Transfusion Medicine Rotations for Pathology Residents: Structure, Resources, and Milestones.

Abstract

Transfusion medicine can be a challenging subject to teach to pathology residents while also ensuring that all the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education's (ACGME's) milestones are met. To explore how one major academic residency program has structured its transfusion medicine rotation. The residents on the pathology rotation have very defined roles for their day-to-day responsibilities. Many new resources have been developed during the past 3 years to improve the residents' educational experience on their transfusion medicine rotation. A daily patient list is used to direct the residents' educational and service responsibilities. They also have numerous resources to help with independent study and reading during their rotation. The implementation of several new resources has greatly improved the residents' educational experience and has improved the overall evaluation of the rotation by the residents. Many of the ACGME milestones can be met by the structure of this rotation. With the proper structure and resources, transfusion medicine can be effectively taught to all pathology residents while also meeting the ACGME milestones requirements.