The past fifteen years has seen a dramatic improvement in our understanding of hearing and hearing loss. Scientists have worked to identify dozens of genes involved in hearing loss and elucidate the complex molecular machinery responsible for hearing. At the same time, there have been rapid advances in clinical diagnostic tools including imaging…

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique is one of the most potent tools in molecular biology. It is extensively used for various applications ranging from medical diagnostics to forensic science and food quality testing. This technique has facilitated to survive COVID-19 pandemic by identifying the virus-infected individuals effortlessly and…

The heterogeneous nature of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) makes accurate diagnosis challenging. Best practice assessments in schools can open pathways to appropriate interventions and educational placements for those with ASD, as well as help identify a student's strengths. There are various tools used in school settings to assess autism. In this…

Criticisms about psychometric paradigms currently used in healthcare professions education include claims of reductionism, objectification, and poor compliance with assumptions. Nevertheless, perhaps the most crucial criticism comes from learners' difficulty in interpreting and making meaningful use of summative scores and the potentially…

Multi-exceptional children often have deficits in auditory, visual, or sensory processing. As few psychologists have training in modalities, these deficits may be misdiagnosed as AD/HD, Nonverbal Learning Disorder, Autism, Dyslexia, or a host of personality disorders. This article describes the symptoms of these processing deficits and offers…

Electrocardiography (ECG) is one of the most widely used methods in clinical diagnosis. Here we describe an experimental approach that offers hands-on learning of its basic principles. An experimental model that consists of a rubber foil with a low electrical conductivity and a DC power unit is used to simulate the body and the electric dipole of…

Mathematics assessment is integral in enabling teachers to implement specially designed instruction for students with disabilities. This article presents an overview of an underutilized form of assessment, the clinical interview. A type of diagnostic assessment, clinical interviews are critically important when designing individualized instruction…

Identified Need: The United States spends the most per capita on healthcare, but ranks much lower than most industrialized nations in quality and many health metrics. Studies have shown higher costs do not translate to high quality care, and may indeed translate to lower quality care and patient experience. Teaching high value care (HVC) is only…

Elucidating the heterogeneous etiologies of autism will require investment in comprehensive longitudinal data acquisition from large community based cohorts. With this in mind, we have established a hospital-university-based (HUB) database of autism which incorporates prospective and retrospective data from a large and ethnically diverse…

Reactive attachment disorder of infancy or early childhood (RAD) was introduced as a psychiatric condition in DSM-III in 1980 (American Psychiatric Association; APA). Students who have this condition, which is associated with experiencing severe social neglect during early development (i.e., before the age of 5), have significant difficulties with…

Each year, the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) releases a list of scientific advances that represent significant progress in the field of autism research. The "Summary of Advances" provides short, plain language summaries of the top research breakthroughs selected by the IACC from a pool of research articles nominated by…

In this activity, freshman college students learn biotechnology techniques while playing the role of a laboratory technician. They perform simulations of three diagnostic tests used to screen newborns for cystic fibrosis. By performing an ELISA, a PCR analysis, and a conductivity test, students learn how biotechnology techniques can be used to…

According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood and is characterized by significant inattention and/or hyperactivity--impulsivity that impact one's functioning or development. It is among the most prevalent disorders in school-age…

Brain morphometry in recent decades has increased our understanding of the neural bases of psychiatric disorders by localizing anatomical disturbances to specific nuclei and subnuclei of the brain. At least some of these disturbances precede the overt expression of clinical symptoms and possibly are endophenotypes that could be used to diagnose an…

We developed an interactive laboratory that allows students to identify and grade tissue samples from human breast biopsies, using techniques similar to those used by actual pathologists. This unique lab develops a practical and intellectual understanding of basic tissue structures that make up living systems, utilizing technology to bring…