Clinical Anatomy Associates, Inc.

Count Dracula, Mrs. Dracula, vampires, blood whisperers, etc. These are some of the nicknames given to these professionals who draw blood at medical offices, laboratories and hospitals.

The root term [-phleb-] derives from the Greek  [φλέβα] (phleba) meaning "vein", and the suffix [-otomist] has two components. First [-otom-], from the Greek [τομή] (tomi) meaning "to cut" or "to open" and [-ist] from the Latin [-ista] meaning "he/she who makes or does".  The medical term [phlebotomist] means "he/she who opens veins", a perfect description for these professionals.

For centuries a standard practice in medicine was to "bleed" a patient, by opening a vein under controlled conditions and letting some blood flow. The practice was known as "bloodletting" or phlebotomy, not in use today.  

The image shows a phlebotomist at work using the Vacutainer system for drawing blood

Image by Richardelainechambers (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons