Phlebotomist to respiratory therapy technician
A phlebotomist already meets 34% of what the respiratory therapy technician role asks for. The move turns on 10 required skills not yet in the profile.
67.1/ 100
1 How much of what a respiratory therapy technician is expected to do is already part of a phlebotomist’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the respiratory therapy technician role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A respiratory therapy technician role treats 7 of its required skills as things a phlebotomist already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- communicate in healthcare
- comply with legislation related to health care
- ensure safety of healthcare users
- human anatomy
- hygiene in a health care setting
- medical terminology
What stands in the way is 10 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 8 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A respiratory therapy technician role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a phlebotomist background worth leading with.
- already held medical informatics health and welfare
- already held hygiene in a health care setting services
- already held medical terminology health and welfare
- already held communicate in healthcare communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held ensure safety of healthcare users assisting and caring
- already held work in multidisciplinary health teams communication, collaboration and creativity
All 8 carried skills, including the 7 the respiratory therapy technician role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 23 missing skills fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn clinical perfusion required
- still to learn respiratory medicine required
- still to learn respiratory therapy required
- optional, not held emergency surgery optional
- optional, not held rehabilitation of all organ systems optional
- optional, not held surgery optional
- optional, not held clinical imaging techniques optional
- optional, not held first aid optional
- still to learn carry out invasive cardiovascular procedures required
- still to learn comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice required
- still to learn contribute to continuity of health care required
- still to learn operate breathing equipment required
- still to learn operate heart-lung machines required
- still to learn apply context specific clinical competences required
- optional, not held promote health and safety optional
- optional, not held provide pre-treatment information optional
- optional, not held develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship optional
- still to learn health care legislation required
- optional, not held conduct polysomnography optional
- optional, not held interpret medical images optional
- optional, not held manage healthcare users' data optional
2 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a respiratory therapy technician role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 apply context specific clinical competences practise this
- 02 carry out invasive cardiovascular procedures practise this
- 03 clinical perfusion study this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 8 skills that carry over
- already held communicate in healthcare skill
- already held comply with legislation related to health care skill
- already held ensure safety of healthcare users skill
- already held human anatomy knowledge
- already held hygiene in a health care setting knowledge
- already held medical terminology knowledge
- already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
- already held medical informatics knowledge
The 2 learning areas not shown above
- optional, not held respond to changing situations in health care optional
- optional, not held use e-health and mobile health technologies optional
13 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held conduct polysomnography optional
- optional, not held emergency surgery optional
- optional, not held interpret medical images optional
- optional, not held promote health and safety optional
- optional, not held provide pre-treatment information optional
- optional, not held rehabilitation of all organ systems optional
- optional, not held surgery optional
- optional, not held use e-health and mobile health technologies optional
- optional, not held clinical imaging techniques optional
- optional, not held develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship optional
- optional, not held first aid optional
- optional, not held manage healthcare users' data optional
- optional, not held respond to changing situations in health care optional
29 held skills the respiratory therapy technician role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role assist patients with special needs skill
- not needed by the target role blood collection on babies knowledge
- not needed by the target role blood donation knowledge
- not needed by the target role blood product storage conditions knowledge
- not needed by the target role blood transfusion knowledge
- not needed by the target role blood type classification knowledge
- not needed by the target role collect biological samples from patients skill
- not needed by the target role conduct cancer screening tests skill
- not needed by the target role conduct routine blood testing skill
- not needed by the target role empathise with the healthcare user skill
- not needed by the target role explain the molecular basis of a disease to patients skill
- not needed by the target role human physiology knowledge
- not needed by the target role infection control knowledge
- not needed by the target role interact with healthcare users skill
- not needed by the target role label blood samples skill
- not needed by the target role label medical laboratory samples skill
- not needed by the target role maintain professional records skill
- not needed by the target role manage infection control in the facility skill
- not needed by the target role monitor basic patients signs skill
- not needed by the target role paediatric phlebotomy procedures knowledge
- not needed by the target role perform reconstructive microsurgery skill
- not needed by the target role perform venepuncture procedures skill
- not needed by the target role respond to healthcare users' extreme emotions skill
- not needed by the target role sterilization techniques knowledge
- not needed by the target role techniques of blood-sampling knowledge
- not needed by the target role transport blood samples skill
- not needed by the target role use foreign languages in patient care skill
- not needed by the target role use technical equipment for sterilisation skill
- not needed by the target role use venepuncture procedure equipment skill
9 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn clinical perfusion required
- still to learn respiratory medicine required
- still to learn respiratory therapy required
- still to learn health care legislation required
- optional, not held emergency surgery optional
- optional, not held rehabilitation of all organ systems optional
- optional, not held surgery optional
- optional, not held clinical imaging techniques optional
- optional, not held first aid optional
Common questions about this move
Can a phlebotomist become a respiratory therapy technician?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A phlebotomist already covers 34% of what a respiratory therapy technician is expected to do: 8 skills carry over, 7 of which the respiratory therapy technician role treats as required.
What skills does a phlebotomist need to become a respiratory therapy technician?
10 required skills are missing, plus 13 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by health and welfare. The single most important is apply context specific clinical competences.
How hard is the move from phlebotomist to respiratory therapy technician?
Its learning distance is 67.1 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.