Transfusion medicine elective

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Mr. Plow

Mr. Plow

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Hey y'all. I noticed the Optho's were one thread ahead of us and couldn't allow that to persist much longer. I will be taking a short elective in transfusion medicine this coming summer (my first MS4 elective, woo hoo). Any advice on what text(s) are helpful/hints to do well in the elective? Thanks as always.
 
I did a transfusion rotation at the beginning of my fourth year too... culminating in my decision to do AP only. 🙂 I didn't read anything in particular for the blood banking part; it's pretty basic stuff and you'll catch on right away. There are a couple of articles in NEJM, I think it was in 1999, on transfusion medicine that were decent.

If your rotation includes coagulation like mine did, the November 2001 issue of Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine is devoted to consensus guidelines on thrombophilia testing, and I found it useful. Honestly, though, you don't need to read anything. Showing interest will be more than what most of the residents do, and if you pay attention, you'll pick up everything you need to know in a few days. There will also be books for the residents that you can flip through during your (extensive) downtime, and the attendings will probably give you some articles read.

Although I found it really boring, I don't think it's a bad idea to try out CP before starting residency. At least now I know it's not my thing, and I won't waste residency time on it before switching to AP only.
 
But, remember if you go AP only you limit your employment options.

Private practice groups want AP/CP board certified folks.

Academics is fine with AP only, but it may hurt your longterm career plans if you want to become chairman of the whole department.
 
Mr. Plow said:
Hey y'all. I noticed the Optho's were one thread ahead of us and couldn't allow that to persist much longer. I will be taking a short elective in transfusion medicine this coming summer (my first MS4 elective, woo hoo). Any advice on what text(s) are helpful/hints to do well in the elective? Thanks as always.
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Hey Mr Plow, I like your signature! 😉

Transfusion medicine (and blood banking) is the part of my residency I kind of wish I could skip, but as I have decided on doing ye-olde combined pathology residency, I can't very well decide on not doing transfusion med. From what the residents I have talked to tell me about CP, don't worry about preparing. They teach you what you need to know early on, and the experience of it all will teach you what you need to then study.
 
I actually like the idea of the CP side of the residency. I am probably in the minority but transfusion med and micro kinda interests me. A break from the grossing room will probably be good from time to time...I imagine its kind of like covering the nursery in a peds residency or covering the clinic for medicine. A break from the typical schedule and (in my opinion) exposure to some interesting aspects of medicine will make the residency experience more valuable in the long run.

Quick question...is hematopathology covered during AP or CP rotations? For some reason I get conflicting info. Maybe different programs categarize it differently?
 
I've seen hemepath as either AP or CP, but far more often CP. Programs seem to do this to allow more time for their residents to spend on AP. The CP 12-month core is pretty common: 3 months each of hemepath, transfusion, chemistry and micro. Programs have varying ways of fufilling the last 6 months of required CP rotations (including working in a lab, molecular diagnostics, immunology, independent study in some area of CP, a 3-month coagulation rotation in one place, etc.). However, residents on AP only tracks also do hemepath, although not always 3 full months of it. I like hemepath and will try to get in 3 months; it seems far more like an AP rotation than CP to me, and heme/lymph node issues come up all the time in general surg path specimens.
 
While hemepath has a considerable overlap between AP and CP, it is considered a CP field (by most including the ABP).
 
I have to hand it to BCMD, he's got a great pathology resource website that I have found quite useful on a number of occasions. Make sure to check it out if you haven't already.

Here's the link: http://www.pathdoc.blogspot.com

Anyhow, as my title suggests, there exists an informative (and entertaining) website that I initially found on BCMD's site. It's called "The Blood Bank Guy" and contains information pertaining to the fine art of transfusion medicine including FAQs, references to classic literature, and education material.

Here's the link: http://www.bbguy.org/index.htm

Check it out.
 
Agreed, BCMD has a great website and can be a nice resource for us would be pathologists. 👍 I will have to keep the blood bank guy link handy, could be useful in the future thanks mr. plow!
 
Hey guys, thanks for the props on the site. I haven't done much with it lately as you may have noticed. I'm getting married soon and moving so things have been a little busy. With such a positive response, though, I'll try to keep updating it with new tidbits on information. Thanks again!
 
BCMD said:
Hey guys, thanks for the props on the site. I haven't done much with it lately as you may have noticed. I'm getting married soon and moving so things have been a little busy. With such a positive response, though, I'll try to keep updating it with new tidbits on information. Thanks again!
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Congratulations! 🙂
 
Thanks! It's busy but exciting at the same time.
 
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