Blood and needles — it’s what’s separates the phlebotomist from the rest of us fraidy cats. It’s why jobs for phlebotomists often go unfilled.
Let’s face it: Not everyone is cut out for those pointy needles and blood. But thank goodness there is SOMEONE out there willing to fill all those jobs for phlebotomists! Without them, our health system wouldn’t exist – and we may not either.
Phlebotomy technicians are usually among the first health care workers you’ll see whenever you get sick. They are the ones who ask you to roll up your sleeve or prick your finger. They are the ones who draw tube after tube of blood at the doctor’s request, the ones willing to risk our wrath to help us get well.
Still, theirs is a job not everyone wants. That much was obvious last month when the American Medical Association’s Health Care Careers e-Letter asked readers (and members of the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions’ listserve) how it could better “help college freshmen get a jump on their health care education.”
Not surprisingly, much of the feedback called for more rigorous math and science classes in middle school and high — a belief shared by virtually all in the health professions. But there were other responses that may not only surprise you, but also seem to indicate a growing need for allied health care workers like phlebotomists.
For example, one respondent complained that most high school students interested in health careers focus mainly on becoming pediatricians or nurses. “High school instructors would be advised to offer an objective overview of all opportunities in health care, rather than just emphasizing physicians and nurses,” the HCC e-Letter reported.
Another respondent recommended that high school students take care course that would cover first aid and preventive medicine for adults and children, basic lab tests and what is normal (such as HDL, LDL and Triglycerides), how to give a shot, take blood pressure and even change IV bags since home care is becoming more prevalent. “Even if the student does not pursue a career in health care, these skills will help them better handle situations that life may present,” said the reader.
Still another respondent, a faculty director of a health professions advising office, went even further, saying that for-credit medical careers “discovery course” at participating high schools through a local community college. Among the “substantial clinical opportunities” for these high schoolers? Learning phlebotomy with a practice arm!
“We like the idea of graduating students having some patient care experience in a real-world setting prior to beginning their formal educations as medical care providers,” the e-Letter reported the respondent as saying. “Very basic patient care skills, such as how to do vital signs, etc. I am amazed at how many students enroll in an (nursing) program and find that they are uncomfortable touching people as caregivers.”
Quite simply, phlebotomy could be just the thing to weed out aspiring lab techs, nurses and doctors who may not realize until much later that needles and blood aren’t for them.
“I see students with a vast array of skills and expectations who come to the college with the dream of becoming a health care professional,” said one dean of allied health programs. “Too often, they are unsuccessful due to their inability to meet the rigor of the requirements for the program. … Our phlebotomy program can be completed in two semesters with a three-week clinical at a hospital. I have had many pre-nursing students start on this path and have observed their interest levels increase dramatically regarding health care. Conversely, they may decide that working with patients or handling body fluids is not a match for them, so their nursing program spot may go to another, more interested student.”
