Transfusion Medicine Fellowship

The program is a one-year integrated, comprehensive training program addressing all aspects of Transfusion Medicine (TM). The program prepares trainees for careers in academic Transfusion Medicine, direction of a major transfusion service and/or operation of a regional blood collection-processing facility. The program is funded by the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics and utilizes the facilities of University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics (UWHC), American Red Cross (ARC) Blood Services-Badger-Hawkeye Region, the Wm. S. Middleton Memorial VA Hospital, and Meriter/Park, a large nearby community hospital. Training progresses in a logical manner, from fundamental TM concepts to applied TM, with increasing clinical and administrative training and responsibility throughout the fellowship period. A reading/study program is provided in each area and includes regular discussion sessions with program mentors. Opportunities for involvement in a research project are available and are encouraged. On completion of this program and other standard requirements, the fellow will be eligible to write the sub-specialty examination in Blood Banking of the American Board of Pathology.

PROGRAMS OFFERED

The University of Wisconsin Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine invites applicants for a 1-year ACGME accredited fellowship in Blood Banking and Transfusion Medicine. The UW hospital campus includes one of the largest renal transplant programs in the nation, a level-1 trauma service, the only NCI-Designated Cancer Center in the state, and the adjacent American Family Children’s Hospital. The transfusion service provides over 30,000 blood products and over 650 therapeutic apheresis procedures per year including plasmapheresis, photopheresis, and red blood cell exchange. Our training partner and robust supplier, the American Red Cross (ARC) Badger Chapter, is three miles away and offers the fellow experience in community blood banking as well as specialty services such as HLA platelet matching and immunohematology reference laboratory experience.

TYPES AND NUMBERS OF APPOINTMENTS

One fellow per year is accepted.

CURRICULUM

The graduate of our fellowship will be well-prepared for academic transfusion medicine practice and/or blood center medical directorship. About 25% (i.e. every 4th week) of the fellowship is dedicated to research and projects. Roughly 20% is spent at ARC. The fellow is on call from home 20 weeks and provides support to the pathology resident. Off-hours calls and procedures are not burdensome. In addition to regular dedicated research time and mentoring throughout the fellowship, an optional second year research fellowship is also available. Sample projects within the division include red blood cell genetics and storage, new in-vivo tracer methodologies, and clinical trials in thrombotic microangiopathies. As part of one of the nation’s top 10 public universities, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health is one of the nation’s leading research institutions. Thus, dozens of research opportunities are available both in and outside the department of pathology.

COMMUNITY

Madison is consistently ranked as one of the best places to live in the US, as it combines the livability and family-friendliness of a smaller city with the cultural opportunities of a large college town in a friendly and high work-ethic Midwest setting. Highlights include UW-Madison, the adjacent Lake Mendota and Lake Monona, the state capitol, Overture Center for the Arts, and nearby Epic Systems software. Dane County airport is about 7 miles and a 20 minute drive from the hospital. Milwaukee is about 80 miles to the east, and Chicago is about 150 miles to the southeast.

PEER-REVIEW ARTICLES IN TRANSFUSION MEDICINE PUBLISHED BY RECENT FELLOWS

Hartman WR, Hess AS, Connor JP. Hospitalized COVID-19 patients treated with Convalescent Plasma in a mid-size city in the midwest. Translational medicine communications. 2020 Dec;5(1):1-6.

Hartman WR, Hess AS, Connor JP. Unusual Cardiac Presentation of COVID-19 and Use of Convalescent Plasma. Case Reports in Cardiology. 2020 Oct 2;2020.

Hartman WR, Hess AS, Connor JP. Persistent viral RNA shedding after COVID‐19 symptom resolution in older convalescent plasma donors. Transfusion. 2020 Oct;60(10):2189-91.

Robbins DJ, Taylor NE, Narayanan D, Hess AS, Rose WN. Therapeutic plasma exchange for exogenous insulin antibody syndrome in combined variable immunodeficiency: a case report. Journal of clinical apheresis. 2020 Apr;35(2):128-30.

