Just the Essentials for Learners Everywhere
Why I do this…
Learning blood banking/transfusion medicine can be scary! It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by facts, regulations, and intimidating words like “autoadsorption” and “elution.” You may get discouraged and feel like you are in WAY over your head.
But guess what? I’ve been right where you are, and I want to help you figure this out! I’m Joe Chaffin, and I’m a physician and teacher. For over 25 years, I’ve helped guide tens of thousands of learners just like you through the maze of details toward mastery of this field.
My mission is simple:
I teach the essentials of transfusion medicine to learners everywhere.
Is This Site For You?
I started BBGuy.org in 1998 as a way to teach pathology residents the basics. Today, anyone who wants to learn the essentials of blood banking and transfusion medicine can use this site. My goal is to use humor, occasional irreverence, and clear communication to help you understand complex topics.
“Blood Bank Guy?”
Many years ago, I overheard attendees at courses where I was speaking ask questions like, “What time does the blood bank guy start lecturing?” or “Who is the blood bank guy again?,” and it always made me laugh. The clincher? While riding in a hotel elevator, I heard one lecture attendee who did not realize who I was ask a fellow attendee, “Why the heck are we going down to listen to the [CENSORED] blood bank guy?” After I stopped cracking up, it just made sense to christen my new site “Blood Bank Guy.”
Credentials (if you care about that kind of thing!):
- Board-certified Anatomic/Clinical Pathologist and specialist in Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine
- Transfusion Medicine lecturer, Osler Pathology Review Course, 1997-2016
- Vice President/Chief Medical Officer, LifeStream Blood Bank, San Bernardino, CA, 2014-2021
- Transfusion Medicine Educator, Loma Linda University Department of Pathology and Human Anatomy, 2018-present