Sbb questions

[phan,binh]

Hi everybody

i am in the SBB program , i have been reading threads in Path Lab Talk for a couple of months(7-8) and i find it very interesting.

i just have some questions for those who already passed the Sbb and those who are taking it:

- i don't know how to ''do" a research project. i don't have anybody who can help me (even though i have a mentor) , what to do to start , what i need..

-i would like to know if a person (like me)who never works in a reference lab can pass a SBB (even i have a background in BB, and also work in BB but do not deal much with panels,,,)

i study hard but i don't know if i can make it.

Please give me some advice.i really appreciate.

thanks

shirleybjp

[tgambill]

If you are in the SBB program, I imagine you are with the Gulf Coast one, then you will do well on the exam. As for a research project, talk to your program director who can give you some ideas. Try to come up with something that would apply to your facility. Talk to your pathologist and see if he/she has any ideas that might help you. I know the program is not easy, but study hard. I did it 2 years ago and am so glad I did (even gladder that it is now done, lol). Good luck

[heathervaught]

I passed the SBB without ever working in a reference laboratory (without working in a transfusion service, either...SBBs come from many paths, and mine is via Blood Center experience). Fortunately, I was able to work with a wonderful person in my reference lab who was willing to take me under her wing and make me work on the difficult samples (recently transfused, positive DAT, warm auto with underlying allos) until I got it right. And it was not about just knowing how to get the right answer, but why it was the right answer and why all of the other answers were wrong.

I also used these forums while I was studying...even when I didn't respond to a post, I read everyone's answers and learned something from their experience (especially Malcom, who seems to have encountered just about everything).

The research project is something that EVERYONE struggles with. I would recommend reading some articles in Transfusion to get a feel for the format (abstract, background, methods, results, discussion). In the front of the journal, they usually have at least one editorial that discusses an article, whawt other literature has to say about the subject, and what studies still need to be done to gather more information. Work with your program coordinator to identify potential topics, then work with your mentor to narrow them down to something that is relevant at your facility.

Good luck!

[AMcCord]

Heather has offered excellent advice. Yes, you can pass the SBB!

My background is all from a hospital transfusion service at a smaller rural facility (189 beds) with MT training (long ago and far away) in the big city. I took a 120 hour review course that was offered locally through our university med center and the ARC. It was four 3-day weekend classroom sessions spaced over 1 year. The review course helped me direct my studies. During that year of review, I studied every single day, usually 2 hours minimum.

Heather is correct in saying that it is just as important to know why an answer is incorrect, as to know the correct answer. In the course of studying, if you come across something you are not familiar with, no matter how obscure it seems, make sure that you look it up and study that. If you have only had experience in the transfusion service, see if you can spend time, even if only for a few days, with a donor service. And vice versa. You will find that doing that will pay off in correctly answered questions.

I passed. You can, too. Good luck!

Edited September 15, 2011 by AMcCord

[Mabel Adams]

I am always posting on this site "this would be a good SBB project" but I can't remember now what any of them were. You might try searching for "SBB project" and see if any of the ideas have merit. Otherwise, maybe it is time to prove some of the things we all "know" that no one ever proved. Does it affect the antibody screen results to use a wooden applicator stick in the specimen? Does running a K+ sample through the Coulter right before a sample containing anti-K ever reduce the titer of the antibody in the second sample due to carryover in the Coulter sampling probe? How about anti-E or S? Wouldn't take much antigen to absorb out some antibody. Does it affect Fetalscreen results if you spin the sample down and don't thoroughly remix it? After all, reticulocytes have a different density and might end up in the top layer of the cells rather than evenly dispersed throughout the cell layer. Of course, you would have to have multiple positive FESC samples to test this so you would have to invent them. You would want to use fresh baby cells so they are at the same age as the retics in a regular specimen. Or maybe you could test whether PRBC units really stay less than 10 degrees sitting on the counter for 30 minutes. How about 30 min. in a pneumatic tube canister?

If you do any of these, please post the results here--or at least the link to the publication.

I studied alone for the SBB exam and spent time at the blood center to learn HLA and the donor side and I managed to pass. I had only worked at a transfusion service that served about 180 beds. You will do great!

[clmergen]

As for "how to do a research project", I google it. I did do small research projects in high school and college but that was so long ago. I found some good information on how to write them, etc. You could probably find an book on the process also. And I was with the Florida Blood Services SBB program. They gave a lot of good advice on the project and how to improve it as I turned in sections at a time.

The programs are so good that you will do well on the exam. Know the objectives that they give you, study well, and review the "remembered questions' if you get a copy of them. You will do well as they programs are very good.

[LaraT23]

I supervise a transfusion service in a 125 bed hospital, did not go through a formal school and passed with flying colors. I did have to get some more observation time at my supplier donor center. As for research project, there are tons. If you want to do something technical, molecular is the up and coming thing. There are differences in the results of this testing over traditional serology. If not technical, blood utilization, validation processes, Quality management...

You will do fine, I am sure!