BloodTechNet brings great ideas to life

Through the BloodTechNet competition, Canadian Blood Services funds innovative projects aimed at delivering educational tools and resources that support the development of skills, knowledge, and expertise of health professionals in the transfusion, cellular therapy, and transplantation communities in Canada.

Since 2011, many excellent projects have come to life thanks to this program, which also receives support from Grifols. A few shining examples, described below, include the Stem Cell Club, Transfusion Confusion and TransfusionQuest. 

Links to BloodTechNet educational resources can be found on the Professional Education website.

Sample projects

In 2015 and 2016, Dr. Warren Fingrut received funding for Stem Cell Club. The Stem Cell Club, which equips medical and nursing students with skills to become health advocates for patients in need of stem cell transplants, is developing a national evidence-based volunteer training program.

The Stem Cell Club is at 18 campuses across Canada! The training program for stem cell drive volunteers, leaders and organizers includes four online modules, six videos and a workshop. To date, over 500 students across Canada have completed training and are busy recruiting for OneMatch. 

Transfusion Confusion, funded in 2015, is a learning module developed to introduce concepts of pretransfusion testing and transfusion practice and to explore concepts of interprofessional collaboration. The program involved recording short videos and photographing various aspects of the pretransfusion process. It also integrated existing resources and provided access to discussion forums where trainees can talk about issues or ask for clarification. Developed for the University of Alberta, opportunities to expand the program are being explored.

A web-based transfusion trivia game, Transfusion Quest, was designed to promote a fun and unique learning opportunity for technologists across Canada. It was one of the first projects funded by BloodTechNet in 2011. Fulfilling the obvious requirements of being “Blood”, “Tech”, and “Net” related, the game was a natural fit.

About BloodTechNet
The BloodTechNet Learning Fund was launched in 2011. The BloodTechNet Competition, with support from Grifols, facilitates the development of innovative educational projects that support the Transfusion, Cellular Therapy and Transplantation communities in Canada. This year’s BloodTechNet competition closes February 24, 2017.