We invite you to consider the advantages of a program that will expose you to high-powered faculty members dedicated to your success, comprehensive exposure to all subspecialties, and a state-of-the-art clinical facility 

The accomplishments of our fellowship graduates demonstrate our commitment to help you develop the necessary skills to succeed in your career endeavors. The Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine Fellowship Program gives fellows a broad comprehensive background in blood banking and transfusion medicine and provides opportunities to gain experience in donor collections, infectious disease testing, immunohematology, therapeutics, progenitor cell collections, and tissue banking.

In training fellows, the Department of Pathology strives to produce excellent practitioners. We also want our fellows to learn to be good teachers and to acquire a critical and inquiring approach not only to diagnostics, but to investigating the unsolved problems of pathology. We believe at the completion of training, graduates of the University of Iowa Department of Pathology are prepared for the challenges ahead and can look forward to the fulfillment that comes from pursuing a career that fosters life-long education.

Fellowship Experience Frequently asked questions

Fellowship experience

Research/Investigators

Pathology has historically been defined by the intersection of laboratory science and clinical medicine. Each new advancement in science that has had an impact on diagnostic medicine has spawned a new area of "laboratory medicine", from the application of light microscopy to immunohistochemistry, from serology to flow cytometry, and molecular genetics. In order for a pathology department to lead, and not just follow, it must create and maintain "germinal centers" of those sciences related to human biology and pathobiology. This difficult and fragile process is called "research". It is the strength of our Pathology Department that this process has happened in the past. We are fully committed to its continuation.

Pathology Research Investigators

Opportunities for fellows

An optional second year of fellowship may be devoted to research in any of several areas under faculty mentorship.

Schedule/Rotations

Fifty weeks of hospital-based transfusion medicine and donor center training, including 2 one–week periods of offsite training in regional blood center operations and HLA.  On-site training provides daily involvement with donor center operations, RBC and platelet serology testing, and an active apheresis service providing support for all areas of our tertiary care facility including hematology, renal, cardiology and pulmonary services of internal medicine and pediatrics, as well as obstetrics, stem cell and solid organ transplant services.

Education/Conferences

Name of ConferenceFrequency
Morning ReportWeek Days
Antibody/Transfusion Reaction/Irradiated Product SignoutBi-weekly
Blood ClubWeekly
Stem Cell Transplant and Cellular Therapies Program Pre-Transplant MeetingWeekly
Clinical Pathology Morning ReportWeekly
DeGowin Blood Center Administrative Staff MeetingWeekly, as needed
Pathology Grand RoundsWeekly
Resident Didactic/PresentationWeekly
Transfusion Medicine Journal ClubMonthly
Transfusion SubcommitteeMonthly

Program accreditation

The Blood Bank/Transfusion Medicine Fellowship at University of Iowa Health Care is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Information specific to program requirements for a pathology training program may be found at the ACGME’s Pathology Residency Review Committee.