gms | German Medical Science

Background: The medical specialty “Blood Group Serology and Transfusion Medicine” (BGS-TFM) deserves general awareness and representation in medical curricula: it has high relevance for a major proportion of patients, especially regarding pretransfusion testing and multiple aspects of hemotherapy.

Design: At the Medical University of Vienna, 640 undergraduate medical students are educated per year. The current teaching and learning modalities of BGS-TFM related issues in the integrated Medical Curriculum Vienna are presented.

Results: Based on defined learning objectives, BGS-TFM-specific teaching starts in the fourth semester: in the main BGS lecture (two academic hours; ah), an introduction into immunohematology is given. Here, key aspects are blood group systems and antigens, allo- and autoimmunization against red cells, as well as the principles of blood group typing, antibody detection and compatibility testing. In parallel, the TFM lecture (2ah) details characteristics of selected blood products and highlights the basics of red cell, platelet and plasma transfusion therapy. In addition, the most important transfusion-related side effects are discussed. Both lectures are complemented by learning material provided online, and are assessed by multiple choice questions at the end of the semester. This theoretical input is followed by recently reformed hands-on courses on BGS in the fifth semester: during 2ah, each student is required to perform serological ABO and RhD typing, red cell antibody screening and cross-matching under careful tutorial supervision. All individual laboratory results have to be recorded on a work sheet to train clinical documentation. A step-by-step online paper aids in preparation of this practical course. Industry sponsoring of laboratory materials was recently introduced to provide sufficient course equipment. The successful implementation of this module is shown by convincing evaluation results. Finally, in the seventh semester, a course on TFM (2ah) covers correct indications and practice of transfusion therapy and the bedside test. Further teaching activities include elective seminars on immunohematology and clinical TFM, aside from continuous supervision of diploma theses.

Discussion: Important BGS-TFM areas, such as prenatal testing for maternofetal incompatibility or transplant immunology, are not yet sufficiently covered within the curriculum. Aside from this, adequate student assessment (e.g., OSCE) needs to be further developed. Moreover, a future goal is standardization of format and contents of BGS-TFM at different medical schools in Austria.