Qualifying for the SBB

[jmphil4]

Hello Blood Bank Talk! I've got a question for you (since you guys seem to know everything!). I was told awhile ago that the only way to get your SBB was to complete a CAAHEP accredited Specialist in Blood Bank Technology program. But I recently found something that said my 6 years as a full time blood banker is enough to qualify me to sit for the SBB. Is this correct?

Thanks!!

jmphil4

[LaraT23]

Yes, it is! I did not go through a school myself. I did however have to do some extra observations as we do not collect donors or do any donor testing. I could give you some more information, if you want to email me directly! Message me on BBT.

[MsDuffy]

Blood Banking, SBB(ASCP)

http://www.ascp.org/FunctionalNavigation/certification/GetCertified/SpecialistCertification.aspx

To be eligible for this examination category, an applicant must satisfy the requirements of at least one of the following routes:

Route 1: Baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college/university including biological science, chemistry and mathematics courses AND successful completion of a CAAHEP accredited Specialist in Blood Bank Technology program within the last 5 years; or

Route 2: MT/MLS(ASCP) or BB(ASCP) certification, AND a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college/university, AND three years of full time acceptable clinical laboratory experience in blood banking in the U.S., Canada or a CAP/The Joint Commission/AABB accredited laboratory within the last ten years. These three years of experience must be acquired post baccalaureate degree and be under the supervision of a pathologist (certified by the American Board of Pathology) or an appropriately board certified medical scientist; or

Route 3: Master’s or doctorate degree in Chemistry, Biology, Immunology, Immunohematology, Microbiology, Allied Health, Clinical Laboratory Sciences, or an appropriately related field, from a regionally accredited college/university AND three years of full time acceptable clinical laboratory experience in blood banking in the U.S., Canada or a CAP/The Joint Commission/AABB accredited laboratory within the last ten years. These three years of experience must be acquired post baccalaureate degree and be under the supervision of a pathologist (certified by the American Board of Pathology) or an appropriately board certified medical scientist; or

Route 4: Doctorate degree in Chemistry, Biology, Immunology, Immunohematology, Microbiology, Allied Health, Clinical Laboratory Sciences, or an appropriately related field, from a regionally accredited college/university AND two years of post-doctoral fellowship in blood banking in the U.S. or Canada within the last ten years.

Clinical Laboratory Experience

To fulfill the experience requirement for the Specialist in Blood Banking examination, you must have clinical laboratory experience within the last ten years in all of the following procedures:

Serologic Testing

• ABO and Rh Typing
  
• Antibody detection and identification
  
• Crossmatching
  
• Direct antiglobulin tests
  
• Tests for other blood group antigens
  

Routine Problem Solving

• Transfusion reactions
  
• Immune hemolytic anemias
  
• Hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN)
  
• Rh immune globulin evaluation
  

Quality Control

Quality Assurance

Laboratory Operations

Donor Collection, Processing, and Testing (Proficiency may be demonstrated thorugh performance, observation or simulation)

• Donor selection, preparation and collection
  
• Processing or confirmatory testing
  
• Component preparation for storage and administration
  

[David Saikin]

You do not have to go to SBB school - BUT, the test is made so that those who do attend will have a better chance at passing. Challenge it . . . I did. Remember, this specialty exam has the least percentage of techs passing, but look at the knowledge you will gain in studying for it. Also, some blood centers offer study courses and I think there are some on line also. good luck

[Losmeister]

my response is not so much response as it is

an addition to the originally posed question

a) of the SBB's that currently visit this forum can anyone forward an opinion on

1) the best ONLINE program available and 2) the best work/study program??

I have been thinking of taking this trun in my career

currently I am licensed in California as a Clinical Immunohematologist

and working at http://www.bbr.org/

any and all info would be immensely appreciated!

[ckcheng]

There are several ways to do it. Read MsDuffy's post to see if you are already qualified to take the SBB(ASCP) exam.

If the answer is yes, then you can

(1) do it by yourself, or

(2) join a review course (gulf coast regional blood center or Volaris) before the exam, or

(3) join an on-line review program (George Washington Univ).

If the answer if no, then I am afraid you need to go to an SBB school (either on-line or on-site). It takes one to two years.

Also, I suggest you go to the AABB Meeting to attend the lecture BB/SBB Examination Review: Where Do I Begin? A nice presentation to give you information how to prepare the SBB exam.

Hope that helps.

CK Cheng, MSc, SBB(ASCP), CQA(ASQ)

Oct 15

[jmphil4]

Thanks everyone for your responses!! I'm now in the process of contacting a local donor center for observation and looking for great study materials.

jmphil4

[QCDan]

Just to add to this, ask your medical director if he/she is willing to help you out with study material. At the University Hospital where I work the medical director was kind enough to take us through the same material/coursework that the residents go through in order to prepare for their board examination. That along with a lot of studying on your on will have you on your way to an SBB.

