Phlebotomy Technician

Course Contact Hours: 91 hours
Clinical Externship Hours: 40 hours
Mondays and Wednesdays, January 6-April 16 2025
Time: 6:00pm - 9:30pm
Cost: $2,500

Please call or email the Adult Education office to see if you qualify to take this course for free!

(413) 587-1414, ext. 3530

lturner@smithtec.org (Lorena Turner, Adult Education Director)

Tuition includes:

• Textbook
• NHA Certification Exam (CPT)
• NHA study guide and practice exams
• 40 hour externship
• lab supplies
• student insurance

Students will need to purchase scrubs to participate in labs.  We recommend having two sets of scrubs.  There are no specific colors required.

Students need to have the following immunizations/screenings documented and turned in to the school prior to participating in the clinical externship:

• Covid Vaccines including booster
• TB screening within 12 months of start date
• Measles, Mumps, Rubella
• Varicella (or verbal history- must be certain)
• Current season of flu vaccination
• Hepatitis B (if needed please seek the 2 step)
• Tdap or Td within 10 years

Students must also submit a thorough background check to be eligible for employment and the clinical experience.  Some clinical sites may require a drug screening that would have to be covered at the student's expense.

 The phlebotomist is a vital member of the clinical laboratory team, whose main function is to obtain patient’s blood specimens by venipuncture and microcollection for testing purposes. Phlebotomy technicians are employed throughout the healthcare system including in hospitals, neighborhood health centers, medical group practices, HMO’s, public health facilities, veteran hospitals, insurance carriers, and in other healthcare settings. The demand for phlebotomists has increased substantially with the overall complexity of healthcare services and the risks of infectious disease. Employment is expected to increase by 25% from 2016 - 2026 (Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupation Outlook Handbook).

The Phlebotomy Technician Program prepares professionals to collect blood and other specimens from clients for the purpose of laboratory analysis. This course covers the following key areas and topics:

• Process and procedures for collecting blood specimens for laboratory analysis
• All aspects of blood collection and related procedures
• The order of draw
• Universal precautions
• Skills to perform venipunctures completely and safely
• Terminology and related anatomy and physiology

Education & Certification

• Students should have or be pursuing a high school diploma or GED.
• Several state and national certification exams exist to test the competency of aspiring phlebotomy technicians.

Detailed Course Topics Covered

• The history of phlebotomy & the healthcare setting
• Quality assurance and legal issues
• Infection control, safety, first aid, & personal wellness
• Universal precautions including safety protocols and infection control
• Laboratory operations (e.g. safety, quality control)
• Blood banks and blood typing, lab departments and personnel
• Medical terminology and laboratory theory
• Human anatomy & physiology of the circulatory system
• Specimen collection, processing, and handling
• Blood collection equipment, additives, & order of draw
• Venipuncture specimen collection procedures
• Capillary puncture equipment and procedures
• Special collections and point-of-care testing
• Arterial puncture procedures
• Non-blood specimens and tests
• Pediatric and geriatric blood collection
• Blood and blood composition, blood tubes, coagulation, venipuncture protocols, etc.
• Heel puncture, protocol, practice, and syringe draws
• Respiratory, pneumonia and TB isolation protocol
• Laboratory skills and simulated/animated labs