I remember a world before the internet and mobile tablets. I remember the age of pagers and typewriters. I remember the AOL dialup tones and the extraordinary phone bills . . . and, no, I’m not that old – though anyone too young to remember life before the digital revolution of the 90s might disagree. [...]

I’m proud to announce that we were recently honored by Uniform Market with the 2012 Univator Awards for Product Innovation. As Uniform Market News states, the Univator Awards recognize innovation within the uniform industry and serve as a reminder that, even in times of economic upheaval, companies both large and small can still improve. We [...]

I went to a tanning salon once . . . only once. I was about 16, and my mother had convinced me to go with her. I have the sort of English skin that burns within seconds – as though the sun and I are simply sworn enemies. My mother (who somehow doesn’t burn even [...]

Every day we proudly add exquisite finishing touches to our lab coats and scrubs in the form of name & title embroidery. We’ve noticed over the years that the order in which degrees are listed often changes from one person to the next, and in my ever-curious quest for knowledge I recently wondered, “Is there [...]

Imagine being a wounded soldier on a battlefield. Through the pain you watch as the war continues around you – comrades fall, gunfire plays an incessant and deafening melody, and the ground seeps a chill through your skin. Prior to the 19th century, you would have had a long wait before help arrived. The wounded [...]

My pants fell down today. I was listening to the lungs of a patient, and she had a toddler, about waist high, who tugged on the drawstring of my scrub pants to tell me something. They puddled on the floor, leaving me to examine my patient in my pink polka-dot panties. How professional. Nobody wants [...]

There are many reasons why cat owners dread taking their favorite feline to the vet. It is actually difficult to safely get a cat to the clinic. All cat people will agree on that. Cats are smart and they will try to sabotage the operation in any way they can. Placing your cat in a [...]

How “health literate” do you believe your patients to be? You often send your patients home with prescriptions, pamphlets, and detailed instructions – but do they often follow your guidelines? Do they even understand what they’re reading? In 2003, the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) introduced the first large-scale national assessment in the United [...]

I’m still a little surprised that my name badge says Doctor. I’ve seen prescriptions filled that I’ve written, pausing momentarily to look with surprise and marvel that my name- Dr. A. Kennard- is on the label. And not as the patient. It’s in the top corner; the doctor’s spot on the label. I’m always surprised [...]

Emma Willits is known as the first woman to head a surgery department in the United States. Born in 1869 in Macedon, New York, Emma was educated at Quaker schools and in 1892, she moved to Chicago to enroll at the Women’s Medical College of Chicago. At that time, female surgeons were essentially unheard of, [...]