Phlebotomy Part I

I spent two summers during my college years working a low paying job at a hospital in the Texas Medical Center (in Houston, of course).

Writing this, it occurs to me how deeply chauvinistic Houstonions behaved when naming their medical center after the entire state of Texas when there were other great medical centers across the state. But, I digress. To be sure, the TMC rocks. I owe my medical school, residency, and fellowship training to U.T. Houston, one of the two medical schools within the great Texas Medical Center. 

As premed students, we were encouraged to use our summers wisely, pursuing volunteer work or employ in some field of medicine. We were advised the summer activities would look good on medical school applications; demonstrating dedication and passion to the goal of a career in medicine.

That first summer, between freshman and sophomore year, I landed a clerical job in the laboratory of Methodist Hospital. I have no recollection of how I got the job; some connection somewhere. I was fortunate to have a sister in Houston who knew people who knew people.

I worked in "the cage", a central area in the large laboratory where a handful of women spent the day answering phones, filing lab reports, providing piles of paper to transporters,  gabbing about coworkers, our lives, and complaining about how bored we were. I was 18 and impressionable. There was not much to be learned from a medical standpoint but I did get an earful of life and mastered the names of some of the most common lab tests.

Over time, I grew restless with the work, eying a group of very young "blood draw-ers" (we didn't call them phlebotomists back then) stationed at the back of the lab, surrounded by blood tubes with myriad colored stoppers, individual  baskets full of supplies: tourniquets, alcohol prep wipes, needles, gauze pads, and tape. I wanted to be one of them; they seemed so cool, confident, happy, and on the ball.

I remember asking the lab director if there was any hope of a transfer out of "the cage" since I was pre-med and all. Fortunately, he thought this a good idea (never helps to ask) and towards the end of the summer, I moved to the back of the lab where all those cool folks sat with their trays of tubes and needles.

Training for the newbie phlebotomist?  By today's standards, laughable. But again, this was (groan) almost 40 years ago. Today, phlebotomists are trained technicians with a certificate. What I recall was several laborious days learning tips and techniques in an informal sit-around-and-listen session with other recent hires. None of us was any older than 22.  Our instructor was a seasoned middle-aged, overweight, slow moving Latino woman named Bea. Bea could draw blood from a stone. She was the best technically but took her sweet time training us. All for the best, I suppose.

We didn't practice on each other. We may have stuck a needle in a piece of fruit to get the flavor of the poke. Maybe she watched my technique once or twice. After that Bea was quick to assign each of us newbies to a more experienced young mentor at the back of the lab. And, off we went to draw blood on hospitalized patients.

Gloveless.

Who knew about the risks blood borne infections?