phlebotomy schools in Bay Area?

wannabenursi · May 17, 2008

yes! I know of a school in Berkeley( downtown berkeley a few steps from BART) Its called fast response. I went there two years ago to get my Phlebotomy license. They are a little exptensive like 2,400. But its a great program. They prepared me well for the exam which i got a 90% on . They set my externship up in SF! Call them they have a full time day program... 2 weeks. or weekend and i think that 3-4 weeks..... good luck. let me know if you need any more info

engima2174 · May 18, 2008

now this is what i call fast response! thank you very much! i will definitely be looking into this :-) thanks again.

so where are you now? did you get into nursing school?

yes! i know of a school in berkeley( downtown berkeley a few steps from bart) its called fast response. i went there two years ago to get my phlebotomy license. they are a little exptensive like 2,400. but its a great program. they prepared me well for the exam which i got a 90% on . they set my externship up in sf! call them they have a full time day program... 2 weeks. or weekend and i think that 3-4 weeks..... good luck. let me know if you need any more info

JakeyWakey · May 19, 2008

I went to Fast Response also. It worked out really well for me. It was quick, and they prepared us very well for the national test.. I got a 99 on the national test.

That being said... I will warn you though. I felt the class room/lab portion program was TOO FAST!(2 weeks) I was not confident walking into my externship. (ultimately you'll learn the most when you get a job... and i feel that i am a good phlebotomist now, but i would have appreciated more time to practice my skills in school) Also, you will only get 1 week of externship at a hospital (the bare minimum you need for your license). Other schools provide usually 5-10 weeks of externship at multiple hospitals, which I feel is better.

Think about it... the more places you get to network at = better chance of finding a job!!!

If you go to fast response you will need to make sure that you make a good impression with the hospital that you extern at! It will be your best chance of getting a job in my opinion. (Finding a phlebotomy job without experience is very difficult) I set up my own externship the the hospital that I wanted to work at, so I developed a great relationship with my current employer well before i even set foot in the facility.

I excellent thing about being a lab assistant, is they are fairly well paid, and hospitals need them 24/7, your schedule can be pretty flexible to include school. I've been working as a lab assistant for almost a year and a half while doing my nursing pre-reqs. I don't know how other hospitals are, but my manager has been very flexible with my schedule. I'm starting nursing school June 2nd, and will be cutting back from full time to only 4 shifts a month now.

Isabel_29 · Jan 20, 2009

Fast response is not accredited! I am still thinking about what can I learn in two weeks?

crazyframes · Jan 22, 2009

I don't have any experience here but there is a Kaiser Permanente School of Allied Health Sciences in Richmond. They have a phlebotomy course.

Here is their website: http://kpsahs.kp.org/

mfrancisco · Mar 7, 2009

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the great info. I checked the ca dept of public health, and Fast Track is accredited. Thanks for the info on Kaiser. City College in SF also has a program and so does the Bay Area Medical Academy, but the Bay Area Medical Academy got bad reviews online, so I am trying to stay away from there even though it is the most convenient for me due to location. I also saw that Phlebotomy Plus in Walnut Creek has a great program....too far for me!

Take care.

newgrad82 · Mar 9, 2009

What are the chances of getting a phlebotomy job in this economy? Is there still a need? I am an RN but can't get a job and was thinking of getting a phlebotomy license but I want to be sure that I will actually get a job. Are there any?

crazyframes · Mar 9, 2009

Not according to my classmate. She's a phlebotomist and was looking for part-time work while in school. She spent two years working full-time in a clinic and now can't find anything. This is in California - Bay Area. Not sure of other locations.

newgrad82 · Mar 9, 2009

Oh man that is depressing... I am depressed.