How do we teach blood donor center operations without a blood donor center?

It is increasingly difficult to maintain a hospital-based blood donor center. Cost pressures, shifting healthcare priorities, and a dwindling donor base have shifted blood collection toward larger economies of scale achieved by larger blood suppliers. Many transfusion medicine fellowships are within healthcare systems without a dedicated donor center. Yet, the management of blood donors and a blood product collection program is essential knowledge for transfusion medicine professionals. We describe an approach to teaching blood donor center operations and management in a fellowship without direct access to a donor center.

We developed five workshops, each approximately 45 min in duration to address key donor center-related American College of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competency milestones. Fellows received an email with the upcoming workshop's scenarios approximately 2 weeks prior to each session.

Workshops were conducted virtually and attended by two to three transfusion medicine fellowship-trained physicians, all with prior experience as medical directors of blood donor centers, in addition to the fellow. During each session, the fellow discussed their responses, referencing applicable regulations and relevant literature to support their reasoning. The sessions were informal, encouraging open dialogue and questions. Facilitators supplemented discussions with anecdotal experiences. Facilitators provided feedback on communication style, practical tips, and common pitfalls to avoid.

Not having a blood donor center poses a challenge for transfusion medicine fellowships. However, this challenge can be overcome with the implementation of simulation workshops.