ASFA represents a broad range of health care professionals involved in apheresis medicine including those practicing pathology, transplantation, hematology, oncology, neurology, rheumatology, nephrology, hepatology, gastroenterology, cardiology, and ophthalmology.
The SHS was formed by nursing and allied health personnel, who were responsible for performing the donor and therapeutic procedures and operating the various blood cell separators.
SHS became a national forum for the exchange of views and best practices and was the forerunner of the efforts directed toward apheresis practitioner certification.
It was originally developed for the purpose to present scientific research on donor and therapeutic apheresis topics.
Most of the initial Officers and Board of Directors of ASFA presented at these symposia, from which the structure of the organization grew.