Phlebotomy is a subject that requires patience, risk, and confidence.

It is a procedure in which
we need confidence upon handling needles to take blood from a vein for laboratory testing. It
involves risk as the medical personnel might make mistakes in puncturing the vein. It needs the
patience to assess the conditions of the patient. From what I have experienced first-hand, all
these qualities are essential in phlebotomy. As aspiring Medical Laboratory Scientists, we need
to learn phlebotomy as it is part of our making as medical professionals.
Our instructor taught us everything needed about basic phlebotomy and how to use the needle
correctly. We were taught how to assemble our equipment, greet the patient, explain the
procedures to them, and do venipuncture. We were also told to maintain our hygiene,
especially in handling such risk, because performing venipuncture is equivalent to exposing
ourselves to diseases. This task requires us to demonstrate the process of venipuncture
together with our assigned partners. As usual, I was anxious about doing the return demo for
fear of making a mistake in puncturing the wrong part of the body. However, our instructor
reassured us by explaining the procedures step by step. I am reluctant to perform the task
because I know myself and the possibility of me making a mistake. To ease this discomfort, I
began meditating and repeatedly reviewing the procedures for me to familiarize the steps. To
my astonishment, I successfully got a backflow on my first try.
All these hardships are essential for us to know the risk of being a Medical Laboratory Scientist.
The importance of learning phlebotomy was emphasized with the risk associated with it. It is
the last return demonstration that we did in this OJT. All those return demonstrations served as
my stepstone to confidently start my year as a medical student. It will surely benefit me by
giving me access to help people in the future. I am beyond thankful for the wisdom that our
instructor gave us.