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We all know the song "I'm Just a Bill," but there are many nuances and political maneuvers in the process of bills being created and making their ways to become law. To help me learn more, Worth Hester joined me. Worth joined the faculty of the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University in 1988 as a Presidential Management Fellow and became an Assistant Director in 1999. During seven years of government service, he served as an Employee Development Specialist, Program Analyst, and Legislative Analyst for a Member of Congress. Worth also spent two years as Senior Staff with the Center for Public Policy Education at the Brookings Institution. He is incredibly knowledgeable about the processes in congress making this a fun podcast to make. To learn more about the work of the Government Affairs Institute, check out their website: https://gai.georgetown.edu/

In the early 1860's the US was torn apart by war and opposing ideas. In the midst of the conflict, President Lincoln created the USDA, one of the first healthcare laws, and laid the foundations for what would now be known as the FDA.  To help me dive into President Lincoln's impact and explore the history of his presidency, I'm joined by Erin Carlson Mast, President and CEO of the Lincoln Presidential Foundation. The Lincoln Presidential Foundation, formerly known as the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation, is a 501c3 nonprofit with over two decades of experience leading and supporting efforts to share the story of Abraham Lincoln’s life, legacy, and leadership with the world. Learn more about the Lincoln Presidential Foundation here: https://www.lincolnpresidential.org/

How does something intended for good, cause harm? That's the topic explored in this episode. The concept is Externalities, which is a cost or a benefit that affects a third party who is not directly involved in an economic activity or transaction. These impacts can be either negative or positive. This mundane-sounding concept can play out in big impacts. We explore how research meant to end a killer virus, resulted in an unlikely final victim, Janet Parker. This story is explored with our guest Dr. Mark Pallen, a retired professor from the Quadram Institute and author of the book: The Last Days of Smallpox.  We are also joined by Dr. Tom Dean, who served as a family physician, and Medicare Payment Advisory Commission member for Congress. He shares about externalities during his tenure on MedPAC.  To read Dr. Pallen's book and learn the whole story, find it here: Amazon  Read more from Dr. Tom Dean through his writings in South Dakota Searchlight here: SD Searchlight

On our first episode of this season, Tracey shares the story of her son Mac who lost his life to the opioids. Despite years of creating laws and regulations, we haven't been able to stop the destruction. Biology is partly to blame. I’m joined by Lee Baugh, Associate Professor at the University of South Dakota and neuroscientist and researcher Jamie Bushman (also from the University of South Dakota) to explore the biology of addiction and how opioids hijack our biology and better understand why we still fail to control these drugs.

Our name has changed and new episodes are coming! I'm excited to bring you a new season, starting soon!

“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 Silko The 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 and improved the well being of patients suffering in the end stages of cancer. In this episode, Joel tells us the story which led him to this discovery. Deb Murphy and Pam McKenney also share their stories on overcoming cancer and how radiation treatment was a component in that fight. This podcast is all about sharing stories to encourage and educate those working to improve lives --let's continue our work of helping others make many more stories.  To learn more about Dr. Joel Carter, visit his website here: https://joelcartermd.com/

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 Vice Chair of the Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences at UC San Diego's School of Medicine joins Leslie and I to talk LINACs, Quality, and the role of Physicists in healthcare.  Dr. Pawlicki is an expert and leader in the field of radiation oncology (and quality nerd!). Click here to learn more about Dr. Pawlicki's work. ASTRO is the group of professionals working to continue improving radiation therapy. They helped connect me to Dr. Pawlicki and are a great resource for professionals and patients!   Information for patients can be found here

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 the importance of effective software testing. Natalia is a lecturer at the Vrije University in Amsterdam and joins me to talk about software, radiation, and the tragedy of the Therac 25. To learn about Natalia's project to teach and preserve software bugs for teaching click here.

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://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0188453

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.  Alec joins Leslie and I, so we begin to understand how we each parts of healthcare contributed to the crisis. We discuss sales and Alec shares about his life and work.  To learn more about Alec's current work, see his sites: Limitless! Sales Coaching  https://course.aburlakoff.com/home SCHEDULE FREE 20 minute Consult https://bit.ly/3WEunxw

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 classes visit: https://www.skilledexpressions.com/

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.  To reach out to Bart, his email is [email protected] https://www.vlitix.com/

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 acknowledged leader in the field of pest management.  He loves insects, spiders, and crawl spaces. Listen in as Frank shares his passion for pest control and teaches Leslie and I how to be better insect detectives. To reach out to Orkin's industry team, visit here: https://www.orkincommercial.com/  You can also visit: https://www.orkin.com

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 regulations are still important in this space for safety and progress. You can learn more about Gabriel here: https://www.scihouse.space/

“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-1930's resulting in countless deaths and misled consumers. This episode underscores the importance of product labeling, advertising, and muckrakers in the history of drug development and regulations. To learn more about the work of the FDA's History Office, check out their site: www.fda.gov/history