Perfusionists?

[DrArsenic]

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I heard that there is a medical profession called perfusion. It deals with transfering blood or whatnot. Does anyone know anything more about this? Also how much do they earn and what kind of degree do you need to practice this?

Thanks!

 

[Yogi Bear]

dunno about medical applications, but in labs i've worked for, perfusion usually involves anethestizing rat/mouse, opening up chest cavity, poking two holes in its heart, and injecting paraformaldehyde solution in untilt he blood has be cleared. yuck!

 

[ninebillion]

In our introductory bioengineering course, our final project involved designing a heart-lung bypass machine. As part of the learning process, we visited a heart surgery unit at a hospital across the street and talked to perfusionists there.

Perfusionists operate heart-lung bypass machines, which are basically devices that reroute blood during open heart surgery so that it is oxygenated and filtered outside the body. I think the average salary is around $50K or $60K, but I'm not sure. I bet a quick search on Google could get you more information.