The academic hospital blood bank director. All things to all people.

The in situ academic full-time hospital blood bank director is the best person to provide staff education, ensure optimal patient care, and encourage transfusion medicine research. The blood center medical director is too far away, and the part-time blood bank director is often too disinterested or overcommitted to other tasks to function on an equal level. By "being there," the academic blood bank director becomes the best role model for the young physician wishing for a career in transfusion medicine.