May 5, 2006

A friendly competition

Throughout the month of May, the Department of Medicine will be holding a
competition to see which group of its caregivers can donate more units of blood — the medical staff or the nurses. The friendly competition is an expansion of the department's 2005 blood donation challenge, which pitted resident classes — intern, junior and senior — against one another and house teaching staff to donate the largest quantity of blood or platelets. Last year's drive yielded some 50 donors; the goal this year is 200.

Senior resident Allan Moore, MD, is leading the physician team, which includes all resident and attending staff. Susan Morash, RN, heads up the nursing team, comprising nurses from all the Medical Service areas. Moore says the challenge is a great opportunity to encourage teamwork among caregivers while benefiting the hospital and its patients. "We really were thrilled with the outcome of the 2005 challenge," he says. "Every unit of blood donated makes a difference." Moore organized last year's challenge and participated as a member of the winning team of junior residents.

May is a month in which blood donor centers typically experience a decline in donations as people become involved in summer activities. Christopher Stowell, MD, PhD, co-director of the MGH Blood Transfusion Service, says the Department of Medicine's drive is a great help to the service's efforts to manage its lower inventory.