Association of Public Health Laboratories

Why I Don’t Drink Budweiser…and Why I’m Not Alone

Budweiser has always been far more about marketing than beer. The founder of Anheuser Busch, Adolphus Busch, refused to drink his own brew, calling it “that slop” (he was German, of cou…

What Happens After a Failed Drug Test?

Having employees take a drug test isn’t an unusual practice. But what happens after a failed drug test? Here’s what employers and employees need to know. Have you been asked to take a d…

Have You Ever Had Real Wasabi? Probably Not (Video)

So just what is the commonly used substitute in most restaurants?

What I’ve learned from my tally of 757 doctor suicides

There are some fixable explanations for the high rate for physicians and medical students.

Why I Almost Fired My Doctor

Was I going to risk my longevity to avoid hurting my doctor’s feelings? I needed a physician I respected and trusted.

Why your family medical history matters

Sara McGregor never worried about getting breast cancer. Neither did her two older sisters. After all, their mother and maternal grandmother never had the disease. So when McGregor's eldest sister was diagnosed at age 32, the news came as a shattering shock to all three siblings

Mouth Pipetting: Blogger Reminds Medical Laboratory Technologists of an Era When This Was Leading...

Mouth pipetting was the topic of a recent blog published by Body Horrors. The blogger recalled a time when clinical laboratory professionals routinely mouth pipetted specimens.

Cornell Researchers Identify Gut Microbes that May Help Some People Remain Thin; Findings Could...

Researchers at Cornell University have identified a family of microbes that may provide a genetic explanation for why some people are able to stay thin. If their findings are validated, pathologists might see a clinical laboratory test for this bacteria, along with a macrobotic regime to help people lose weight or stay lean.

New Problem for Pathologists and Physicians: Should Patients Be Told about Incidental Findings...

When a genetic test for a certain type of cancer provides additional information that could affect the patient's health, what is the ethical course of action for pathologists and clinical laboratory scientists? Should this information be disclosed to the physician who ordered that cancer test? In turn, should that physician inform his or her patient about these "incidental findings?"

Lab Culture Ep. 10: Public health labs do that?!

Public health laboratories do a great deal of work that impacts the daily lives of everyone in America. Do you know exactly how much they’re doing? The first episode produced by members of the Emerging Leader Program cohort 10 looks at some of the work performed by public health lab scientists. You can listen to…

Doctors' Mistakes in Genetic Test Orders Is Warning Signal to Pathologists and Clinical Laboratories

Almost one-third of medical laboratory test orders for complex gene tests contained mistakes in handling by ordering clinicians. This finding comes from a study by ARUP Laboratories, Inc.. The finding is an early warning flag for pathologists and clinical laboratory professionals that a gap exists between the availability of genetic tests and clinician knowledge of how and when to use them and how to interpret the results.

Could Medical Laboratory Technician Be Your Dream Career?

Do you love science and math? Do you dream of spending your days analyzing samples, performing tests and operating sophisticated diagnostic equipment in a state-of-the art laboratory? Would you like to be immersed in the dynamic health care field, contributing to high-quality patient care, helping prevent outbreaks of communicable disease in your community, and interfacing... Read More

Researchers Determine That Individuals' 'Breathprint' Are Unique; May Have Potential for Clinical...

New research shows that a person's "breathprint" is as unique as a fingerprint and may be as effective as bodily fluids in diagnosing diseases. That same research effort is showing that it is feasible to combine breath specimens and mass spectrometry to accurately identify disease. That could give clinical laboratories a new methodology to use when creating diagnostic assays.

Is Mass Spectrometry Ready to Challenge ELISA for Medical Laboratory Testing Applications?

There is a growing role for mass spectrometry in clinical laboratory testing. However, the pace of adoption will depend on further technology enhancements, in tandem with new clinical applications yet to emerge from research laboratories.

Biomonitoring and the Public Health Laboratory: Everything You Want to Know

Simply stated, biomonitoring allows public health practitioners to understand whether environmental contaminants are being absorbed into people’s bodies. Given improvements in technology; the capabilities and expertise that now exist in public health laboratories; and the increasing public demand for more information about chemical exposures, biomonitoring is poised to become an integral component of public health…

Preventing diagnostic errors by uniting the clinical laboratory with direct patient care

Doctoral programs are preparing experts to lead diagnostic management teams at hospitals, with promising early results

Not a Surprise for Pathologists: Study Determines Doctors Fail to Follow Up on as Many as 60%...

Studies performed in the United States show that, for ambulatory patients, doctors fail to follow up on as many as two-thirds of medical laboratory test results and up to one-third of radiology reports! A recent review of 19 of these studies also showed that these failures resulted in serious lapses in patient care.

Millennials Are Ready to Change Public Health. Is Public Health Ready?

Did you know that millennials make up 35 percent of the workforce in the United States, but only about 24 percent of state and local health departments? This is despite a 300 percent growth in public health degrees over the past two decades. So where are the millennials, and what do these numbers me

Solar power could deliver $400 billion in environmental and public health benefits

Solar power could deliver $400 billion in environmental and public health benefits in the United States by 2050, according to a study from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Solar is already delivering annual benefits of $1.5 billion. Those benefits come in the form of:

Public Health Matters Flu Prevention