Should I become a phlebotomist as a path to PA school?

My friend just got into her first choice PA program. She became a CNA over phelbotimist after shadowing both for a day each. She recommends a CNA program.

As a biology professor, I advise a lot of students who are considering PA school. Phlebotomy and EMT are two of the routes that we recommend to students, but you're right that accumulating your hours would be slower as an EMT. Another common recommendation for them is to become a http://www.allalliedhealthschools.com/health-careers/nursing/certified-nursing-assistant-overview. There are lots of jobs along these lines at not just hospitals but especially nursing homes. You won't make a ton of money, obviously, at any of these jobs but you will definitely get your clinical hours.

I would lean toward phlebotomy over EMT for the reason you mentioned. I have a friend who is a new EMT and we spend a lot of time gchatting while she waits to rack up those patient care hours (like, a lot -- I work a desk job and you'd think she did too based on how often I see her online).

Look for actual hiring phlebotomy jobs in your area. I considered it but the rare jobs in my area required 1 year of experience. You can possibly get volunteer experience but the whole thing seems like a pain. Can these hours be volunteer?

I used to work at a blood bank (doing marketing, not in donor services). We obviously had a lot of phlebotomists and were always hiring. It's definitely an entry into working with "patients." You have to do a mini-phyiscal (temp, BP, HR), do a finger prick for the hemoglobin, then obviously draw out a pint of blood. Occasionally a patient has a "reaction" (fainting, nausea, vomiting, etc) and you have to manage that pretty swiftly. We actually didn't require any training or medical background - even if you had a phlebotomy certification you still had to go through our 12-week OTJ training. Technically we "preferred" a year or so of medical experience but it wasn't required (and having a college degree would probably more than make up for that). It was considered a "good" job for someone with no experience (paid better than minimum wage), but it the wages were certainly crappy to my standards, even for a non-profit.

A very good friend of mine is a nurse and before she was a nurse her job was with the Community Blood Centers. She started as a phlebotomist and drove the blood bus. She still says they trained her to be a phlebotomist, so she didn't have to pay for classes, adn that working with them was the best job she ever had. Consider calling up your local blood bank and finding out if they're hiring!

I know two people in PA school. One worked for years at Planned Parenthood doing general patient care - blood draws, assisting with procedures. The other did the same work in a volunteer capacity, largely around impoverished HIV positive patients or in places like Haiti. Neither is a phlebotomist, CNA or EMT. Honestly, finding some volunteer work seems like the best way to determine whether you even like working with patients. It's definitely interesting work, but frequent interaction with sick people and their bodies can take some getting used to.

You're right about EMS as bring a slow way to rack up hours. However, emergency rooms will often hire EMTs as techs. This will get you the hours you need. I personally think this will give you more of the skills you could use as a PA, though it probably doesn't pay as much as phlebotomy. Good luck!