Lab Medicine Rounds

Timestamps:00:00 Intro01:29 Why is it really important for leaders in our practice to really understand quality for clinical practice?03:13 What are the latest developments in your area of clinical laboratory medicine?06:01 In recent years, what have we learned about quality and how we do quality in the hospital?11:19 How do we actually implement this in clinical practice for success, for sustainability? You talked about putting together an interdisciplinary team. What’s the secret sauce for putting that together?  15:36 You talk about recognition for these project successes. How do we do that when maybe the project is a failure, but still keep that motivation high in our community, make sure it’s normalized as sometimes it doesn’t work out, but not something we don’t talk about anymore?18:12 What have you kind of learned from your experiences for what are ways to make projects successful and sustainable?20:28 Can we kind of closeout with thoughts on where the future of quality improvement in medicine is headed? What are your thoughts on that? 23:35 Outro

00:00 Intro00:40 Can you tell us how your roles in these different laboratories support testing for patient care?03:13 What are the latest developments in your area of clinical laboratory medicine?07:22 Can you elaborate a little bit about this new approach that you have developed is able to bring both sensitivity and specificity along?10:55 Putting the interpretation on the form, you are probably experiencing quite a few phone calls with our clinical colleges. Can you talk to us about how those interactions go between the laboratory and clinical professionals?  15:10 How have your clinical consultations changed, based on feedback you’ve gotten from previous conversations?18:15 You also serve as Vice Chair for Supply Chain Management in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology. This has been talked about a lot related to the Sars-Cov-2 pandemic. Do you have any reflections about key lessons you have learned as you try to stay ahead of supply chair issues?22:06 Can you tell us more about resiliency in relation to supply chain management?24:42 Outro

Timestamps:00:00 Intro01:07 Why is transfusion support an especially important component of patient care for patients that are on ECMO support?03:24 Are there some principles that we can think about that will help us better understand transfusion decisions in these patients?05:52 Can you take us through some specific situations that might help our listeners get our hands around (DO2 and VO2) from a practical standpoint? 10:31 How can laboratory professionals add value to the clinical care of these patients?12:35 How can we improve that interaction (between the clinical side and the laboratory side)? 16:41 What are the different devices we need to keep in mind?17:11 Outro

Timestamps:00:00 Intro01:11 As a critical care physician, why is laboratory testing important for your practice?04:09 What do you wish lab medicine folks understood better about critical care medicine?08:19 What would be your advice to a laboratory medical professional that’s interested in developing a better understanding of critical care medicine?14:51 What do you see for the future collaboration between laboratory medicine and critical care practice?16:44 Outro

Maggie DeGordo, Associate Medical Director of Cellular Therapy at the Mayo Clinic, shares her insights into the transformative world of cellular therapy. She discusses the impressive potential of CAR-T therapy and its role in combating tumors. The conversation touches on the challenges of keeping pace with advancements and the importance of ongoing education in this rapidly evolving field. Looking ahead, Maggie envisions cellular therapies becoming mainstream treatments for illnesses like leukemias and lymphomas, underscoring their revolutionary impact on patient care.

Timestamps: 00:00 Intro00:58 How is cellular therapy contributing to the COVID effort?04:42 Can you give us a little bit of an introduction about what’s so important about the cell (mesenchymal stem cell) or where it comes from?08:19 What sort of work are you and your lab doing for patient care?11:14 Once you figure out a successful cellular therapy, is there then opportunity for that to get brought to scale for a given patient population, or does cellular therapy need to exist as a very individualized treatment?13:48 For our listeners who might be students or other clinicians or laboratory medicine folks, how can they get involved in cellular therapy or how do you recommend those first steps to learn more about this field and how they might intersect with it?15:50 OutroResources:https://stemcellsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/sctm.20-0472 https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.10.15.20122523v2 

00:00 Intro00:45 Can you let our listeners know what we know about the vaccines at this point (December 2020)?02:00 With using the mRNA approach, do these vaccines have similar performance characteristics?03:00 What does this mean for people after they get vaccinated? Hearing this high numbers of efficacy that is protecting me from the virus, what does this mean for how I should be behaving after I get vaccinated?04:25 What are your thoughts on if there should be post-vaccination serology testing?07:10 From your standpoint in the laboratory, has the laboratory developed all the tests that are needed? With the vaccines coming out, is laboratory medicine’s job done regarding COVID-19? Or do the folks in research and development still have some things they need to get done in lab medicine?10:15 Is the fact that we have a couple of variations out there a testament that this was testing that needed to be brought up in the moment, which is why there are a couple of different strategies, and maybe over time we will see a convergence towards one over the other? Or, is there a reason to continue keeping these assays up because it really needs to be a battery in order to be accurate?11:35 Outro

Karen Fritchie, an Associate Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic, dives into the reciprocal nature of mentorship in pathology. She discusses the cruciality of mutual engagement in the mentoring process and the challenges of guiding learners. Karen shares strategies for addressing performance issues, emphasizing ownership and continuous learning. She also highlights the importance of dedicated educational time and the significant role of journal clubs in enhancing medical training. Her insights offer a refreshing perspective on nurturing future pathologists.

Anand Padmanabhan, a physician scientist at the Mayo Clinic, dives into the intricate world of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). He discusses the critical importance of accurate diagnosis to prevent serious complications. The conversation highlights the limitations of current testing methods like ELISA and explores innovative solutions, including the promising P-selectin expression assay. Padmanabhan emphasizes the value of interdisciplinary collaboration in advancing diagnostic practices and shares insights on the future of HIT testing.

Charles Sturgis, a Professor and Program Director at Mayo Clinic, shares invaluable insights for medical students preparing for pathology residency interviews. He stresses the importance of preparation, including researching institutions and familiarizing oneself with technology for virtual interviews. Charles offers strategies for handling difficult questions with ease and discusses the appropriateness of using virtual backgrounds. He encourages candidates to ask insightful questions to gauge program fit, helping them navigate the competitive landscape with confidence.