As the number of transfusions rapidly increased after World War II, the U.S. faced a shortage of qualified workers. When Israel Davidsohn became president-elect of the AABB in 1951, he was already president of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, and he used his dual role to bring the two groups together in establishing blood bank training and certification programs. From this came a certification examination for ASCP-registered medical technologists, for which AABB provided “suitable questions” as well as blood samples and other materials. The first blood bank certification exam was given October 29, 1954 to 110 applicants at 13 locations across the U.S., each location overseen by a selected expert. The largest group, in Kansas City, Kansas had 22 applicants, directed by Dr. Lee Leger. The smallest was in Phoenix, with just one applicant. The exam, which was “designed to eliminate the incompetents”, included a written portion with 203 true/false and multiple-choice questions, followed by a practical portion in which applicants had to draw blood, perform ABO and Rh typing, crossmatching and antibody titration. The exam took more than 10 hours to complete and although some locations finished in a single day, others had to extend the testing into a second day. Of the written questions, only 124 were graded, the rest being considered poorly written, too ambiguous or unanswerable. The biggest stumbling blocks of the practical portion were the antiglobulin test and the titrations. An acceptable grade was 80%, and 97 of the 110 passed, only one person getting a perfect score. Over the years the blood bank certification exam changed, but generally continued to have written and practical portions – the latter mailed to the applicants own laboratory. Those who passed the exam were designated MT(ASCP)BB. In 1974, the title was upgraded to Specialist in Blood Banking, with the designation MT(ASCP)SBB – or SBB(ASCP) for those not registered as a medical technologist by ASCP. Former “BBs” wanting to get certificates with the newer SBB designation could do so for a $5 fee. The SBB exam continued, but the practical portion was dropped. In 1983, a new, more basic certification – also called “BB” ‒ was instituted as “categorical certification” while the more advanced SBB specialist level continued.
Posted on: Sun, 15 Sep 2013 12:48:52 +0000
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