[COTTONBALL]

Hi jmphil4, I did not attend SBB school and passed the exam on first try, yesterday. However, I attended the SBB weekend review in Houston, studied the Technical manual, Standards, Denise Harmening's 15th ed. from cover to cover, and stayed plugged-in to this site. There is a lot of education material at this site. The questions on the exam are not Blood Bank 101 so you really need to know what to study.

I was happy to see a question about the GATA-1 mutation and the Duffy system (I got that one). But with another question, knowing aspirin inactivates platelets was not enough, they wanted to know the exact mechanism- COX....

If you have serious study habits and time, and know what to study/learn, you can do it. I strongly recommend attending the Review in Houston. It covered a lot of material and it is a very good start.

[Eagle Eye]

if you want to join on line program, AABB site has list of on site and on line programs. I know the one offered @ Rush University(formerly @ UIC) is very good but keep in mind you need to study very hard other wise none of the program will help. I know students who did not pass their SBB even though they went through program.

So basically it's up to you..

[clmergen]

I did the online program through Florida blood services. I needed the schedule of modules and tests to keep me on track. Quite a few of the programs share the same materials online. If you decide to do the formal online route, I think Amy of the AABB listed programs will be good ( AABB inspects them all).

[Johnv]

Consider attending an SBB program. There maybe a tuition requirement depending on the program but what you would gain is well worth it. NIH has a very competitive program as well as a number of other major institutions. The clinical component and research-based investigations are critical for your training. The goal is to develop the person into a valuable colleague on the Transfusion Medicine team.

[Eagle Eye]

I fully agree with Johnv. The amount of knoweldge you will get with SBB program is not same you would get it after passing SBB on your own...I am not talking about all of you have been in field for 20-30 yrs and in supervisory position where you are involved with day to day transfusion service/blood bank activities. I strongly think that if you are not in supervisory position, you really need to go through SBB program.

I do not think I would have gained same amount of knoweldge by just taking exam with my <10 yrs experience.

[jmphil4]

I'd love to attend a program, unfortunately it's not in the finances right now.

I've been searching through some old post to see what others have recommended as study aids and one thing I've not been able to find is the 'Passing the 1st Time' book (and flash card set) sold by Volaris. I've tried to contact the company and as far as I can tell, they're completely unreachable. Has anyone here purchased anything from them recently, or have another email/number to reach them at? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

jmphil4

[COTTONBALL]

I fully agree with Johnv. The amount of knoweldge you will get with SBB program is not same you would get it after passing SBB on your own...I am not talking about all of you have been in field for 20-30 yrs and in supervisory position where you are involved with day to day transfusion service/blood bank activities. I strongly think that if you are not in supervisory position, you really need to go through SBB program.

I do not think I would have gained same amount of knoweldge by just taking exam with my <10 yrs experience.

aakupaku, you are probably correct. If I were new to the business, there would be no mad rush to SBB certification and I probably would have gone to SBB school. Also, there is no subsitute for Hospital and Reference lab experience(s). As you stated, 20 years plus Lead/Supervisory experience(s), we have seen quite a bit, and still growing.

[Eagle Eye]

I wanted to get SBB after I strated working in BB ...only ~1.5 yrs and so was not elgiable to take the exam without going through the program.

[rennijohn]

Thanks for all the information given by you all. It is really very good and interesting information and it is very useful as well.

[nsfirm]

what is sbb? is it possible for someone from outside of us to get it?

[student101]

On 10/15/2010 at 1:23 PM, jmphil4 said:

Thanks everyone for your responses!! I'm now in the process of contacting a local donor center for observation and looking for great study materials.

jmphil4

Any updates about the observation? 

[Cliff]

@student101, you've commented on a couple of older posts, which is fine; however, the original posters may no longer be available.

I suggest two things. 

First, for the person / people you hope to get a response from, type the @ symbol immediately followed by their username, then select them from the dropdown.  That's called a Mention, and if their notifications are set up to receive email notifications, they might return and respond.

Second, you may be better off starting your own SBB post.

[student101]

On 10/13/2010 at 9:32 PM, LaraT23 said:

Yes, it is! I did not go through a school myself. I did however have to do some extra observations as we do not collect donors or do any donor testing. I could give you some more information, if you want to email me directly! Message me on BBT.

Hi @LaraT23! I would love to get more information about the extra observations. Any information would be greatly appreciated:)

Edited March 1 by student101