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Blood Bank/Transfusion Medicine Fellowship

Fellowship Benefits & Other Information
Clinical Home
Julie Karp, MD
  • Program Director, Transfusion Medicine Fellowship
  • Blood Bank Laboratory, Therapeutic Apheresis & Blood Donation Program
  • Director, Transfusion Medicine
Angelica Vivero, MD
Assistant Director, Transfusion Medicine
Juliana Guarente, MD
Assistant Director, Transfusion Medicine
Debbie Rosen
  • Program Coordinator
  • Transfusion Medicine Fellowship
Sidney Kimmel Medical College Alumni
Support Sidney Kimmel Medical College

The Blood Bank/Transfusion Medicine Fellowship Program is a one year ACGME-accredited training program. It is supported by Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and the Penn-Jersey region of the American Red Cross located here in Philadelphia. As part of the Department of Pathology & Genomic Medicine, the fellowship program includes clinical training in Jefferson's Blood Bank Lab, Apheresis Unit, and Blood Donor Center and includes rotations at the American Red Cross laboratory, and either Children's Hospital of Philadelphia or Nemours Children's Hospital. This extensive training ensures that practical experience is gained in all areas of transfusion medicine among both adult and pediatric populations.

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital is a 957-bed acute care facility, with a full range of clinical specialties and subspecialties. Blood Bank/Transfusion Medicine consults and collaborates on a wide variety of cases across many of the subspecialties and there are clinical opportunities to collaborate with Oncology, Obstetrics, Pediatrics and more. Within the Blood Donor Center, there are appoximately 2000 collections each year which include whole blood, apheresis platelets, apheresis RBC and apheresis plasma. Approximately 30,000 transfusions and 700 apheresis procedures are also performed each year. Apheresis procedures include plasma exchange, red blood cell exchange, platelet reduction, leukoreduction, allogeneic hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) collection, allogeneic mononuclear cells (MNC) collection, research MNC collection, autologous MNC collection, and photopheresis.

For the duration of fellowship training, the Blood Bank/Transfusion Medicine fellow serves Jefferson's diverse patient population by working closely with departmental attending physicians, program directors, faculty, staff, and residents within the Pathology & Genomic Medicine Residency Program. Pathology residents rotate through Blood Bank/Transfusion Medicine on a regular basis and daily operational responsibilities are covered by the fellow and the pathology resident. The fellow also serves as the principal liaison between the Blood Bank and various clinical services regarding any transfusion issues that may arise. Mentorship and professional development are provided throughout the program and there are abundant opportunities for basic and clinical research. The program can be modified to provide individualized attention to relevant areas, preparing fellows for careers in academic and community settings.

To be considered for the Blood Bank/Transfusion Medicine Fellowship Program, applicants must:

  • have completed all prerequisite training
  • meet all Blood Bank/Transfusion Medicine Fellowship eligibility requirements set forth by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). 
  • satisfy the requirements of the State of Pennsylvania Board of Medical Licensure for fellowship appointment.

In addition, applicants must meet one of the following qualifications to be eligible to apply to the Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine Fellowship Program:

  • Must be a graduate of a medical school in the United States or Canada that is accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME).
  • Must be a graduate of an osteopathic medicine program in the United States that is accredited by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA).
  • Must be a graduate of an international medical school and meet one of the following criteria:
  • Must have a currently valid certificate from the Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) or   
  • Must have a full and unrestricted license to practice medicine in a U.S. licensing jurisdiction.
  • Must be a graduate of an international medical schools and have completed a Fifth Pathway program provided by a Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accredited medical school.

The fellowship curriculum is designed to prepare the candidate for a career in Blood Bank/Transfusion Medicine and related areas. Successful completion of TJUH's one year fellowship program provides eligibility for the American Board of Pathology's subspecialty examination in Blood Bank/Transfusion Medicine. 

