Phlebotomy Students Get a Career Head Start

Phlebotomy Students Get a Career Head Start
Posted on 03/19/2021
This is the image for the news article titled Phlebotomy Students Get a Career Head StartSeventy percent of medical diagnostics come from the work that phlebotomists do. The job is an essential part of the health care community, but there is a nation-wide shortage of phlebotomy technicians. "There are so many opportunities for health science professionals, not just nurses, but respiratory technicians, x-ray techs, ortho techs, there are just so many opportunities in the medical field," said APISD Health Science Teacher Briana Reagan. Career outlooks for phlebotomy are expected to grow by 25 percent between now and 2024, making this a good time to break into the career field. "When you are in high school, we don't exactly know what we want to be when we grow up, but if they get introduced to the health care world and see the opportunity to help others and provide care for their loved ones or people out in the community, maybe that will help them decide on a career, if they want to be a nurse, want to become a doctor, if they want to be a phlebotomist. Whatever they want to be, it could help them, and it helps the children younger than them look up to them and decide what they want to be," said Del Mar College LVN Instructor Jacqueline Lott. Students at Aransas Pass High School are now getting the chance to learn about a phlebotomy career one stick at a time. "They are learning how to draw lab work, they are learning how to do finger sticks, they are learning how to take care of a patient who maybe is on bed rest that needs total assistance, and they are learning how to assist a physician in a patient care room. So they are learning a lot of hands-on clinical skills," said Reagan. "The phlebotomy program itself is actually a lot more fun that I thought it would be and exciting. I am also taking anatomy also so it is exciting to learn about parts of the body while also seeing it and inspecting it closer in a new way. The average person does not have the same amount of knowledge about it, and it is so cool to understand something on a deeper level," said Senior Avery Brundrett "I love nursing, that is what I always wanted to be is a nurse. So it is just a great opportunity for me to continue and do skills that will help me better my future," said Senior October Depperman. This program gives students a hands-on experience they need now before they head out into the real world. "For these students, it teaches them a lot about not only caring for others, but also caring for themselves, caring for their own families. It also allows them to come out of high school with a skill that they can immediately go into any hospital, any doctor's office, any clinic and have a really solid career, " said Reagan. The program is trying to encourage all APISD students to take the class. "Absolutely, whenever we do our fish camp for our upcoming 8th graders, we go out and tell them to come join us, and it is a great field to be in. You can get started your freshman year and be well on your way to going into the medical specialty by the time you graduate," said Reagan. Students also learn the workings of the heart. "They are learning how to do EKGs, which they don't read the EKG, what they do is just perform the lead placement and acquire the EKG reading to present to the physicians for diagnosis," said Reagan. This program is a great way to give these seniors a jump start after graduation. "For this program, I definitely went into it with the intention of getting a job to prepare for college," said Brundrett "I gives me more job opportunities into hospitals and to wherever I am going to go into the future," said Depperman. "They can start work, and they can start work at very good wages. It gives them the opportunity to maybe save money for college if they want to sit out a year, if their finances are not that great. If there is something they need to do, they can go out into the real world and get a job," said Lott. This course prepares students to collect blood specimens from clients for the purpose of laboratory analysis. Students will review blood collection, the skills needed to perform venipunctures and other collection techniques. This course also includes terminology, blood collection procedures, order of draw and other topics. Classroom and lab work include terminology, anatomy and physiology, blood collection procedures, specimen hands-on practice, and training in skills and techniques to perform puncture methods. The certification in Phlebotomy, EKG, Patient Care Tech, and Medical Assistant is significant because it will give Aransas Pass students an advantage over other students planning a career in the medical field. Story by Roland Rodriguez, Public Relations
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