Whether a hospital is in the middle of a significant world health event or working with typical patient volumes, the phlebotomists are one of the many sets of personnel that keep them running smoothly. Phlebotomists take and process blood, which is one of the critical sources of information that helps doctors and their teams to do their work. Too little bloodwork severely restricts diagnoses and treatment. When there aren't enough phlebotomists, these delays in bloodwork can impact the entire hospital, making it harder to treat patients in the ways they need most.

Here are just a few ways in which phlebotomists are part of the life's blood of hospitals.

Medical treatments go through rigorous testing before approval because doctors, patients, and all relevant parties want to know they can rely on those treatments.

Indeed, there are occasional side effects and reasons why someone isn't the right fit for the treatment, but medical professionals must know the exceptions before approving treatments for broader use. So how do they ensure that their clinical trials effectively give them the information they need to rely on the treatments down the road?

One of the significant ways to ensure they collect sound data is through diverse applicants in their clinical research studies. Having applicants from all walks of life helps increase confidence in the treatment's effectiveness across all people. If there are disparities in clinical results, such as different outcomes for one gender versus another, doctors and patients must have that information before opting into the final version of the treatment. Diverse trials can help researchers adjust the formulation and timing of a treatment to create a final protocol that works as well as possible for many people.

The pandemic brought the world of clinical research front and center. It made more people learn about testing new medical treatments ethically and thoroughly. Every health treatment and innovation needs proper testing to understand its complexity and how people from all backgrounds respond to the procedure or medication. Growing treatment options and medical necessity makes clinical research an essential and expanding field.

An excellent example of how clinical research education can help is in the world of research recruitment. Recruiting diverse populations for clinical trials is integral to getting reliable data from the results of such trials. Let's explore how this process tends to occur.

Many people seek a health or wellness professional when they know they need a change. While this could be asking a doctor for a particular medical treatment or procedure, many of us are looking for strategies that improve our day-to-day lifestyles, such as changing our eating habits, movement, or sleep. Lifestyle shifts benefit from not coming with the intense side effects known to accompany some medicines while improving our perceived quality of life, with outcomes like lower stress and the ability to focus on the present as significant benefits.

One of the ways that health and wellness professionals expand their horizons while also becoming teachers of strategies for lifestyle change is through learning more about the benefits of Ayurveda and Yoga. When you study how to be a yoga instructor at Portland Community College in our program that focuses on ayurvedic yoga, you learn a host of strategies for personal improvement to your eating, movement, and breathing. You also gain the perspective to share those lessons with your clients.

One of the main reasons people practice yoga is that it feels better than not practicing yoga. That may seem obvious, but as more and more people try incorporating an Ayurvedic yoga practice into their daily lives, they discover that yoga's benefits are well-documented in scientific studies. Whether you're interested in the benefits of Ayurveda more broadly or are curious about how to learn ayurvedic yoga, Portland Community College's Ayurvedic Yoga health program can provide valuable insights for a variety of healthcare practitioners,  yoga instructors, or other fitness professionals.

Learning the benefits of yoga for health can help you incorporate yoga more intentionally in your own life or recommend yoga more thoughtfully as a healthcare or fitness professional. Here are six of the benefits you might not have known before.

Originally from San Diego, Melinda's first career was in the hospitality industry, working in exciting restaurants on the West Coast. A lifelong home cook, she turned to nutrition studies when chronic health issues left her with more questions than answers. 

The healthcare industry will continue to grow as the population ages, and more people experience higher healthcare needs. The turmoil of the pandemic has also strained the industry, leaving job openings as the situation normalizes. Many people have shifted in their roles or chosen a new job, increasing the demand for new employees in all kinds of positions. Furthermore, people have postponed surgeries and other medical care to avoid taxing an over-taxed system, resulting in pent-up demand.

For all of these reasons, now is a good time to be pursuing entry-level roles in the healthcare world. While other roles may pay higher levels for those already in healthcare, the industry is currently competitive enough that incoming people will find good prospects and salary opportunities.

One example of an entry-level role that you can train for quickly is the role of Sterile Processing Technician. Learn more about how this role plays a vital part in fighting infection inside hospitals, making it a rewarding way to serve while also being a role that is in constant growing demand in Portland, OR. Learn more about becoming a sterile processing technician and how many sterile processing technicians Portland needs these days.

Dr. Vileka Fisher is a licensed Naturopathic Physician, midwife, and an adjunct faculty member at Portland Community College. They graduated from NUNM in 2021 with a Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine and a Certificate in Natural Childbirth. They achieved the state requirements for board certification in natural childbirth/Naturopathic midwifery by completing a rigorous two-year internship in Naturopathic midwifery at a busy primary care and birth center facility located in Portland, Oregon. In addition to her doctorate, Dr. Fisher has a Master of Science in nutrition from NUNM and a Bachelor of Science in Health Science from Corban University. 

Nursing is an excellent example of a field where a general, far-reaching curriculum creates the foundation for the career. However, many nurses choose a role where they rely on a subset of their skills most of the time. Perhaps they are working with patients frequently who need specific procedures done but don't require blood draws or IVs as often.  After all, some healthcare settings have dedicated phlebotomists specializing in blood draws and other similar skills.

However, as a nurse, you may eventually want to move up or move on to a different setting, and knowing what will make you most attractive as a candidate for advancement or a new, in-demand role can be difficult. Nurses can distinguish themselves with phlebotomist certification, such as Portland Community College's phlebotomy technician program.

Hospitals and other clinical care facilities can only operate because they maintain meticulous attention to cleanliness. People expect hospital spaces to be clean to prevent complication risk due to exposure to outside bacteria or viruses.

As a result, healthcare settings employ Sterile Processing Technicians who are very well versed in how to completely, carefully, and quickly sterilize clinical spaces to be ready for use by another patient. For people who are naturally clean and sanitize every surface in their home, this can be a natural fit as a career. It is a rewarding chance to do good with your natural tendency toward cleanliness and an opportunity to enter the healthcare field with only a short training program.

Let's look more in-depth at the role of becoming a Sterile Processing Technician and how a one-term training course can jumpstart a career in the healthcare field.