"For everything there is an appointed time. ... A time to listen and a time to speak."

This month's Diagnote contains two true-life tales, one of them written in response to the October 2007 Diagnote entitled, "When others need help, will you make a difference?"

What would you think if you walked into a gun club and observed someone taking target practice with a pistol? Would you look for some sort of target? What if you did not see a target, but instead the individual seemed to be shooting at random?

Would you accept the hand-washing protocol at your hospital if you were the patient?

Have you read or heard about the crisis associated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) that is sweeping across the United States? Hospitals, nursing homes, schools, sports facilities, correctional facilities and child day-care centers are reporting outbreaks of human nosocomial infections with methicillin-resistant staphylococci.

A quarter-century ago, analysis of uroliths removed (usually by surgery) was optional. In fact, rather than have the stones analyzed, some veterinary practitioners gave them to their clients as a topic of conversation. What about today? Is it an acceptable standard of practice to give stones retrieved from the urinary tract to owners without knowing their composition? What would be your response to a physician who gave you stones retrieved from your urinary tract? Believe it or not, we have received uroliths for analysis formed by our veterinary colleagues that were given to them by a physician. Of course, we did not perform the requested analysis because we did not want to cross the line of practicing medicine without a license. Instead, we sent them to a laboratory licensed to provide that service.

Urinalysis is one of our most important clinical diagnostic tools. Unfortunately, most diagnostic reagent strips used to perform routine urinalyses in veterinary laboratories have been designed for human use.

Knowledge of urolith composition is important because contemporary methods of detection, treatment and prevention of the underlying causes of urolithiasis largely depend on knowledge of urolith composition.

It's an important day in the life of every veterinarian. Do you remember your day? Put yourself back in time: It's graduation day.