CSTM Virtual Education – July 2024

CSTM Virtual Education – July 2024
It’s Summer, Baby
 
The CSTM Board revised the Education Subcommittee Terms of Reference in 2023 to focus on the provision of virtual education sessions. This blog series seeks to highlight both the Education Subcommittee and the various virtual events hosted throughout the year. For information on upcoming and past virtual evens, check out the CSTM Virtual Education Days webpage.
Author: Diana Kobes, MLT

Virtual Education – It’s summer, baby

This education event was held on July 17, 2024. We had over 180 attendees of which 10 – 15 took advantage of the French translation option. This is an amazing response for the middle of summer! We had the usual attendee demographics with mostly laboratory professionals, but also included other clinical professionals such as nurses and physicians. The live polls have become a staple of the virtual events keeping presentations interactive and getting attendees thinking about what was to come – noting that most attendees were on their A game by acing nearly all the questions this time.

Our first presentation was by Dr. Nadine Shehata. She gave us a talk on intrauterine transfusions (IUT) of red cells, and she also discussed the effect of alloantibodies on mom and fetal care. There are many reasons for an IUT beyond maternal alloimmunization. Some of which were surprising…you’ll have to check out the list. Alternatives to IUT are being studied. Providing the pregnant patient with IVIG improves outcomes, but the really big one is a new drug, Nipocalimab. This is monoclonal antibody which is currently being studied and shows promising improvements.

The second presentation was from Rebecca Randall, who is a laboratory technologist working in BC. She worked through a case study of a woman who had an unresolved antibody. The case was sent to CBS, and with some crazy correlation with a previous blood donation by this woman, it was determined that she was a Para-Bombay blood type. Rebecca discussed how her health authority reacted to this information, how they prepared, and how they made some changes in their procedures to ensure a better dissemination of information in the future for high-risk antenatal patients. The PowerPoint has lots of adorable baby/toddler pictures to bring up the cuteness factor.

A live question and answers period was held for both speakers. Overall, an informative, enjoyable event.

On the Virtual Horizon

The Education Subcommittee has started the planning for our next event on October 30, 2024. If you are interested in speaking about a specific topic or want to join the Subcommittee, reach out via [email protected]