Hess AS, Hess JR, Coursin DB. Should Fibrinogen Concentrate Replace Cryoprecipitate in Cardiac Surgery?. Jama. 2019 Nov 26;322(20):1958-60.

Hess AS, Ramamoorthy J, Connor J, Raife T, Hess JR. Stored platelet number and viscoelastic maximum amplitude are not altered by warming or rapid infusion. Transfusion. 2019 Sep;59(9):2997-3001.

Taylor L, Condon T, Destrampe EM, Brown JA, McGavic J, Gould CV, Chambers TV, Kosoy OI, Burkhalter KL, Annambhotla P, Basavaraju SV. Powassan virus infection likely acquired through blood transfusion presenting as encephalitis in a kidney transplant recipient. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2021 Mar 15;72(6):1051-4.

Zarinshenas R, Destrampe E, Rose WN. Plasmapheresis for the Treatment of Iatrogenic Antithrombin Excess as a Result of Spuriously Low Antithrombin Activity Measurements. Case Reports in Critical Care. 2020 May 8;2020.

Kasim J, Aldarweesh F, Connor JP. Blood product and laboratory resource wastage in non‐severe allergic transfusion reactions: an opportunity for improvement. Transfusion Medicine. 2019 Oct;29(5):338-43.

Aldarweesh F, Schaser K, Weiss J, Connor J. Impact of the hematocrit value of the blood prime unit on patient hematocrit values after therapeutic plasma exchange in children weighing 10 kg or less. Journal of clinical apheresis. 2019 Aug;34(4):499-502.

Aldarweesh F, Rose WN. Transfusion Medicine Education for Anesthesiology Residents: A Novel Curriculum. Academic pathology. 2019 Jun 13;6:2374289519855729.

Connor JP, O’Shea A, McCool K, Sampene E, Barroilhet LM. Peri-operative allogeneic blood transfusion is associated with poor overall survival in advanced epithelial ovarian Cancer; potential impact of patient blood management on Cancer outcomes. Gynecologic oncology. 2018 Nov 1;151(2):294-8.

Connor JP, Raife T, Medow JE, Ehlenfeldt BD, Sipsma K. The blood utilization calculator, a target‐based electronic decision support algorithm, increases the use of single‐unit transfusions in a large academic medical center. Transfusion. 2018 Jul;58(7):1689-96.

Connor JP, Raife T, Medow JE. Outcomes of red blood cell transfusions prescribed in organ donors by the Digital Intern, an electronic decision support algorithm. Transfusion. 2018 Feb;58(2):366-71.

Connor JP, Cunningham AM, Raife T, Rose WN, Medow JE. Standardization of transfusion practice in organ donors using the Digital Intern, an electronic decision support algorithm. Transfusion. 2017 Jun;57(6):1369-75.

Openings
Academic Year Status
2024-2025 Filled
2025-2026 Open and accepting applications
2026-2027 Open and accepting applications
Requirements

Applicants should fulfill the prerequisites for subspecialty certification as defined by the American Board of Pathology (ABP). For example, certification/eligibility in CP, AP/CP, or another ABMS board as defined by the ABP (e.g. internal medicine, anesthesiology, OB/GYN, pediatrics, etc).

Stipends

Commensurate with year of training. There is an $850 professional funds allowance, and $1500 for travel to attend a conference or national meeting.

Application

Standard Application.pdf

Send cover letter with application, personal statement, CV and three letters of recommendation to:

Nick Rose, MD
Director of Transfusion Medicine Fellowship
C/O hr@pathology.wisc.edu
University of Wisconsin Hospital & Clinics
3170-10N MFCB
1685 Highland Ave
Madison, WI 53705

Director

Nick Rose, MD
wrose@uwhealth.org
(608) 263-7508

Fellows