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The blood banking/transfusion medicine fellowship is a one-year accredited program designed to develop, in-depth, the skills of a transfusion medicine specialist. The graduate will be qualified to act as medical director in any blood banking/transfusion medicine setting, from a large and diversified transfusion service in an academic medical center to a community blood bank.

Fellows receive training in all facets of modern blood banking, including therapeutic apheresis, peripheral blood stem cell collection and cryopreservation, blood collection, donor infectious disease testing, coagulation work-ups, HLA, and serological evaluations. Direct clinical intervention in patient care is emphasized through daily transfusion medicine rounds. Fellows consult on difficult transfusion problems, investigate transfusion reactions, and manage stem cell collections and therapeutic apheresis procedures. Approximately 70,000 units of blood and components are transfused annually. The transfusion service collaborates closely in management of the transfusion support of patients within the solid organ and bone marrow/stem cell transplantation services. Experience in blood center operation comes from a large hospital-based platelet apheresis program and from autologous whole blood collections. Fellows become familiar with blood processing into individual components, as well as various aspects of blood preservation and long-term storage. They also develop skills in the administrative management of the blood bank, including dealing with personnel, developing standard operating procedures, and quality control. Fellows participate actively in teaching activities at all levels, including laboratory technicians, medical students, and residents.

An important aspect of the clinical training program is supervised clinical or laboratory research. Fellows conduct a relevant literature review, prepare a research proposal, and collect data – ultimately preparing a report for presentation and possible publication.

Applicants must be Board certified or eligible in CP, AP/CP, hematology, or other relevant specialty.