On a fall day in 1928, a window was left open in a London laboratory, letting in a cool breeze. Carried on that breeze were microscopic spores of mold, tiny particles that fell gently onto a work surface covered with open Petri dishes culturing Staphylococcus bacteria. One spore landed on the rich culture medium of a dish and began to grow, contaminating the experiment in progress. This contamination, to the surprise of the scientist when he returned to check on his experiment, was peculiar. The mold had not simply grown, it had also destroyed all the bacteria around it, leaving a clear boundary all around its perimeter. The scientist was Alexander Flemming, and his determination to find out what was going on in this peculiar, unexpected, serendipitous mistake would lead to the world-changing discovery of antibiotics. 

As we draw closer to the end of the year, we thought it would be appropriate to describe the conferences we have attended as well as the way a product like ours takes part in the scientific community that gathers around annual conferences. We attended three such professional conferences, and each one offered a unique opportunity to reach out to a different demographic of individuals and groups related to healthcare.

Today is Veteran’s Day, a day to celebrate the dedication and sacrifice of those Americans who served our country as a member of our armed services. One of the best ways to honor our veterans is by ensuring that their return to civilian life is healthy and successful. A significant part of that healthy transition are the benefits available through the Veterans Health Administration, or VA, both through compensation and health care services. Today we will explore the history and future of this health services provider, and well as some of the challenges and achievements it has faced over time.

We at the Health.Care. blog value science and scientists. We trust the scientific method to propose new ideas, and then test, defend, critique, replicate and establish those ideas as quality research. We also recognize the value in stepping back and returning to the literature, reevaluating a premise, and even scrapping a project in order to begin again.