Phlebotomy or EMT certification?

[ProgPenguin]

I am a pre-med looking to possibly gain experience through either EMT or phlebotomy certification. Which of the two would give me more experience/strengthen me as a med school candidate? Phlebotomy work seems to provide more longitudinal work, but I'm worried because I've heard that lately phlebotomist work has been allocated to nurses. I know there is volunteer work available but ideally I am looking to have a paying job. I would really appreciate any insight from anyone who has done either! (or if you have any additional suggestions)🙂

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[lackli]

Are you still in school or are you looking to take time off?

I took a couple years off before medical school and was actually both an EMT and a certified phlebotomist. I got the EMT license first and got the CPT like a year afterwards to try to find work as a ER tech. It's usually a lot cheaper to get an EMT license but takes more time. It's more expensive to get the CPT but only takes 4 weekends of classes (it's also really really easy to get the license).

I will say though that it's really hard to get a phlebotomy job straight off the bat, usually for a paying job they want you to have a year of practice (i.e. volunteering with the blood bank or something).

EMT jobs(on ambulances) are usually pretty easy to find because it is a high turnover field. I worked full time as an EMT-basic for about a year and a half in basic life support. Not the more glamorous 911 stuff, but (at least where I was working) it takes awhile to work into emergency gigs and with applying to med school it wasn't worth it for me. BLS was cool for about 3 months but it gets really old really fast. All you will do is transport people around from facility to facility. Patients are super stable usually and the most stress will come from trying to keep up with dispatch overscheduling you.

However you do get exposed to a lot of different types of medicine though as you go through all the different types of wards. You get to read a lot of histories and if you have an inquisitive mind you can learn a lot. You also get to meet a lot of patients and some can really leave an impression on you. It's really good for your patients skills because you routinely transport 6-10 patients a day and have to interview them etc. I also really loved the lifestyle...you get to roll around in an ambulance, look cool and find all the best eateries in town. If you are part time it's also very flexible which is a big plus if you are still a student!

That's kinda me just rambling. Bottom line phlebotomy you will get good a one particular skill that may or may not be very useful down the line depending what specialty you are. But if you do excel at it, it can be a really good thing to have in your pocket. EMT, you learn some basic medical skills that is more holistically useful. Which one is better for medical school apps? I might give the EMT slightly more weight cause you see more, do more. It's also a lot more fun because your day is a lot more variable.

 

[Morsetlis]

Phlebotomy is more marketable (it involves an invasive procedure).

EMT is fun... but hard to find a job for. Also, you can't poke people with sharp sticks 🙁

I'll always remember the DO EM resident that can't draw blood ;p

 

[willen101383]

It really depends state to state with regards to the phleb stuff. When I was a sophomore in college I did phlebotomy. I trained at the hospital and just started doing it. Kept doing that full time through senior year. It got me into my current career (clinical lab technologist) which ive been doing for the last 5 years. The phleb stuff got me great exposure and I learned so much. BTW phleb duties are pretty much never allocated to nursing. Yeah nurses will do it if they need to..but typically they will call the lab to come up and draw the pt. The experience you will get also varies. In a smaller community hospital (where I did the bulk of my phleb work) I got to be known by the hospital staff. Docs knew I wanted to go to med school and really took me around and showed me stuff. But in a larger academic setting you will likely be a phleb and that is it. But at any rate I can say nothing but good things about the experiences I gained doing this.

 

[7starmantis]

I would recommend the EMT for more clinical and "traumatic" experience relating to med school. I love working as a phleb and eventually a lab tech, but its not as marketable for med schools as EMT is, honestly. Phleb pay is decent though, usually flex hours, and I'll never have to worry about not being able to get blood from one of my patients!

Just my own experiences and all. I was told by a couple adcoms that my experience as a phleb was "nice" but not really clinically relevant as much as some other things.

