Managing microbiology specimen workups: Top 10 list of Do's and Don'ts

We live in an age when molecular biology is being promoted as the future of microbiology, yet all of us know that neither the automation of the 20th century nor PCR in the 21st century will be able to substitute for the observations and decision making that is done by the bench microbiologist in the workup of cultures. This article is intended to help with that decision making and the subsequent reporting of results to best guide the physician in the evaluation of a patient's potential infections. The guidelines that I propose represent the most significant in the plethora of experiences I have had as a clinical microbiologist over the last several decades of looking at cultures and discussing their results with physicians and other caregivers.