Your Coag Coach is Toyosi Onwuemene
Hi, I am Toyosi Onwuemene and I am your coag coach. I am a hematologist and have focused my practice on blood diseases since 2010. I created this site because I love blood. Yes, love blood I do. That revelation doesn't go over well at dinner parties (say, are you a vampire?); but here, where we talk about all things coag, loving blood is safe. I love blood and you are also free to love blood, without judgement. Why do I love blood? Blood is an amazing, life-giving substance that constantly flows around my body doing incredible things like keeping me healthy, protecting me from invading organisms, supplying my cells with oxygen, making sure I have all the energy I need . . . Blood is life! What's not to love?
Toyosi Onwuemene loves blood education
I also love blood education. My mission is to spread the gospel of blood throughout the world. I think blood is too important for people to go without understanding it. Don't get me wrong, blood is a complex substance and, eight years out from all my medical training (yes all 10 years of it), I am still learning about blood. There is much to learn about blood so have no fear, you will not learn everything there is to know about blood in this space. There are plenty of more mature and very erudite websites (shout out hematology.org and UpToDate.com) where you can learn about blood in more detail. Here, you will learn about blood from a hematologist's (blood doctor's) perspective. I like for people to know exactly what is needed to take care of the patient in from of them, right now.
On this site, you will learn about all things coag
On this site, I talk about all things coag (coagulation). Coag is slang for hemostasis and thrombosis, the branch of hematology focused on bleeding and clotting. I write about normal bleeding and clotting, including the cells and blood components like platelets and coagulation factors. I also talk about bleeding and clotting disorders, including such diseases as hemophilia A, von Willebrand disease, venous thromboembolism, and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. However, because blood is one amazing substance full of red cells, white cells, platelets, and all sorts of proteins, even though my focus is bleeding and clotting, you will find that I write about all things blood.
Coag-loving folk are welcome here
I write with a medically-literate audience in mind. Specifically, I write for healthcare providers at all levels of blood education, including medical and nursing assistants, nurses, physical therapists, physician assistants, medical students, and physicians-in-training. You might notice that the true list of healthcare providers is longer than I just listed; but surely you get my point: I write for all people in healthcare who are interested in knowing more about blood disorders, especially as it concerns bleeding and clotting. I try to keep the language general enough for everyone to understand; however, you need to remember that I have been learning this medical language for the last 18 years and sometimes, I don't realize I am speaking a foreign language. So, bear with me y'all. Just be prepared to forgive me when I start speaking in tongues (other languages).
Patients should go to their health care providers
Patients are the heroes of this site. Everything I know in hematology I learned from the patients I have been privileged to serve. In fact, I created this site to help all healthcare providers (me included) learn more hematology so that we can all better care for our patients. However, this site is not meant to be a site for patients to find advice. If you are a patient here (yes, healthcare providers are patients too), please reach out to your healthcare providers with your questions and, if needed, go see a hematologist in an actual clinic (or virtually) who can both diagnose and counsel you.
Medical advice will not be found here
This site is purely about education. I love to teach about hematology and life in hematology. Yes, I am a physician who sees hematology patients in real life. But most of my time as a clinician is spent helping physicians-in-training learn more about hematology and how to live life successfully as a hematologist. Please do not ask for medical advice here. If you do, I will re-direct you to your health care provider.
OK, so now you have a glimpse into Coag Coach's education mission. Let's begin this adventure together.
Check out more of my hematology education content on YouTube.
