work as MT in USA Part 1

Checklist to reach your American Dream

1. Obtain a hospital experience.
An experience of at least 1 year is alright. It doesn't matter if you're a generalist (rotated in different sections in the lab) or a specialist as long as you get exposure in a hospital setting. American employers need to know if you have performed complex tests and can operate machines.

2. Take certification exams like ASCP or AMT
As for me, I took the ASCP since most of my workmates took the same but I think taking ASCP is more advantageous as it is recognized internationally. It is accepted by countries that has their own certifying exams like middle east. Meaning, you need not to take HAAD if you already passed ASCP.
To know more about my ASCP experience, click this link.

3. Take English proficiency exams
It can be IELTS or TOEFL. The purpose of taking these exams is not just to gauge your english fluency and comprehension but it is a prerequisite to get VisaScreen. To pass IELTS, the target band score is at least 7.0 with speaking score of 7.0 and above. This is the passing score to get qualified for USA.
To know about my IELTS experience, click this link

4. Have your Transcript of Records evaluated
You can choose either Josef Silny and Associates or WES. They will evaluate your college transcripts and see of the curriculum matches that of an American MT curriculum.

4. Process your VisaScreen
VisaScreen is a certificate that recognizes that you are eligible to work as a healthcare professional. It took me 3 months to process all of it before they FedExed my certificate.

After that you may now start your search of an employer thru browsing the internet or asking assistance from an agent.

CPD UNITS TO RENEW MY LICENSE

Last January 2019, I was able to renew my medical technologist license even though I didn’t meet the required 45 CPD units of 3 years. I only got 27 points. I just took the opportunity to avail the waiver before this privilege is abolished.

Before I booked an appointment, I secured my certificates first. PRC has reiterated that each seminar should have an accreditation number and its corresponding units. But do you know how much each of the seminars cost me?

·         Hematology training – 3000Php worth 10 CPD units

·         Blood Bank training – 2500php worth 6 CPD units

·         Parasitology training – 3000php worth of 11 CPD units

Imagine, I spent 8500 pesos for these seminars and I still owe them 18 points! Huhu.

I could have presented my drug analyst training certificate but since it doesn’t have CPD units, I just kept it.

HOW TO RENEW YOUR LICENSE?

Obviously, you need to renew your license before the expiration date. Since we have to do online appointment, it is advisable to book your schedule months before the expiration date. In there, you choose your preferred date and don’t forget to take note of your registration code.

When the appointment date comes, bring your certificates and go to PRC office early. Pay the renewal amount

For me, the CPD is just another burden for medical technologists in the Philippines. This should be abolished as soon as possible. Who in their right minds would require CPD units, when each seminars cost an arm and a leg and our salary is not enough to sustain us at the end of month? I mean, come to think of it!

 

Suppressed feelings

'Silently hurting is arguably better than gone wrong confessions.' - Anonymous

Hi! How are you doing? The feelings will just stay to where it should be. Don't worry. Although I was not able to tell you what I really felt before I went away but I guess it's better to keep it that way. I'm afraid that if you'll soon find out, I will lose the friendship between us then I'll go back to being a stranger. I'm not the risky type. I'm not the person who is vocal to my feelings. It will just be awkward to both of us if I confess, I'm pretty sure of that. 

But you know what, I am so happy you shared that little part of yours. I appreciate you giving your spare time listening to what I like. Your simple hi or hello makes my day. I didn't think of falling for you but it just happened. Whenever I think of you, it makes me smile and wonder when exactly this feelings started.

I guess this is goodbye. I'm glad you became one of my inspiration. It's better to let these words left unspoken. After all, I'm used to this one-sided feeling. It's time to let go. It's better to admire you silently without you knowing. One day, I'm gonna look back at this moment and laugh. With another guy to crush on. Maybe in the afterlife, we'll meet someday. Who knows? Thank you for the memories. Till then.

Phlebotomist Version 2.0

So much has happened for the past two months of being away from my blog and I must say, it's hectic. I have so much in mind but for the sake of keeping this blog short, I will just put in here the most important ones. 

Well, I never thought I would be back in phlebotomy since I applied as a tech in this hospital. For 2 months, I am working as a phlebotomist to help out the short-staffed department. 

Unlike in the Philippines where we use warding trays, this time, we are using CARTS. Although the carts are heavier but it's got everything I need like blood culture bottles and bigger spaces for trash and sharps containers. It's paperless as well as it has a laptop where we can see the list of patients that needs to be drawn and indicates what tubes to use for that certain tests.

What's more is that we have this walkie talkie named Vocera which we use as our mode of communication between my phleb mates and nurses. It has cool features like it can locate your workmate, broadcast among the group, and call a nurse when you need help in getting the blood from the patients central line (PICC line).

Right now, we are assigned in overnights and had to clean up or finish two floors before our shift ends. After the shift, we rush to the kitchen to eat breakfast and rest for the whole day. 

There are two of us drawing blood from patients and there are times when we're stuck in the Emergency Room because of the STATS and Time-sensitive draws.

Because of the increasing cases of COVID-19, we need to protect ourselves by changing PPEs to each and every rooms we draw which a little bit of a hassle and time-consuming but it's for the safety of everybody. 

Rapid Response, Sepsis and STEMI alerts and especially Code Blues make me nervous.