Is Phlebotomy good for PCE hours?

[mattblair 0]

I am trying to decide whether or not to get certified in this and get PCE from it. I want to know if most schools accept this or if they don’t really care for it. Any feedback helps! 

[Diggy 532]

Get an MA job. Phlebotomy is usually within their scope of practice. Kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

[Aunt Val 32]

I was a phlebotomist for 3 years before PA school, and it was a great job for me. I worked in a small hospital with inpatient, outpatient, and emergency room duties. Learned a whole lot about care in different areas of the hospital and about various lab tests, which did come in handy for school. If you decide to go this route make sure that you attend a high quality training program or can be well-trained on the job. There are a lot of sketchy phlebotomy courses out there. You can't learn to be a good phlebotomist in a day or two, no matter what some people claim.

[PA-Candidate 49]

Its good and bad....

Some schools just want PCE and Phleb counts and you can get a lot of hours quickly.  Other schools want Patient Care and they consider Phelb very low quality hours so 1000 hours don't weigh significantly.

I combined my Phleb, athletic training and MLS hours to show breadth, depth and quantity.   It allowed for a lot of questions I could expand on during interviews.

 

Good luck

[EMEDPA 7,498]

In general, it is better for all of your HCE to not be a single skill, like phleb, ekg tech, scribe, or pt transporter. These are all considered lower tier experience. As others have mentioned, a cert which includes multiple skills like MA, CNA, RN, EMT, paramedic, RT, etc is a much better bet for gaining PA school admission. 

[dphy83 61]

Again, yes and no. I think the whole PCE is overhyped. You learn how to be a PA in PA school, so your previous experience isn't a make or break deal. I think phlebotomy is a very practical skill to have - wish I were better at non ultrasound IVs. But my opinion is probably in the minority. And ultimately it is up to the individual schools. So despite what is said on this forum, I'd ask the schools you want to apply to.