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Fellowships andScholarships

Versiti offers scholarships for continuing education as well as fellowship opportunity for training and development.

Opportunities for continuing education and training

Versiti’s Fellowships & Scholarships support advanced clinical training, professional growth, and lifelong learning across transfusion medicine, blood banking, and patient-centered care. Through immersive fellowship programs and mission-driven scholarship opportunities, Versiti invests in developing future leaders and advancing excellence in healthcare. Our programs combine rigorous clinical experience, research mentorship, and access to nationally recognized experts and reference laboratories. Training is delivered in collaboration with leading academic and healthcare institutions, offering exposure to complex, real-world clinical environments. Together, these opportunities reflect Versiti’s commitment to education, innovation, and improving patient outcomes.

Blood Banking and Transfusion Medicine Fellowship Program

The Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine (BBTM) Fellowship Program, jointly offered by the Medical College of Wisconsin and Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin, aims to train future leaders in blood banking and transfusion medicine. This one-year fellowship provides graduates with a wide range of training that prepares them to undertake any job in the BBTM field, particularly transfusion service and blood center direction. Transfusion medicine, pathology and hematology faculty from Versiti and the Medical College of Wisconsin provide clinical, educational and research mentorship.

The fellow will spend time in transfusion services and apheresis departments at Froedtert Hospital and Children’s Wisconsin, both of which house level 1 trauma centers, sickle cell centers, solid organ transplant programs, and joint hematopoietic transplant and hemophilia programs. Fellows will also spend time at Advocate Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center, a quaternary hospital system. At our world-famous Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin, fellows will learn blood manufacturing and management, regulatory and quality principles, and donor management. Unique to our program, fellows will rotate through our national and international reference labs for immunohematology, hemostasis, platelet and neutrophil immunology, and histocompatibility. In addition, we offer a uniquely flexible curriculum that allows the fellow to identify a particular area of interest and spend additional time in training and research. Current training tracks include coagulation, therapeutic apheresis, pediatric transfusion medicine and immunohematology. We also offer mentorship and dedicated weeks for research. Finally, we offer an optional second year for eligible candidates who wish to pursue a specific clinical or research area.

Application

All candidates must be certified or eligible for certification in clinical pathology, hematology/oncology (adult or pediatric) or other major specialty boards. Stipends are commensurate with the level of relevant post-graduate training and expertise.

Applicants are currently being accepted for 2026-2027, 2027-2028 and 2028-2029 academic years.

Eligible candidates interested in applying should send their CV and a letter of interest to: 

Rowena Punzalan, MD
Program Director
  • rpunzalan@versiti.org
    • Lisa Anderson
    Program Coordinator
  • LAAnderson@versiti.org
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    Training Locations

    Versiti

    • Internationally known diagnostic reference laboratories in immunohematology, platelet and neutrophil immunology, hemostasis, histocompatibility, and molecular diagnostics
    • Versiti Blood Research Institute and Versiti Medical Sciences Institute
    • Versiti Blood Centers in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin

    Medical College of Wisconsin Teaching Hospitals

    • Froedtert Hospital is a 400-bed, level 1 trauma center with programs in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, CAR-T therapy, high-risk obstetrics, solid organ transplantation, sickle cell disease, hemophilia and neuromuscular disorders.
    • Children’s Wisconsin is a 300-bed tertiary care pediatric hospital and level 1 trauma center with programs in cardiac, renal and liver transplantation; hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and CAR-T therapy; oncology; sickle cell disease; and hemophilia.

    Advocate Aurora Healthcare System

    • The Advocate Aurora system includes a quaternary care hospital that specializes in cardiothoracic surgery, a maternity hospital and several community hospitals, with a total of 80,000 transfusions and 2,500 serologic workups per year.

    Application

    All candidates must be certified or eligible for certification in clinical pathology, hematology/oncology (adult or pediatric) or other major specialty boards. Stipends are commensurate with the level of relevant post-graduate training and expertise.

    Applicants are currently being accepted for 2026-2027, 2027-2028 and 2028-2029 academic years.

    Eligible candidates interested in applying should send their CV and a letter of interest to: 

    Versiti Headquarters

    Alumni

    100% of alumni have passed the American Board of Pathology BBTM board exams on their first try. After completion of the transfusion medicine fellowship program, our alumni have gone on to work in several types of practice settings located in the United States and Canada.

    The Joan Heimler Legacy of Life Scholarship

    Versiti is proud to offer the Joan Heimler Legacy of Life Scholarship. This scholarship was created to honor Joan Heimler, a critical care nurse who was instrumental in establishing the Wisconsin Tissue Bank, which became a part of Versiti in 2010. 

    The decision to donate organs and tissues is made during a difficult time for families and loved ones. Compassionate care provided by critical care and emergency nurses at this time can be very challenging and yet rewarding. These nurses, in conjunction with their organ procurement organization and tissue and eye bank, provide support to families who have made the decision to give the gift of life to others in need of organ and tissue transplants. The Joan Heimler Legacy of Life Scholarship recognizes Wisconsin nurses who strive to achieve these values in caring for patients and their families.

    Attendance at the National Teaching Institute (NTI) & Critical Care Exposition or Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) Annual Meeting provides an opportunity for expanding the knowledge of these nurses, as well as networking with colleagues from around the country. The award recipient may use the scholarship to cover registration, transportation and accommodation expenses at one of these annual meetings.

    Joan Heimler Legacy of Life Scholarship

    Who is Eligible to Apply?

    Any registered nurse who works in Wisconsin full- or part-time in critical care or emergency nursing is eligible to apply. Applicants must provide direct care to patients and families who have made the decision to donate organs and/or tissue at end-of-life or have played an influential role in supporting the donation process at their institution.

    Award Applications

    • Application submissions open in  January and close April 1.
    • Provide a copy of your CV or resume
    • Write an essay of 1,000 words or less that explains your role in caring for patients and families making the decision to donate organs and tissues
    • Ask your nurse manager or supervisor for a letter of support
    • Applications must be received no later than April 1.
    Application


    Former Award Recipients