Inside Out Quality

“I will tell you something about stories. They aren't just entertainment. They are all we have to fight off illness and death. You don't have anything if you don't have stories.” ― Leslie Marmon SilkoThe story of Scott Jerome Parks captivated me and the filled headlines in 2010. His story led me to connect with people around the US and world and, ultimately, to Dr. Joel Carter, a palliative care physician. While treating patients, Joel discovered that stories alone provided relief from pain a...

Gordon Isaacs sat on a table at Stanford Medical School in 1955. A large linear accelerator shadowed behind him while he waited for treatment of the tumor growing in his retina. He made history as the first patient treated in the US with this radiation therapy approach. Linear Accelerators (LINACs) have come a long way since that time and have treated millions. How has there been so much success? The answer is a harmonization between quality and engineering. Dr. Todd Pawlicki, Professor and V...

Scott Jerome Parks died in 2007 from a radiation overdose. His slow, agonizing death captured headlines. Headlines were followed by a congressional hearing, where his dad shared of Scott's suffering and the need for reform in medical device and radiation safety. As I learned of his story, it brought me to many more stories. The first being the Therac 25. Natalia Silvis-Cividjian also found the story of the Therac 25. She too became captured and harnessed its lessons to teach students th...

In this episode, Dr. David Evans, Virologist at the University of Alberta joins Leslie and I, where we explore a question he once asked. Could he and his team synthetically recreate horsepox virus? Science is all about asking questions and creating experiments to answer them. These questions can make us uncomfortable. Quality Assurance also thrives on questions. Listen in while we discuss his experiment and ask him questions.Link to Dr. Evans' publication on horsepox virus:https://journa...

In 1920, the US began recording deaths from Opioids; between 1920 and 1921, 105 people died from accidental overdose.In 2021, 80,816 people died from overdose on opioids (CDC). We are losing a battle. The opioid crisis is a healthcare system problem; one component of this system is the sales rep. In this episode, we interview Alec Burlakoff. Alec was the VP for sales at Insys and a master of sales and building teams. His skills, contributed to explosive sales of Fentanyl and current crisis.&n...

Michelle Hutchison is an actress, voiceover coach, writer, and producer. She also teaches professionals in the medical product industries on how to present more effectively-- we knew we couldn't talk about motivational speaking with talking about the speaking part!In this episode, Michelle talks about performance in presentations with Leslie and I to discuss getting past slide decks and communicating with skilled expression and your emotional palette. To learn more about Michelle's class...

Earlier this year, I began searching for a Quality Assurance motivational speaker. This search introduced me to many amazing people; Bart Bosch is one of them. Bart is the founder of Vlitix and specializes in utilizing quality systems as a value driver for organizations. If you want to turn Quality Assurance into a value driver for your company, this is your episode! Listen in as Bart and I discuss how quality can make your company more valuable and contribute to the bottom line.&n...

In the world of GMPs and quality, it's easy to overlook the importance of pest management until its too late. In this episode, Frank Meek, Manager of Technical Services at Rollins/Orkin joins us to tell us how Orkin approaches all things pest control, from prevention, investigations, and control of pest along with other services they provide the industry. Frank Meek is a Technical Services Manager for Rollins. As a board-certified entomologist and 30-year industry veteran, he is an...

Gabriel Licina is a leader in the world of independent science and was at the forefront of the biohacking culture. His work showed that exciting technology can be created from the home using networking, education, and freedom. I expected someone known as a Biohacker to be resistant to regulations and quality concepts, but I quickly learned the opposite. On this episode, Gabriel joins Leslie and I to talk about Biohacking, how he became an Independent Researcher, his research, and how the...

“Are you disturbed at night and broken of your rest by a sick child suffering…. It will relieve the poor sufferer…and is the prescription of one of the oldest and best female physicians and nurses in the United States.” --This is not an ad about our podcast :) This is an add from 1905 for Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup (a morphine based product advertised to help sooth children)FDA Historian Vanessa Burrows joins Leslie and I, as we dive into a notorious opioid product sold from the 1830's-193...