the answer would be that an MLS could. But the questions are not that straight forward. So what questions should any MLS be able to answer? What […]
Read more "So … Why can’t an MLS do this?"Anyone who has spent any significant time in a medical laboratory, whether it is as a phlebotomist, lab assistant, MLT, MLS, or PhD knows there is a major problem that has been largely unrecognized by the physician community: the improper utilization of laboratory tests and … the misinterpretation of those tests. Us in the laboratory […]
Read more "Uh … Houston, we have a problem"
Road to DCLS 