 

[sonofva]

I would say get your EMT, and then see if you can find very very very short classes for phlebotomy and IV therapy. and by short, I mean like 1-2 weekends.

then try to get a job as an ER tech...with these three things under your belt you should be able to get the job. i've seen some pretty gnarly things as a tech.

the only catch is, with such limited training, you really have to have the balls to act like you know what you're doing. at least till you get your feet on the ground.

 

[FirefighterDoc]

I became an EMT and then when i found a job as an ER tech they sent my for phlebotomy training among other things. I would say that EMT would allow you access to more things while phlebotomist only trains you to do one thing.

 

[FuSoYa]

EMT. Depending on where you live you can work for an ambulance company doing 911 calls with fire & medics, or be an ER or ICU tech helping the trauma team and doing code blues. My friend in another state was an ER tech and got to suture people too, pretty sweet.

As a phlebotomist... I think you just draw blood. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Marcus Brody]

Do phlebotomy. Quicker, work readily available, experience different parts of the hospital, learn to work with needles, see more actually sick people. I was an EMT and it is not particularly helpful or interesting regarding medicine.

 

[tndoc12]

Phlebotomy is more marketable (it involves an invasive procedure).

EMT is fun... but hard to find a job for. Also, you can't poke people with sharp sticks 🙁

I'll always remember the DO EM resident that can't draw blood ;p

Sure you can. I'm an EMT-IV and start IVs all the time. Not to mention epinephrine!

 

[mvenus929]

You can do more as an EMT, but you'll likely see more of the hospital environment as a Phleb. You're pretty restricted to the ER and ambulance if you're an EMT, whereas phlebs go to each and every unit of the hospital, plus the ER and OR, and they can learn all about the different tests run by the docs themselves. I've been involved with Code Blues countless times, not to mention going into the cath lab, seen central/PICC line insertions, etc. A lot of stuff you won't see too terribly often as an EMT.

But, I think it depends a lot on where you live. We have a really high turnover for phlebs, and our supervisor will hire just about anyone (except, incidentally, EMTs, because they're busy trying to get into the ER) to train.

 

[FuSoYa]

It really comes down to what state you live in, which county in that state, and then which hospital/company you work at. I had my EMT cert and worked as an ICU tech, and it was part of our job to do chest compressions during all code blues, even ones off unit if we got there quick enough. Some ERs let their techs do almost everything you can imagine. Others only have you fill out patient info and won't even let you take vital signs.

At least where I'm from, its much easier to get a job as a phlebotomist though.

 

[hazmat2]

At least in some Boston hospitals, if they need a phlebotomist, they'll just hire someone who's interested and train them with their own technique... for free.

Also, the last town I lived in gave EMT training for free as well.

So it's worth looking around to see how much training costs (if anything), how much you need to work, and how much each will pay you before then deciding.

Clarification: The free EMT training towns I lived in were ones where they required you to be a volunteer EMT for at least six months afterward. They were both only a few miles from the capital so I don't think location was a big factor.

 

[Morsetlis]

At least in some Boston hospitals, if they need a phlebotomist, they'll just hire someone who's interested and train them with their own technique... for free.

Also, the last town I lived in gave EMT training for free as well.

So it's worth looking around and then deciding.

Some people don't live in these nice "towns".

 

[equios]

Sure you can. I'm an EMT-IV and start IVs all the time. Not to mention epinephrine!

Same here.

I say EMT all the way as well. As an EMT you will actually get to have patients and be a health-care provider. As a phlebotomist you're just there to do one procedure over and over. You have patients, but you don't assume care of those patients for any duration of time.

Also, how much you get to do as an EMT depends on which standard your state adheres to (EMT-B, -I/85, -I/99, -A). In Tennessee, EMT-IVs (Basically -I/85 standard) can start IVs, push a few drugs, and do some of the more basic advanced airway stuff (oro- and naso-pharyngeal airways, dual lumen airway device). Its similar in Georgia as well.

So you get hands on time with patients, ability to do procedures and administer life-saving med's, and poke people with sharp things, as an EMT. As a phelbotomist you just poke people with sharp things 😛.

