Online Phlebotomy training or possibly Massage Therapy

[RuralPhysician8]

Hey, it looks like I will have the entire summer semester open this year as my scholarships will only initiate if I begin college in the fall so I was hoping to get certified in Phlebotomy and work part time in order to make a small amount of money for savings and obtain some patient interaction experience; in addition too, the university I am planning on attending is directly affiliated to an extremely large hospital that I know will likely have a job opening and if I do work at a hospital, I can get in touch with physicians that I could possibly shadow later. Anyway, I do not have any problems paying for a certificate program, but I am having some trouble finding actual programs. Are online Phlebotomy programs usually frauds (I understand this sounds like the dumbest question)? If so, can anyone point me in the direction of what types of facilities I should check with (I have already checked the community colleges within my area)? Also, if Phlebotomy ends up being out of reach, do you think massage therapy would provide the same amount of clinical experience, because a nearby vocational school offers an accelerated program that I could probably get through right at the end of summer vacation. I am also open to other suggestions aslong as the job in question involves patient interaction. Thanks in advance.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[ShenanigansMD]

Whoa whoa... people learn to draw blood, online? ONLINE???

 

[La Presse]

Whoa whoa... people learn to draw blood, online? ONLINE???

LOL. I presume they do their clinical rotations for the programs at a local hospital or clinic.

 

[MusicJunkie]

Whoa whoa... people learn to draw blood, online? ONLINE???

I lol'd.

 

[Geebeejay]

Hey, it looks like I will have the entire summer semester open this year as my scholarships will only initiate if I begin college in the fall so I was hoping to get certified in Phlebotomy and work part time in order to make a small amount of money for savings and obtain some patient interaction experience; in addition too, the university I am planning on attending is directly affiliated to an extremely large hospital that I know will likely have a job opening and if I do work at a hospital, I can get in touch with physicians that I could possibly shadow later. Anyway, I do not have any problems paying for a certificate program, but I am having some trouble finding actual programs. Are online Phlebotomy programs usually frauds (I understand this sounds like the dumbest question)? If so, can anyone point me in the direction of what types of facilities I should check with (I have already checked the community colleges within my area)? Also, if Phlebotomy ends up being out of reach, do you think massage therapy would provide the same amount of clinical experience, because a nearby vocational school offers an accelerated program that I could probably get through right at the end of summer vacation. I am also open to other suggestions aslong as the job in question involves patient interaction. Thanks in advance.

Work at a restaurant...more money and no certification. A few months in the summer is not long enough to build patient care skills of any real quality.

 

[DocVapor]

Work at a restaurant...more money and no certification. A few months in the summer is not long enough to build patient care skills of any real quality.

This. You don't need to have a job with a facility to get shadowing experience. But if you are set on doing it, phlebotomy would be a better option than massage therapist since I have the impression that it takes quite a bit more time to get certified as an MT.

 

[lovesfall]

Check with your local community colleges, in their continuing education/lifelong learning sections. Oftentimes they will offer in-person courses. I would be really skeptical of an online course without an in-person lab component.

If you work at a hospital, check your on-the-job training offerings. Usually they also have phlebotomy courses (although briefer and with only an in-house certification) but you might be able to take it even if it isn't required by your work duties.

I don't really know much about massage therapy. A few friends who have taken courses never ended up practicing, so unless you are planning to use your skills you may not have any exposure to clients outside of the 10-15 you practice on. It seems like there would be cheaper and more effective ways to get clinical experience.

Just a couple thoughts.

 

[RuralPhysician8]

Work at a restaurant...more money and no certification. A few months in the summer is not long enough to build patient care skills of any real quality.

I apologize, I really should have included this in my opening post. I do not plan on this being just a one time summer job, I was hoping to become certified during the summer and work as I go to school in order to gradually build patient skills. The only reason I bothered to ask about an online Phlebotomy course was because a few programs, that seemed legitimate, claimed to have affiliated hospitals and other facilities to teach me the required hands on skills after I completed the book work online; however, I do agree that a classroom based course is likely of better quality. I will check again with the community colleges in my area and explore some other facilities as well. I already have a small part time job working with young children, but I will be changing it to 100% community service hours within the next year. Thanks for the feedback on Massage Therapy, I will likely not pursue it any more seeing as how so few practitioners are employed in the clinical facilities within my area. I am also going to consider EMT-B certification. Thanks everyone.

 

[DocVapor]

For EMT-B certification you're looking at lots of hours. They have accelerated courses that could get you through in a couple weeks of nonstop class, but not in all localities. You are probably going to end up having to do a several months-long course doing 3 hrs 2 nights a week. And since EMS (or even transport) is highly variable, you'll need to plan on being able to commit to long shifts (minimum 8 hours.. but more likely 12 hr shifts) every so often. The EMT route looks ok on apps to med school, not great, but you could more easily cut down on your volunteering hours required slightly.

And this is coming from someone that loved EMS so much during undergrad my grades plummeted.