Certified Phlebotomist - if I do it, will it help?

[Doula-2-OB]

I am considering certifying as a phlebotomist and working in a local HMO lab here in town while I do my undergrad work.

Would this be helpful to my app or would a med school even care? Are they looking for something more... meaningful? LOL

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[mshheaddoc]

well I was going to do phlebotomy but i'm planning on applying in a year or two. I have other activities volunteering as well as working with a professor at a local med school doing various research and community activities so I have recently decided its not worth it for me as I won't have the time to actually use it. I was just going to do it for a job and the ASCP certification.

Now with said if you will have time to work and get experience I have been told its a good skill to learn. A few med students say they wished they would have gotten more training because when it comes down to the stick, if the nurse or phlebotomist can't get it, they will turn to the doctor. Other students claim its easy to pick up. So its up to you.

Bottom line: It will get you clinical skills and patient contact. As well as you might learn a few things along the way. If I had the time to put into it, it was my original plan. Just my view. Some say "go emt" but some of those positions are hard to find and at lesat this gives you a lab skill with a stepping ladder.

 

[jillibean]

I am considering certifying as a phlebotomist and working in a local HMO lab here in town while I do my undergrad work.

Would this be helpful to my app or would a med school even care? Are they looking for something more... meaningful? LOL

If you were an undergrad with no experience working with patients, then yes. But since you are already a doula, it might not be as beneficial. If you are doing it because it is interesting to you or you need the money, then go for it, but if you are only doing it to improve your app, then I think I would try something else.

If you are interested in OB/Gyn (i am also), maybe check out planned parenthood, Ive seen interesting, entry level clinical jobs there.

just my opinion.

 

[mshheaddoc]

That's a really good point. I didn't think of it from that aspect. Use your skills if its something you enjoy!

 

[relentless11]

Do what you like as everyone above said. Being certified for phlebotomy, or as an EMT, isn't that big of a deal. The experience you get regardless of your certifications IS.

You can have meaningful patient contact as an EMT, phelbotomist, volunteer, researcher, and so on. Obviously being a phlebotomist will be looked upon in a positive light, but in this game, its best to do something that you like, rather than something to "spruce up" your application.

 

[Doula-2-OB]

There's a lot about doing it that appeals to me - I think my future patients will appreciate that I dont' have to practice on them (lol), if I don't get into medical school, I'm going to midwifery school so I'll be providing obstetric care either way and will need to have the skill. It'll give me a way to work with patients in a clinical setting (being a doula I don't work in a clinical setting until the birth).

Seems like it can't hurt, and could help in a lot of ways. I'll probably do it whether or not it helps my app (unless, of course, it hurt it! lol).

I also LOVE the planned parenthood idea!! I am going to look into that, thanks for the suggestion!

 

[geogil]

There's a lot about doing it that appeals to me - I think my future patients will appreciate that I dont' have to practice on them (lol), if I don't get into medical school, I'm going to midwifery school so I'll be providing obstetric care either way and will need to have the skill. It'll give me a way to work with patients in a clinical setting (being a doula I don't work in a clinical setting until the birth).

Seems like it can't hurt, and could help in a lot of ways. I'll probably do it whether or not it helps my app (unless, of course, it hurt it! lol).

I also LOVE the planned parenthood idea!! I am going to look into that, thanks for the suggestion!

As everyone before has said, don't do it unless you want to, not to spruce up your app. I'm a phleb at the local hospital. It's great patient contact, and it exposes you to every type of patient. I get to work peds, ICU, trauma, as well as the regular floors. For me, one of the most beneficial things is being in the lab. When you're in the lab you have a very different perspective on ordering tests and you have a much better idea of what the lab is capable of. In my experience, most nurses, and to a smaller extent the docs, view the lab as a black box. Blood or fluid goes in, answers come out. Working for the lab (not necessarily as a med tech) will give you a good understanding of how the lab works, which i think will benefit you as a doc. If the lab is slow, you will be more likely understanding why and less likely to scream. the world needs fewer screaming docs. I can tell you that your patients will appreciate it if you're a good phleb too, because it's the little unpleasentries like blood draws that add up to make a hospital stay disagreeable. To those who say that learning to draw blood is easy, to them I say that , yes, it is. Until you have a 20 year heroin addict. Or someone with edema whose hands and feet are puffed up so much their skin tears. Drawing healthy people is easy, drawing sick people is a whole different can of worms. *climbs down off soapbox* to sum up, if you're looking for some great patient contact, but don't want to wipe butts as a CNA, then phlebotomy is a great route, but it sounds like you already have something you enjoy so I would recommend sticking with that.