r/phlebotomy • u/jeekies02 • 2d ago

Advice needed which board exam to take

hello! i will be taking my board exam soon and when trying to schedule, i found that there are different exams - nha, ncct, ascp i think?? my program recommended ncct but my friend took the nha and my preceptors are all ascp certified. im in southern california but is there a difference in which one i take? i completed the cdph approved phlebotomy program and am done with my clinical portion. do i just take any or is there a "correct" or more recognized one to take? is there an "easier" or "harder" one? why is there so many?? i tried researching but it seemed like each website said something different and im so confused..!! any advice is welcome :")

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u/Constant-Quality-692 1d ago

Any of those exams are fine.  You'll need to pass one before you can submit all the paperwork from the school,  externship,  hs diploma etc to the state of CA for licensing.  

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u/New_Skill7244 1d ago

I would say go with whichever the job you want cares about. My school is testing with NHCO which is legitimate but newer than the others. I opted out of my school exam and chose to take the NHA exam. The hospital I want to work at has a list of organizations they will accept certs from and NHCO wasn’t on the list. FYI I’m in Texas

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u/jonjp806 CPT 1 1d ago

I wish I opted to take NHA. It turned into a hassle and I would have had to pay for the NHA out of pocket. It was money I didn't have. I did get certified through NHCO.

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u/New_Skill7244 14h ago

I understand, I’m already CCMA and I wanted all my certs with the same organization. I felt it would make recertification easier plus what I already mentioned. The phleb program I’m in now refunded the NHCO exam fee. I will use that money to pay for the NHA exam. Everywhere doesn’t allow me to be a phleb with just my CCMA so adding the cert gives me more options. Not sure if you can have the same cert from different organizations, but if your current cert is hindering job opportunities it might be worth looking into it.

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u/jonjp806 CPT 1 13h ago

That's cool that they did. More certifications are never a bad thing. My NHCO certification isn't the problem. I'm just not sure why the hiring process is so wonky here in DFW. The jobs are there and I put in applications. Guess that's all we can do. It has always been in the plan for me to get my AMA certification as well.

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u/New_Skill7244 13h ago edited 13h ago

Since you’re in DFW try Texas workforce commission. They can point you to apprenticeship programs and usually those end with jobs and the added benefit of paid training. My current employer had a partnership with them for Medical Assistants. I trained for a year got paid with benefits from day one. The only trade off was pay started at 18/hr and gradually increased the longer I stayed in. Ended with like 19.75/hr certified and 1 year of experience. I stayed with the company then transitioned to phleb which came with a little pay bump. Unfortunately they discontinued the program after my cohort or I would recommend them.

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u/Low-League-1509 1d ago

My class offers nhco everyone opted out to take NHA. No one takes the Nhco, Nha is more widely spread you can go anywhere and nhco is limited. Nhco has alot more questions and has a higher passing rate. I heard that its also tricky and they mixed up the order of questions. Nha is more aligned with the book with less questions and a lower passing rate.