Medical assistants are an indispensable part of healthcare, serving patients on the front lines.
Working in outpatient care, clinics, and doctor’s offices, medical assistants perform clinical and administrative duties.
In healthcare facilities, medical assistants may take vital signs, collect patient information, and in medical offices, may collect blood samples.
Medical assistants and other healthcare workers that draw blood by venipuncture (inserting a needle into a patient’s vein) are required to be licensed for phlebotomy if working in a diagnostic lab.
Are Medical Assistants Allowed to Draw Blood?
Medical assistants are only able to draw blood in a medical office while working under a doctor’s license. Four states require healthcare workers phlebotomist certification to draw blood in the lab setting: California, Louisiana, Nevada, and Washington. Medical assisting certification does not typically cover phlebotomy licensure.
Medical assistants draw blood only under a physician’s license. Blood samples can be used to diagnose conditions and diseases, find matches for blood transfusions, or to test and monitor levels of specific cells within the bloodstream.
What is Phlebotomy?
Phlebotomy is the act of removing blood from the body for examination, usually by inserting a needle into the patient’s vein. The technician who draws blood from a patient is known as a phlebotomist.
All heath care labs require phlebotomy technicians to earn and maintain a certification/license or non-degree diploma from an accredited vocational school.
Medical Assisting as a Career
Medical assisting is a robust career path to enter, with plenty of demand, due to an aging baby-boomer population requiring health care services, and physicians needing to hire medical assistants for clinical and administrative tasks.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics project jobs in the Medical Assisting industry will grow by 18% between 2020 and 2030, which is much faster than the average for all jobs in the US. [1]
[1] Note: The data provided above are from a source unaffiliated with Campus, formerly MTI College, are for informational purposes only and represent the employment field as a whole. They are not solely specific to Campus graduates and, by providing the above information, Campus makes no representation, direct or implied, or opinion regarding employability.
Get Phlebotomy and Medical Assistant Training at Campus
If you are a student in the Sacramento area, Campus has a Medical Assisting with Phlebotomy program that prepares students for a career as a medical assistant, while also earning their CPT-1 certification.
If you are already a medical professional, we also offer a standalone Phlebotomy certification program. Our flagship Medical Assistant program can prepare students for a career in medical assisting in about 36 weeks.
If you would like more information, contact our Admissions department, or call (916) 339-1500. Financial aid is available for students who qualify.