Administration

  • Patient Blood Management
  • Laboratory Management
  • Proficiency Testing
  • Accreditation
  • Inspection

Donor Center

  • Donor Eligibility and Screening
  • Autologous, Directed and Volunteer Donors
  • Therapeutic Phlebotomy
  • Donor Adverse Reactions
  • Apheresis Donations
  • Double Red Cell, Platelet, Plasma Donations

Blood Processing

  • ABO and Rh
  • Antibody Screening
  • Transfusion Transmitted Disease Testing
  • Component Processing

Reference Laboratory

  • Antibody Identification
  • Transfusion Reactions
  • Extended Phenotyping
  • Molecular Testing

Tissue Typing

  • HLA Typing
  • HLA Antibody Identification
  • Paternity Testing

Consultation Concerning Clinical Transfusion Therapy

  • Compatibility Issues
  • Blood Typing Discrepancies
  • Emergency Situations
  • Blood Component Therapy
  • Platelet Refractoriness

Hemapheresis

  • Red Cell Exchange
  • Photopheresis
  • Plateletpheresis
  • Leukapheresis
  • Therapeutic Plasma Exchange
  • Stem Cell Collection
  • Autologous and Allogeneic
  • CAR-T Collection
  • Special Research Procedures

Research Project

Fellows are provided protected academic time for research. The Fellow will be required to develop a minimum of two projects that have potential for publication, at least one at Jefferson.

Blood Bank Meetings

  • Continuing Education Lectures
  • American Red Cross, AABB, and American Society for Apheresis (ASFA) Webinars
  • Multidisciplinary Transfusion Medicine Rounds (two times/week)
  • Journal Club (monthly)

Administrative Meetings

  • Transfusion Committee (quarterly)

Department Meetings

  • QA/PI Meeting (monthly)
  • Grand Rounds (monthly)

Local or National Meetings

  • American Red Cross Medical Advisory Committee (MAC) (quarterly)
  • AABB Annual Meeting
  • ASFA Annual and/or Regional Meetings

Policies & Procedures for Fellow Evaluations

Fellows are evaluated quarterly in accordance with the requirements of the Blood Bank/Transfusion Medicine Review Committee, American Board of Pathology requirements, and ACGME Institutional requirements. Evaluation methods follow the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Core Competencies and Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine milestones. They include faculty observation, patient workup, interaction with nursing, house and medical staff, and presentations. Fellows are also evaluated in technical competence, clinical competence, and professionalism.

The departmental Clinical Competency Committee ("CCC"), comprised of the Transfusion Medicine Director, Associate/Assistant Director(s), American Red Cross Physicians, and supervisory personnel at all institutions, meet to discuss fellow progress in achievement of ACGME milestones. Following the semi-annual and final CCC meetings, a summative evaluation session is held with the Program Director. All meeting summaries are maintained in the fellow's departmental personnel file. A copy of the final evaluation meeting summary is submitted to TJUH's Office of House Staff Affairs as confirmation that the fellow has met all requirements of the Blood Bank/Transfusion Medicine program and has demonstrated sufficient competence to enter practice without direct supervision.

Policies & Procedures for Program & Faculty Evaluation

Fellows evaluate faculty at all institutions. Fellow evaluations of faculty are kept anonymous by intermingling the evaluations with the evaluations submitted by Pathology Residents and Hematology/Oncology Fellows on Blood Bank rotation.

Fellows evaluate the program annually and a meeting is held to discuss results. Attendees include the Program Director, key faculty at TJUH and ARC as well as the fellow. Fellow performance and outcome assessment results are also used to evaluate the educational efficacy of the program.

The Blood Bank/Transfusion Medicine Fellowship Program begins in July to correspond with other TJUH residency and fellowship programs. Stipend amounts are released by the Office of House Staff Affairs prior to contract signing and are consistent across all TJUH fellowship subspecialties. Four weeks of vacation is included in the training year and physician liability insurance is provided and paid for by TJUH.

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