 

[Hirudo]

Just a warning, I got my phlebotomy license and could NOT get a job (San Diego). They told me everywhere I applied, "we only hire phlebotomists with paid experience." Too bad, the course cost me two grand.

I wound up getting a job as a research technician, so it all worked out.

 

[Morsetlis]

That's because San Diego is a ****hole for new grads.

Back to the lab we go!

 

[PreMedOrDead]

As a phelbotomist you just poke people with sharp things 😛.

You say that like it's not awesome.

 

[Geebeejay]

Both are great....go for either. With an EMT-cert you can also become an ED tech. Phlebotomy is good because you'll keep that skill set forever, which will be nice when you get that onc patient with poor access who is septic and no one can get a line. Both have pros and cons, but I'd say neither is a bad choice.

 

[neuro nephrons]

Go for EMT....it has done wonders for me. Being an EMT has allowed me to work on my patient interaction skills, leadership skills, and it has given me a ton of knowledge about the body.

Also, it is a very thrilling field. I think it is an added bonus to a medical school application if you are able to show an ADCOM that you've been out in the field before and you have both life experience and medical experience. As far as for those who just think that EMTs transport patients from hospital to hospital, that simply isn't the case. Join a local fire department and you will find out quite fast that there is much more to it.

 

[Geebeejay]

Go for EMT....it has done wonders for me. Being an EMT has allowed me to work on my patient interaction skills, leadership skills, and it has given me a ton of knowledge about the body.

Also, it is a very thrilling field. I think it is an added bonus to a medical school application if you are able to show an ADCOM that you've been out in the field before and you have both life experience and medical experience. As far as for those who just think that EMTs transport patients from hospital to hospital, that simply isn't the case. Join a local fire department and you will find out quite fast that there is much more to it.

Even though I'm a big EMT advocate, there is often a lot of truth to this. Many private EMT companies only do transport patients from hospital to hospital. While this is still pretty legitimate patient care experience, it probably won't have as much "thrill" as doing field work. But if you do your research, you can try to find EMT companies that also take 911 calls, and try to see a little more "action".

As far as the second part - this is a good idea, except that most fire departments prefer to hire firefighters as their EMTs as opposed to EMT-Bs. Fire is already very competitive, so you may find it exceptionally difficult to land a job with a fire department that is already over-saturated with applications who are firefighters.

Don't mean to be a debbie-downer - and I'm a big supporter of EMT as a preclinical job - but you don't want to go into it with too-high expectations.

 

[SBuck53]

So as an EMT-B and ER tech, I'll jump on the EMT bandwagon, but thats mostly because when I was hired as an ER tech, I got free phleb training!

I would agree though that EMT field experience can be very variable. In my area, the main ambulance services are staffed exclusively by medics, with an occasional EMT-B ride along. The only EMT services do mostly facility transports, which seems to be a decent job, but you don't get as much patient care experience as you do health care infrastructural experience.

 

[YayaCPT]

You say that like it's not awesome.

As a phlebotomist you actually do more than just poking patients the fun part is actually doing specimen processing. Especially if you like being in the lab you don't just draw blood it's so much more to it, but like everyone said it's different states that do different things I live in California so I've done a lot and it's a little more harder to become certified. But if I would say do emt if they are gonna be a nurse whatever you feel is good for the application for medical school. But then again phlebotomy is good you have to know which department you are sending these samples to and what it's for such as chemistry hematology serology microbiology it's so fun lol.

 

[aldol16]

It depends on what you want to do. EMTs are at the front lines of emergency medicine (up to a point; not with the ambulance companies which function more like taxis). You see a lot of different cases - though you're not really able to do much about any of them except just get them to the hospital. Phlebotomists work in a clinical setting and it's relatively easier to get that certification. Venipuncture is not that complicated so it might get monotonous though. Which one is better for you depends on what kind of setting you want to be in.

 

[wholeheartedly]

4 year necro bump.