I've been hearing more and more people lately saying that CLS jobs in CA are becoming saturated but I'm not sure how true this is. A big reason I was working towards CLS is because of how easy I heard it was to get a job after getting certified, but I'm not sure if this will still hold true in a few years.
Is the job market in CA for CLS actually becoming saturated or are people exaggerating?
I completed a phlebotomy program a while ago and was planning on working as a phlebotomist while in school until graduation to increase my chances of getting into a CLS program afterwards, but honestly I really don't want to pay the now annual overpriced fee required by CA to keep my license when it's almost impossible to get a job anyway. On top of that it's hard to find phlebotomy jobs that are willing to work with my school schedule, and I would rather prioritize internships while in school anyway.
I'm planning to work as a lab tech in a public health lab to get some experience first after graduating... because honestly I'd rather work in a public health lab but I'm keeping CLS as a backup in case that doesn't work out.
Has anyone with public health or similar lab experience rather than purely clinical lab experience gotten into a program?
I'm 21 and still a virgin and genuinely feel like I'll never get to have sex, let alone have it the way I want to. I feel like I can't relate to any other adults because I came out as trans at 16, and have been too undesirable for anyone to be interested in me, let alone try having sex with me. Every day I wish I could have sex but I know the only people actually wanting to try with me would be straight men/chasers.
If I ever got the opportunity I know I'd probably have to bottom/sub even though I would highly prefer to top/dom because I feel like I won't be taken seriously. I 'pass' but most people think I look way younger than 21 even after almost 3 years on T, and no one wants to fuck someone who looks like a minor. I can't get top surgery because I'm too busy with college and have no one willing to take care of me after. I genuinely feel so alone, I just want to feel desired by a guy that wants to have sex with me as a guy and I'm jealous and angry that cis men never have to deal with this.
I've been lonely my entire life and the only real friends I've been able to make are online. My only real friend online is suicidal and hasn't responded in days and I can't help but assume the worst. They had a recent suicide attempt and I've been a mess since, crying 24/7 because they barely want to talk to me anymore and I feel so alone because I constantly fear them doing it again and being successful. I feel sad and angry that they put me through such constant pain daily, and I also hate myself even more for being selfish and being angry at them. I feel angry that they've distanced themselves from me to the point where we haven't done anything together in months, not even giving me anymore moments to cherish with them before they decide to leave me. I'm sad they made me get so attached to them just to be in this much pain when they leave. They promised they wouldn't attempt again and would check in with me to let me know they're okay but obviously they haven't. There's no way to know if they're really okay since they're an online friend.
They're the only one that believes in me and without them I literally have nobody. There's no point in continuing any of my goals without them here because if they can't survive then neither can I. There's just no point in going on without them.
We're really close and were planning on meeting and hanging out irl at some point. If it ends like this there's no way I can recover. I'm never gonna meet anyone this special again if it's so rare to make friends in the first place. There's multiple studies showing that literally everything in life is more fun and enjoyable with friends, so what's the point of even living without them?? Humans are social animals and I won't survive this if they're truly gone. I'd rather nothing good ever happen in my life again than having to lose them. I'm glad I hate alcohol because all I want to do is drink myself to death. I hope I'm wrong and they're still here.
Sorry if this has been asked before. I'm currently an undergrad working towards CLS/MLS but I feel like I work super slow in all my college lab classes and am worried I wouldn't be efficient enough in the lab. I know the actual job is different, but I'm always the last person to finish in my lab classes and I'm worried I'd be a slow worker too. My biggest fear would be a patient dying because I couldn't get their results done fast enough.
How common is it for a patient to die because you weren't able to work fast enough? Is med lab work usually fast paced other than blood bank (especially generalist or microbiology), and is it okay to be slow when you're first starting out? Did clinicals help you get faster?
CLS programs will likely only get more competitive in California, so I'm strongly considering out of state programs... but the thing that worries me is paying for and finding housing, so I have some questions for people who went to an out of state program.
You're usually discouraged/unable to work during the program, so how were you able to afford paying for housing out of state for a year? Did you just save up enough money for the entire duration of the program or were you able to get a loan? If you got a loan for housing, was it easy to pay off and would you recommend this option?
Did the university you did your program at offer housing/dorms even though it's just a certification program? If not, how did you find housing + will it be harder to find as someone who hasn't rented before?
In general did doing the program out of state vs. in CA put you in a lot of debt?
Getting my phleb license soon and plasma centers will probably be the easiest to get a job at due to my school schedule (part-time for labcorp and quest are only in the morning where I live). I have classes in the morning on two days of the week, and beyond that I'm fully available after the afternoon on those days and open availability besides that. Are plasma centers like Biolife, Octopharma, CSL, etc. willing to accommodate this for part time positions? Or is there no point in applying if you don't have full open availability?
In job postings for Biolife I see them say that their part-time positions have flexibility, but can anyone who's worked there say how true this is?
I'm starting my externship soon but am nervous about how patients will react to me saying I'm a student, not getting blood, etc. I don't have a lot of customer service or patient experience so I'm nervous about how to deal with rude patients.
Has anyone experienced rudeness from patients during your externship due to you being a student, and especially when you aren't successful at drawing blood? How do you deal with patients who think you don't know what you're doing? And did you experience a lot of patients requesting to be drawn by a different phlebotomist?
Hello everyone, I get my phlebotomist license in a few months and am hoping to use it to get clinical lab experience, but am prepared for it to take a while to find a job.
For people who had phlebotomy/clinical lab experience before applying to programs: were you able to find a job while in school and how long did it take? Or did you need to take a gap year to work before applying?