Most certified medical assistants today are trained in the art of venipuncture and phlebotomy. While medical assistants do not draw arterial blood samples, they are able to obtain blood from a vein, usually in the arm, do the finger sticks and ear lobe pricks, quick test urine tests, spin the blood tubes and preserve the viability of the sample until it gets to the lab.
What Is a Phlebotomist Technician?
The phlebotomist technician is a specialized member of the allied health and interdisciplinary medical services team, whose primary focus lies in the area of blood collection and preserving blood and blood related specimens for diagnostic purposes. In this role they are instrumental to letting people regain or improve their health. Phlebotomist technicians collect blood, urine, and certain other body fluid samples as requested by a physician so that blood tests can be run in a laboratory. They also are qualified to run automated analyzers, equipment and standardized blood test and cultures in the hematology lab themselves. One big employer, to name just one, for phlebotomists and phlebotomy technicians in many locations across the USA is Quest Diagnostics.
Can you see yourself in the role of a phlebotomist providing services to people who are seeking answers regarding their health? Can you imagine yourself helping them by collecting their blood for analysis so that a diagnosis can be made and a treatment plan can be prescribed?
Medical Assisting and Blood Collection Training
Medical assistant training programs are readily available throughout the USA and Canada, and most only take 9-11 months form start to finish. Phlebotomy training programs are even shorter. They may take from just a couple weeks to a couple months.
While most medical assistant training incorporates various blood collection simulations on a synthetic arm, followed by hands-on practice on real persons, typically a fellow student, and later on, on real patients at an externship site to solidify the techniques practiced in class. Those medical assistants who are interested in focusing strictly on this career must keep in mind that it is definitely not for the squeamish and it can become stressful at times, especially when dealing with fearful children, and people who are afraid of needles, or faint at the sight of blood.
If you are at least 18 years old, have a high school diploma and are highly interested and motivated then you should continue your research, learn all there is to know about the medical assisting and phlebotomy career and take the next step... enroll in either a medical assistant or phlebotomy training program near you to achieve your dream.
Reliable Sources of Further Information
The PhlebotomyTech.com and CertMedAssistant.com websites continue to provide prospective medical assistant students and aspiring phlebotomists with valuable information on all aspects of these rewarding careers, including how to get certified and succeed. Page, after page, you learn about what a phlebotomist or medical assistant is, does, and needs to know to earn their credentials. These websites also lets prospective program students instantly locate and explore vocational training schools online. The so-called "Find a School by ZIP code widget" on top of every page throughout these sites provide reliable school information and lets you research more than one school at a time, thus saving tons of time.
More at Medical Assistant NET website.
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