NATCHITOCHES – An online phlebotomy technician training course through Northwestern State University’s Office of Electronic Learning & Global Engagement will begin on Monday, August 30.

This nine-week course is broken down into two parts.  The first part will be six weeks of online classroom instruction that concludes October 8. The second part will be a face-to-face hands-on portion that will meet October 11, 13 and 15 in South Hall at NSU’s Natchitoches campus from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Clinical labs will be on October 18-29.

Once the skills/hands-on portion has been completed, students will be given up to two weeks to obtain their required clinical time. This course is designed to teach entry-level phlebotomy skills to students interested in pursuing a career in phlebotomy.  Students are required to complete classroom instruction and 100 venipunctures before they will be allowed to take the board exam.  Upon satisfactory completion of this course, students will be eligible to take the National Board Certification Exam on-site through the American Certification Agency for Healthcare Professionals on November 1. This course also includes Basic Life Support (BLS) Certification through the American Heart Association. There is a possibility of random drug screening at the student’s expense at the clinical site.

The registration fee for the class is $950.To participate, students must provide proof of high school diploma, GED or official transcript and must pay $150 National Board Certification and material fee to the instructor the first night of class. This fee is in addition to the registration fees. A minimum of $475 must be included with registration and does not include a material fee or board fee. The balance must be paid by October 11 through checkout.nsula.edu. Those taking the class must have a set of solid scrubs for clinical days of any color. An electronic book is available at no cost and will be posted in the online class.

For more information or to register for classes, go to checkout.nsula.edu or call (800) 376-2422 or (318) 357-6355.