Transfusion medicine education for non-transfusion medicine physicians: a structured review.

As transfusion is a commonly identified overused intervention, there is a clear gap between evidence-based and clinical practice. To close this gap, there is not only a need for increased transfusion medicine educational opportunities but for those using structured and proven instructional methods. Kern and colleagues have defined important steps to be considered in curricular design: general needs assessment; targeted needs assessment; goals and objectives; educational strategies; implementation; and evaluation and feedback. We use this framework to examine the current state of transfusion medicine educational initiatives for the non-transfusion medicine physician.