Updates

I hope everyone is keeping well during the outbreak. I doubt revision is top of anyone’s mental list at present and so I am holding off new MCQ’s just now.

Instead there is a COVID-19 page where I will try to keep track of coag and gen haem related COVID-19 papers as and when I hear about them.

Inevitably BSH was cancelled this year but the Haembase abstract BSH2020-PO-031 has gone into an online supplementary edition of BJH and so thank you to everyone who completed one or both of the Haembase surveys.

Will try to tidy website up here and there as well

Feedback and Survey Results

Thank you to everyone who completed the latest Haembase survey, it is a huge help. A few things to note from the feedback:

  • 70% of you kind people don’t follow my Twitter account (@TomboxaneA2). A very wise decision no doubt, but it leaves me wondering what the best way to communicate new additions to the site. Does anyone read these News blogs? Who knows! Give me a shout if you do at haembase@gmail.com.

  • Hello to all the respondents outside the UK! Egypt, India, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka at the last count. I would love to know what it is about Haembase that works for you - is everyone preparing to sit the UK exams? Or do you use it for general reference, exams aside?

  • Crikey, 73% of you are visiting Haembase more than once per week - I do hope I can keep up so that it continues to be that handy.

  • The further the exams retreat into the past for me, and with baby to occupy my recent thoughts, I do wonder if my practice MCQ’s are no longer as representative of the real deal. If there is anyone who has sat the exam recently and would like to contribute some questions (made up, not reproduced from the exam itself) it would be fantastic to hear from you! Full credit will be given of course.

And to address a few specific comments made in the free text boxes:

  • A request for more case-based studies on transfusion. I will certainly try to come up with something on this front. In the meantime, take a look at Dr Morton’s Twitter feed (@TransfusionWM) for a number of excellent real life case threads.

  • The side bar does not contain all the topics featured on the website, but the grey bar on the left does. I know, right! Very frustrating, however I can’t find a way to fix it. However, the search box on the home page is very good, so if you can’t find something you think should be on the site try that.

  • Suggest that collaboration with other groups/regs with special interests may make it easier to maintain the site. Absolutely! If you’d like to do this please let me know. I hope to meet some of you at BSH next April maybe?

  • Really helpful if more past papers are uploaded. Unfortunately I do not think it is my place to share official materials on Haembase, but is often worth asking your colleagues locally who has kept notes of past questions - there will be someone! What I will do is continue to try and add further practice questions.

  • At times I have to refer back to the guideline to try to get some understanding to the bullet point you have highlighted. Do let me know if there are particular notes on the site that are murky or opaque and I will try to amend. What gets spelt out and what is assumed on Haembase is really just based on my own prior knowledge and may not be generalisable.

Finally, in April I said I wouldn’t do this but now the days are shortening and the nights drawing in so I am going to share some of the kind words you have had to say about Haembase.

  • Really good reference, kept up to date – best I’ve found for this

  • Excellent resource, appreciate the hard work and sharing of your experience

  • Very good site thanks for your dedication

  • Really kind that you have done this, and you’ve done a great job

  • Keep up the good work and thanks

  • Fantastic website, so helpful to all trainees. Please continue to keep updating the site; you have made this an invaluable resource for exam preparation

Cheers, T

New Content

Thanks to the inaugural HaemSTAR National Meeting, the following sections have been updated:

Haemophilia - Extra info on newer therapies in haemophilia A, including Emicizumab

TTP - Extra detail on treatment, including Caplacizumab

Gaucher’s - Generally filled out with a few extra snippets

HaemSTAR is a UK network of haematology registrars interested in prompting and conducting audit & research in Non-Malignant haematology - We’re always looking for new people to join the team, you can read more about it here