The choice of a career is difficult to make. The future for jobs is uncertain in a changing economy. Years ago a person could decide on a career and spend their entire working life earning a living doing a certain job they had trained for. With globalization, jobs come and go so fast that no one can plan on a career. The one notable exception is the health care sector. The future of the service industry is strong in general, but at the top of the list is health care. If you are looking for an area to pursue a career, this is the place to focus on.
Most of the technical jobs in the health care field take a lot of education and training. It takes time to start a career in health care. There is one important exception to this however, and that is phlebotomy. This is the area of health care that specifically relates to the drawing of blood for testing. In some cases it will be for blood donations to be used for the national blood supply. Those who have completed the training and are operating in the field of phlebotomy are called phlebotomists.
When looking at all of the pay scales of different technical jobs in the medical field, this would rank towards the bottom. Keep in mind that there are many non-technical jobs in medicine, but for those with technical training, it is on the lower side. Those entering this field for the first time will be earning from $8.00 to $12.00 an hour. The actual starting wage or equivalent salary will be dependent on the area of the country you are practicing your trade. More affluent areas and large cities and suburbs will pay the most. Over time and with more experience, a phlebotomist will reach a maximum income of about $15.00 an hour.
A phlebotomist salary may seem low for a technical job, but there are a few things to keep in mind. The first is that it is an entry in the entire field of health care. Once you start to work in clinical settings, you will begin to see the full range of job opportunities that exist in medicine. In fact, it is difficult to understand how many different jobs exist in health care without working in this area.
Once you have an idea of a direction you would like to take, you can always go to school and study to get more skills while you work in health care. Maybe you would like to pursue a career as a registered nurse. You can attend school around your schedule as a phlebotomist.
Another aspect of phlebotomy that is attractive is the time frame in which you can begin doing this for a living. A program to get the training you need will typically take fifteen weeks. In this short period of time, you can start working in a technical capacity in the health care field.
Of course many people are happy doing the work of a phlebotomist. For some, it is not a stepping stone to something else, but a career itself. To be sure, the demand for phlebotomists continues to grow and there is no way this type of work is going to disappear. The future for a phlebotomist will be one with plenty of work, and there is a lot to be said for a job that is steady.
Your first step toward becoming a phlebotomist will be to find the closest place offering a program. These programs are offered at technical schools as well a community colleges. In some areas the need is so great that hospitals will offer the courses. One way to find the nearest program is to call your local Red Cross. They will be able to give you a phone number of a local educational facility. The Red Cross uses many phlebotomists in their day to day work. There are also online programs that are offered and can be taken by anyone with access to the Internet. This type of program is easier to fit into your schedule than the traditional class room environment.
After you enroll and begin your studies, you will learn about basic physiology, especially as it relates to blood. You will also learn about safety procedures regarding taking blood and handling blood samples. The first part of the course will be centered around book learning but will then move into a real world environment to get hands on experience.
After you have completed the program you will then need to become state certified through examination.