Education and professionalization of transfusion laboratory staff: A global review of best practices in Argentina, Australia, Japan, Thailand, and the United States.

Transfusion medicine is a high-stakes discipline where laboratory professionals play critical roles to ensure safe and appropriate blood product use. Five papers, from Argentina, Australia, Japan, Thailand, and the United States, report how blood bank and transfusion laboratory professionals (hemotherapy technicians, laboratory scientists, medical technologists) are educated, credentialed, and integrated into clinical practice. Common themes include: (1) the need for standardized, accessible foundational education; (2) the evolution of technical roles toward professionalization and leadership; (3) the use of structured curricula, eLearning, experiential learning, and certification systems; and (4) measurable impacts on knowledge, self-efficacy, professional identity, and transfusion safety. Argentina has formalized hemotherapy technician and bachelor-level training, expanding competencies beyond bench work to include management and policy-making. Transfusion Laboratory Essentials, an online course based in Australia, demonstrates high engagement and completion rates among early-career scientists. Japan's nationally credentialed clinical laboratory technologists and certified transfusion laboratory technologists have improved 24-hour transfusion services and hospital accreditation standards. Experiential learning at Thailand's National Blood Centre significantly enhances students' knowledge, self-efficacy, and professionalism. The United States has a tiered certification system (MLT, MLS, BB, SBB) that is currently addressing visibility and staffing challenges. Collectively, these examples illustrate global trends toward professionalization, competency-based education, and team-based transfusion practice, with implications for workforce planning, curriculum design, and quality improvement in transfusion medicine worldwide.