Fellow - Transfusion Medicine

**Fellowship Programme in Transfusion Medicine at Tata Medical Center**

Conceptualized in the year 2004 as a philanthropic initiative for the Eastern and North-Eastern
parts of India and the neighboring countries, the Tata Medical Center (TMC) started operations in
Kolkata on May 16, 2011. The hospital is governed by a charitable trust - Tata Medical Centre Trust.
It is an integrated Oncology facility with well-trained professional staff and equipped with modern
facilities and the most contemporary medical equipment. The hospital was designed by Cannon
Design, a renowned architectural firm from North America. It is located on 13 acres of land at New
Town in Kolkata, West Bengal.

The hospital is an integrated Oncology facility with well-trained professional staff and equipped

with modern facilities and contemporary medical equipment. The Hospital, with a capacity of 437

beds, serves all sections of the society, with 75% of the infrastructure earmarked for subsidized

treatment for the underprivileged sections. It provides a wide spectrum of services from diagnosis

and therapy to rehabilitation and palliative support. The Institution’s objective is to excel in service,

education and research.

The Tata Medical Center Blood bank is a licensed blood bank and is one of the few NABH accredited

blood banks in the country. The Blood Bank is committed to high standards in transfusion practice

and provides quality blood components at an affordable cost. Whole blood and aphaeresis units are

collected from regular voluntary non-remunerated blood donors and replacement blood donors

from low-risk populations. Rational use of blood components is practiced. Continuous

improvement of all aspects of the transfusion chain is undertaken by internal audits, external

quality assurance programs, periodic reviews and trainings. Many cancer patients during their

course of treatment are transfusion dependent and also require modified blood products. The

special needs of such patients are addressed by using sophisticated techniques (like blood

irradiation and leuco-depletion) and other modern equipment. The department has a Blood

irradiator which modifies the blood products to minimize adverse transfusion effects and makes it

suitable for transfusion of immuno-compromised cancer patients. On the academic front, the

department has organised CMEs, workshops and also jointly organised National conferences. The

faculty and fellows have made presentations in national and international meetings and have

several scientific publications to their credit.

**Duration**:_ _**Two years**_ _**

**Eligibility criteria**:
M.D. Transfusion Medicine / M.D Pathology / DNB Transfusion Medicine

**Responsibilities**:
These include laboratory, clinical and management responsibilities as detailed below. In
addition, call duties for emergencies, holidays and weekends will have to be performed.

**1. Laboratory**:
This would involve rotation in the various departmental areas - Donor recruitment, blood
collection, component preparation, TTI testing, imunohematology and apheresis. Supervision
of the various processes, tests performed and their reporting.

**2. Clinical**:
The post holder would be expected to interact with clinical colleagues regarding suspected
transfusion reactions and safe transfusion practices, and respond to telephonic queries on
these issues. Work-up and laboratory evaluation of incompatible crossmatch, hemo-oncology
patients, BMT patients and patients with suspected transfusion reactions.

**3. Management responsibilities**:
The post holder would be expected write / help other laboratory staff to write standard
operating procedures, drafting policy documents, carrying out external Quality control and
timely audit. Participation in equipment calibration, maintenance, and quality control activities
is also expected.

**Academic responsibilities**:
**1. Journal Clubs and Seminars**:The post holder would be expected to attend / present
seminars and findings from recent scientific publications, in departmental and allied speciality
meetings.

**2. Audit and Research**:The post holder would be expected to be involved in laboratory work,
present papers in scientific conferences, and write articles for publication in indexed journals.

**3. Teaching**:The post holder would be expected to teach clinical, laboratory, and nursing staff,
as and when required.

**Expected rotations / work schema**

**First year**:
After completing initial 6 months in department of Transfusion Medicine; the Fellow will rotate
as:
Laboratory Haematology - 1 month
Microbiology - 1 month
HLA laboratory - 2 months
BMT- PBSC collection - 2 months

**Second year**:
Transfusion Medicine - 6 months
Clinical Haematology - 1 month
BMT - 3 months
Other centres in India (optional) - 2 months
and laboratory needs.

**Evaluation**:
Evaluation and assessment would be workplace based assessment.
The post holder is expected

Mr. Suvasish Mukherjee, Head-Human Re