Filling a Gap in Transfusion Medicine Education and Research

After the outbreak of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, attention was focused on the restructuring and reorganization of nationally supported safe and sustainable blood supply systems. Networking and human capacity building in transfusion medicine were developed through World Health Organization initiatives. Educational materials were created for the core elements of the blood transfusion chain. However, the management aspects of transfusion medicine as well as applied health science research in transfusion medicine were not addressed. In 2000, the World Health Organization initiated the creation of the Academic Institute for International Development of Transfusion Medicine (IDTM). This would focus on the development of a postgraduate master's course in management of transfusion medicine (MMTM) and the development of research programs for transfusion medicine–related health sciences. The Academic Institute IDTM was created at the University of Groningen Faculty of Medical Sciences, The Netherlands. The MMTM course was thus established, and since September 2007 fourteen fellows from economically restricted countries have entered the course.