Phlebotomy has evolved from the era of using leeches to extract toxins from the blood using leeches to being the most common way of obtaining blood samples for analysis. Phlebotomy is a basic practice for various medical professions as the analysis of the blood is essential to obtaining information on the condition of the body.Phlebotomy is usually taught as part of various medical professional courses. There are phlebotomy classes online though in order to be certified, one must take several hours of practical lessons in drawing blood.The phlebotomy course is part of the basic training of the nursing profession. In terms of volume, Nurses probably collect the highest amount of blood as they have the highest contact with patients and it is considered to be part of the job description. Nurses receive the best training in phlebotomy due to the fact that they may be required to extract blood from hard to reach veins under difficult conditions .Sterilized instruments must be used and proper labelling,storage and transportation must be in order. All phlebotomists of course must take care that the blood samples do not get contaminated. Generally nurses usually do not take phlebotomy classes online as it is a compulsory unit in nursing school and nurses get more practical hours than any other medical profession in phlebotomy. There are exceptions to this if the student does not have time to accommodate the unit into his/her workload, they may decide to do the online option.Those aspiring to work in community health centers and blood donation centers however can take phlebotomy classes online before going for practicals at hospitals on a part time basis since unlike nurses, most phlebotomists working in such fields are usually on a voluntary basis and phlebotomy is just a useful addition to their wide set of skills and they are usually supervised a very experienced phlebotomist like a clinical laboratory technologist.Medical interns and medical students form the largest groups who doing phlebotomy classes online due to their huge academic workload in the case of medical students thus they can only do it during their free time and the unpredictable work schedule of medical interns who may use the free time they have between the calls of duty to advance their skills. Indeed most online phlebotomy classes usually seem to be designed with these two groups in mind.Other medical professions that require phlebotomy include Medical Assistants, Physicians and Paramedics. Medical Assistants in particular take phlebotomy classes online almost as frequently as medical interns since in recent years, learning to become a medical assistant has also become a predominantly online taught profession rather than being taught in class.In order to obtain certification, one must first either take phlebotomy classes online or take the course in a classroom setting.The course must cover the basics of Laboratory procedures, safety measures, medical terminologies and how to communicate with patients. Practical lessons must be taken at an accredited institution and the various tests taken. On passing,Accreditation can be obtained from various accreditation institutions such as The American Society for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (ASCLS).Usually the certifying agency will offer a certification exam which if passed, allows you to practice phlebotomy under any profession.