Transfusion Medicine

Transfusion Medicine Rotation

The Transfusion Medicine Section of Clinical Laboratories includes a Blood and Platelet Center to collect, process, and prepare blood components from whole blood and aphaeresis donations, a Therapeutic Apheresis Center to perform therapeutic apheresis procedures and stem cell collections, a Transfusion Service to provide compatible blood products and offer specialized immunohematology tests for resolving complex antibody problems and for evaluating immune-mediated hemolysis and a transfusion medicine Consultation Service.

About 75,000 blood products are transfused each year at UCLA. The need to monitor appropriate blood usage and transfusion safety places a growing emphasis on the Consultation Service. Some consultations are initiated automatically when unusual orders are received or atypical test results are noted; others are provided upon physician request. In addition, transfusion practices are continuously audited according to guidelines established by the UCLA Committee on Blood and Blood Derivatives. The residents will be involved actively in the consultation service and must become familiar with the clinical, technical and administrative aspects of all transfusion medicine (TM) areas.

Curriculum

Residents spend a total of four months in transfusion medicine over the course of their clinical pathology training. The first two months provide basic training in all TM topics and services and initial on-call experience. A junior resident is always paired with the transfusion medicine fellow, or a more senior resident with prior experience in transfusion medicine The second two months of TM training provide greater opportunity for autonomy and delving into the resident's areas of interest within transfusion medicine. Teaching activities are routinely scheduled Monday through Friday, and include discussions of clinical cases at sign-out sessions, didactic sessions on specific transfusion medicine topics, and regular clinical ward rounds on patients with unusual or interesting transfusion requirements. Residents are also encouraged to attend education seminars held in the department, attend hematology/oncology rounds to follow specific consult patients with the TM fellow and faculty. Senior residents are welcome to participate in Blood Services and Transfusion Services management under the direction of the senior supervisors and medical directors. Residents at all levels of training are strongly encouraged to undertake small research projects with the support of the faculty. Residents are provided with a work area in the laboratory, which allows them to actively participate in ongoing activities and work closely with the staff. The work area is equipped with a collection of useful reference texts in transfusion medicine. The Educational Notes tab gives current residents and fellows access to educational notes, PowerPoint presentations, and journal articles for each block. Below is a list of topics in each block.