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Blood, Bytes, and Beyond
Insights on Blood Banking, Clinical Informatics, and Medical Education
About
My name is Caitlin Raymond
I’m a transfusion medicine physician with roots in both family medicine and pathology. I write about blood banking, clinical informatics, and what it means to learn, teach, and work in medicine.
To the Student Who’s Thinking About Medicine While the World Burns
A letter about love, science, and the quiet power of staying human. Dear student, If you are thinking about medicine right now—while the...
Apr 3, 20253 min read
From Learner to Teacher—and Everything I Had to Unlearn
A story about learning to teach while learning everything else In medicine, we spend years learning how to learn—but almost no time...
Mar 30, 20254 min read
When Stem Cells Won’t Budge: The Art and Science of Mobilization
Imagine standing at the threshold of a medical breakthrough—a patient enrolled in a gene therapy protocol, the science ready, the hope...
Mar 23, 20254 min read
An Ode to the Long Road
To the ones who didn’t match — this one’s for you. I. The Experience of Not Matching You logged in. Your heart raced. And then came the...
Mar 23, 20253 min read
The Evolution of Blood Banking: From Leeches to Leukoreduction
It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when the best hope for curing a fever was letting your blood drip into a bowl. Today,...
Mar 22, 20255 min read
Neutrophils to the Rescue? Granulocyte Transfusions Explained – The Science, the Challenges, and the Controversy
When we think about blood components, red blood cells and platelets often steal the spotlight. But nestled within our bloodstream are...
Mar 20, 20254 min read
A Day in the Life of a Transfusion Medicine Pathologist
When most people think of pathology, they imagine a specialist behind a microscope, diagnosing diseases from tissue samples with little...
Mar 9, 20254 min read
Beyond Blood Typing: How Whole Genome Sequencing Could Transform Transfusion Medicine
Introduction Blood transfusion is a cornerstone of modern medicine, ensuring patients receive life-saving blood products tailored to...
Feb 26, 20255 min read
Point-of-Care Testing: Will It Replace Centralized Labs?
Introduction The landscape of diagnostic testing has evolved dramatically over the past few decades. Gone are the days when every lab...
Feb 22, 20256 min read
Harnessing Platelets for Healing: From Blood Clots to Regenerative Medicine
Wound healing is a finely tuned biological process that relies on multiple cellular and molecular mechanisms to restore damaged tissue....
Feb 16, 20254 min read
Platelets in Oncology: Friend, Foe, or Future Therapy?
When we think about platelets, we typically associate them with wound healing and clot formation. However, emerging research has revealed...
Feb 15, 20254 min read
Fighting Infection: Platelets as Allies and Adversaries
Introduction Platelets are widely recognized for their role in hemostasis, but emerging research has revealed their critical function in...
Feb 14, 20254 min read
Platelet Microvesicles: Small Particles, Big Potential
Introduction In the world of transfusion medicine, platelets are indispensable. They stop bleeding, support vascular integrity, and...
Feb 13, 20255 min read
The Myth of the Self-Made Doctor: Why ‘Figure It Out Yourself’ Fails in Medical Training
Medical training is often framed as a journey of relentless personal responsibility. Trainees are expected to learn from manuals, absorb...
Feb 9, 20253 min read
The 'Unsexy' Side of Pathology Informatics: Interoperability and Standardization
When people think of pathology informatics, they often imagine cutting-edge artificial intelligence, whole-slide imaging, or complex...
Feb 2, 20253 min read
Automating Platelet Compatibility Matching: Enhancing Efficiency in Medicine
Here's something I never thought I'd say: I spent the afternoon coding with ChatGPT 4.0. In about 3 hours I was able to turn out an...
Jan 20, 20253 min read
Bullet Learning: Anaplastic Large T-Cell Lymphoma
50yoM with controlled HIV presented with slowly enlarging inguinal lymphadenopathy over the last 9 months. Flow cytometry and lymph node...
Jan 20, 20251 min read
Understanding Thrombotic Microangiopathy: A Case Based Approach
Case Introduction A 27-year-old man presents with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD). CGD is a collection of inherited immune...
Jan 11, 20258 min read
CAR-T Cell Therapy: Beyond Hematological Cancer
Introduction CAR-T cell therapy has revolutionized the treatment of hematological cancers by harnessing the power of the immune system to...
Jan 6, 20256 min read
Making Research Accessible in GME
In 2021 I co-founded the Society for Innovation and Research (SIR) while in my clinical pathology residency. Our goal was to promote and...
Aug 28, 20242 min read
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