{{Short description|Study of blood and blood diseases}} {{Use American English|date=December 2020}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}} {{cs1 config|name-list-style=vanc|display-authors=6}} {{Multiple issues| {{More citations needed|date=June 2019}} {{Original research|date=June 2019}} }} {{Infobox medical specialty | title = Hematology | subdivisions =[[Transfusion medicine]] | image = | caption = | system = [[Hematopoietic system]] | diseases = [[Anemia]], [[leukemia]], [[lymphoma]]. | tests = [[Blood film]], [[bone marrow biopsy]] | specialist = Hematologist | glossary = }} {{Infobox Occupation | name= Hematologist | image= | caption= | official_names= * Physician | type= [[Specialty (medicine)|Specialty]] | activity_sector= [[Medicine]] | competencies= | formation= * [[Doctor of Medicine]] (M.D.) * [[Doctor of Osteopathic medicine]] (D.O.) * [[Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery]] (M.B.B.S.) * [[Doctor of Pharmacy]] (Pharm.D.) | employment_field= [[Hospital]]s, [[Clinic]]s | related_occupation= }} '''Hematology''' ([[American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe|spelled]] '''haematology''' in [[British English]]) is the branch of [[medicine]] concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to [[blood]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.healio.com/hematology-oncology/news/online/%7B2dd178d0-7f92-46a8-add9-2c7d634d2cea%7D/what-is-hematology|title= Hematology|access-date= 28 August 2013|archive-date= 5 October 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131005002854/https://www.healio.com/hematology-oncology/news/online/%7B2dd178d0-7f92-46a8-add9-2c7d634d2cea%7D/what-is-hematology|url-status= live}}</ref><ref name="News-Medical.net-2009">{{cite web|url=https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Hematology.aspx|title=What is Hematology?|date=24 November 2009|website=News-Medical.net|access-date=10 May 2019|archive-date=10 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510081359/https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Hematology.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> It involves treating diseases that affect the production of blood and its components, such as [[blood cells]], [[hemoglobin]], [[blood proteins]], [[bone marrow]], [[platelet]]s, [[blood vessel]]s, [[spleen]], and the mechanism of [[coagulation]]. Such diseases might include [[hemophilia]], [[sickle cell anemia]], blood clots ([[thrombus]]), other bleeding disorders, and blood [[cancer]]s such as [[leukemia]], [[multiple myeloma]], and [[lymphoma]].<ref name="AMA">{{cite web |title=Hematology |url=https://www.ama-assn.org/specialty/hematology |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724145155/https://www.ama-assn.org/specialty/hematology |archive-date=24 July 2020 |access-date=15 July 2020 |publisher=American Medical Association}}</ref> The laboratory analysis of blood is frequently performed by a [[medical technologist]] or [[medical laboratory scientist]].
==Specialization== Physicians specialized in hematology are known as '''hematologists''' or '''haematologists'''.<ref name="News-Medical.net-2009" /> Their routine work mainly includes the care and treatment of patients with hematological diseases, although some may also work at the hematology laboratory viewing [[blood film]]s and [[bone marrow]] slides under the [[microscope]], interpreting various hematological test results and [[blood clotting tests|blood clotting test]] results. In some institutions, hematologists also manage the hematology laboratory.<ref name="AMA" /> Physicians who work in hematology laboratories, and most commonly manage them, are pathologists specialized in the diagnosis of hematological diseases, referred to as '''hematopathologists''' or '''haematopathologists'''. Hematologists and hematopathologists generally work in conjunction to formulate a diagnosis and deliver the most appropriate therapy if needed. Hematology is a distinct subspecialty of internal medicine, separate from but overlapping with the subspecialty of medical [[oncology]]. Hematologists may specialize further or have special interests, for example, in: * treating bleeding disorders such as [[hemophilia]] and [[idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura]],<ref name="News-Medical.net-2009" /> with the latter of these two conditions being continuously studied by hematologists due to its unknown cause.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kayal L, Jayachandran S, Singh K | title = Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura | journal = Contemporary Clinical Dentistry | volume = 5 | issue = 3 | pages = 410–414 | date = July 2014 | pmid = 25191085 | pmc = 4147825 | doi = 10.4103/0976-237X.137976 | doi-access = free }}</ref> * treating hematological malignancies such as [[lymphoma]] and [[leukemia]] (cancers) * treating [[hemoglobinopathies]], including α-thalassemias and β-thalassemias (thalassemia syndromes) and hemoglobin S, hemoglobin C, and hemoglobin E (abnormal hemoglobins).<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kohne E | title = Hemoglobinopathies: clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment | journal = Deutsches Ärzteblatt International | volume = 108 | issue = 31–32 | pages = 532–540 | date = August 2011 | pmid = 21886666 | pmc = 3163784 | doi = 10.3238/arztebl.2011.0532 }}</ref> * the science of [[blood transfusion]] and the work of a [[blood bank]], known as [[transfusion medicine]] * bone marrow and [[stem cell transplantation]], especially with the use of technologies to extract and isolate hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Advances in Transfusion Medicine - Hematology.org |url=https://www.hematology.org/about/history/50-years/transfusion-medicine-advances |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=www.hematology.org |language=en}}</ref>
==Training== Starting hematologists (in the US) complete a four-year medical degree followed by three or four more years in residency or internship programs. After completion, they further expand their knowledge by spending two or three more years learning how to experiment, diagnose, and treat blood disorders.<ref>{{cite web |title=Resources for Medical Students and Residents |url=https://www.hematology.org/education/trainees/medical-student-resident-resources |website=Hematology.org |publisher=American Society of Hematology |access-date=4 August 2020 |archive-date=16 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716045805/https://www.hematology.org/education/trainees/medical-student-resident-resources |url-status=live }}</ref> Some exposure to [[hematopathology]] is typically included in their fellowship training. Job openings for hematologists require training in a recognized fellowship program to learn to diagnose and treat numerous blood-related benign conditions and [[blood cancers]]. Hematologists typically work across specialties to care for patients with complex illnesses, such as [[sickle cell disease]], who require complex, multidisciplinary care, and to provide consultation on cases of [[disseminated intravascular coagulation]], [[thrombosis]] and other conditions that can occur in hospitalized patients.<ref name = "Systems">{{cite journal | vauthors = May JE, Irelan PC, Boedeker K, Cahill E, Fein S, Garcia DA, Hicks LK, Lawson J, Lim MY, Morton CT, Rajasekhar A, Shanbhag S, Zumberg MS, Plovnick RM, Connell NT | title = Systems-based hematology: highlighting successes and next steps | journal = Blood Advances | volume = 4 | issue = 18 | pages = 4574–4583 | date = September 2020 | pmid = 32960959 | pmc = 7509880 | doi = 10.1182/bloodadvances.2020002947 | url = }}</ref>
== See also == * [[Hematopathology]]
== References == {{reflist}}
{{Transfusion medicine}} {{Abnormal clinical and laboratory findings for blood}} {{Hematology blood tests}} {{Diseases of RBCs}} {{Diseases of megakaryocytes}} {{Myeloid malignancy}} {{Medicine}} {{Portal bar|Biology|Medicine}}
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[[Category:Hematology| ]] [[Category:Medical specialties]] [[Category:Blood]]