Let's Talk Micro – Details, episodes & analysis

Is your laboratory accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) ? Are you familiar with their checklists? What are the latest updates to the microbiology checklist? In this episode Luis is joined by Dr. Christi Wojewoda to discuss the latest updates to the microbiology checklist: media quality control and nomenclature.  Why are some media exempt and some non-exempt? Regarding nomenclature, do we need to report the new name or the old name? Tune in to find out.

 

ASM IQCP template link: https://asm.org/protocols/individualized-quality-control-plan-iqcp

 

Questions regarding checklists? Contact CAP at accred@cap.org

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The latest edition of the CLSI M100 has been published. What are the latest updates? One of them is the deletion of breakpoints for Burkholderia cepacia complex. What are the recommendations for susceptibility testing? Dr. April Bobenchik returns to the podcast to talk to Luis about the latest updates. She also talks about the M45. Will there be an update to the M45? Tune in to find out.

Link to CLSI free resources: https://clsi.org/all-free-resources/

Link to webinar: https://clsi.org/standards/products/microbiology/documents/m100/

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A simulation laboratory? In this episode Luis is joined by Emily Matthys, an Assistant Professor at Northern Michigan University. Emily teaches at a Medical Laboratory Sciences program and she joins the podcast to talk about a simulation laboratory that was implemented for blood bank and microbiology for medical laboratory technician students. As some labs become more centralized, and end result might be diminished exposure to some areas for medical laboratory science students undergoing their clinical rotations. How does this simulation lab help students? What do the students do in this lab? Tune in for another great episode.

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Happy Lab week! Thank you for all you do. This episode features a conversation with Amanda Reed , director of the St. Louis University Medical Laboratory Sciences program (SLU-MLS). In addition to being the director, she also teaches Microbiology. Tune in to find out about their program, a talk about the importance of biochemicals , and more. They also have something called "Name that bug" that prepares students to recognize and learn about organisms.Link to program attached.

This episode features a conversation with the team behind Bacteria Game: Mathilde Lescat, Nicolas Piñeros and Katie Teinallon. A good educator is always trying to find ways to improve and reach the students. There is a lot of information in Microbiology, so coming up with ways students can learn the material is very important. Mathilde Lescat came up with a game to teach students Microbiology. It is supported by the French Society for Microbiology and it is available in French and English. What is Bacteria Game? What audience is it intended for? Tune in to find out. Link to the French Society for Microbiology page where the game can be ordered is attached.

In this episode, Dr. Andrea Prinzi and Dr. Rodney Rohde join the podcast to discuss the article 'The Role of Bacterial Biofilms in Antimicrobial Resistance.' What exactly are biofilms? Which organisms are commonly associated with them? And how do they contribute to antimicrobial resistance (AMR)? Tune in for an insightful conversation on this important topic.

Link to article:  https://asm.org/Articles/2023/March/The-Role-of-Bacterial-Biofilms-in-Antimicrobial-Re

Link to quorum sensing article: https://asm.org/Articles/2020/June/How-Quorum-Sensing-Works

 

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a press release on March 20, 2023 about Candida auris. There is an increase in cases, so it is a good time to talk about it. Dr. Shawn Lockhart, from the Mycotic Diseases Branch of the CDC joins the podcast to talk about C. auris. What is C. auris? How is it transmitted? What kind of antimicrobial resistance does it exhibit? Tune in to this episode to find out.

Link to EPA's P list: https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/list-p-antimicrobial-products-registered-epa-claims-against-candida-auris

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This episode features an interview with Dr. Kristen Pesavento, from the Medical Laboratory Sciences (MLS) program in Loyola University. Unlike traditional MLS programs where typically a bachelors degree is obtained upon completion, this program confers a Master of Science degree. What prerequisites do you need? Dr. Pesavento also talks about their summer immersion program, which takes place from May 17-19 of this year. Here students can get familiarized with Medical Laboratory Sciences.Link to Loyola MLS program: https://www.luc.edu/parkinson/mls/msinmedicallaboratoryscience/Link to Loyola MLS Immersion Experience: https://www.luc.edu/parkinson/mls/mlsimmersionexperience/

This is part 2 of a two part series. Dr. Rachael Liesman goes over scenarios where genotypic and phenotypic testing do not match and what to do. What do you do when your molecular instrument detects mec-A and Staphylococcus aureus but your susceptibility report shows oxacillin susceptible? What about VanA and Enterococcus? As Medical Laboratory Scientists in Microbiology, we encounter this type of situations. Tune in to find out how to troubleshoot these discrepancies.

Link to Dr. Patricia Simner's article: https://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/JCM.00138-20

Those of you that work in Clinical Microbiology have seen at one point that a molecular test detects a gene for antimicrobial resistance and the susceptibility profile does not match. What do we do then? In this episode Dr. Rachael Liesman joins to the podcast to talk about this. What is genotypic testing? What is phenotypic testing? How do we perform these in the lab? How do we troubleshoot these discrepancies? Tune in to this episode which is the first of a two part series to find out.

Link to Dr. Liesman's presentation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dphVN79alVfQERTL_rTihUA-zlqBOJfY/view?usp=share_link