Emt-b???

[c5212]

We have an EMS course which prepares you to test to become a certified EMT-B at our high school. I was wondering just how much becoming an EMT-B and working part-time as one would help in regards to medical school.

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[schrizto]

It should be good clinical experience.

 

[146233]

It will not 'help' you in medical school, per se. What it will do, provided you use it for some respectable period of time, is help you learn to talk to patients and practice taking basic histories. It may introduce you to physicians you'd like to shadow, etc., but it really shows you just how much you don't know about medicine.

Beyond that, you'll make some friends and have a decent job for awhile. Do not do it because you think it'll help you get into medical school [it won't] or will make school easier [it won't]. It's a good class and a good job, but only do it if you want to do it for what it is; not for what you think it'll get you.

 

[tennisball80]

Do it.

 

[docB]

I agree with Zipmedic. If your heart is set on med school then putting time and effort into getting excellent grades and MCATs is the most effective way to get into med school. Extras like EMT, research, a great personality and so on will not do you as much good as putting that time into grades and MCATs.

 

[Druggernaut]

I'm very happy with my experiences as an EMT. That said, you'll have a hard time doing anything with it until you're older. Most paying jobs won't accept you until you're 21, and only volunteer fire departments that are really hurting for people will maybe take you in.

If you're looking for clinical experience, start with some volunteering, like the Red Cross. If you decide you still want to pursue work as an EMT, do it when you're closer to 21, so you can practice what you've learned shortly after licensure/certification. Do it now, and you'll probably end up forgetting most of it before finding a job, and you'll be a liability.

 

[EMS5]

I actually completed a program pretty much the same as yours. Mine included firefighting, rescue, hazardous materials, and ems. it is a rigorous course (as far as high school courses go), but i am glad i did it. I got credits towards graduation and i love volunteering in EMS

 

[FuturaDocta]

First let me tell you that it's a great idea to be an EMT because of the CE. Secondly, there is a way you can get trained for free. Have you ever tried calling the city or maybe the fire department?

It may be a little more time consuming because they will put you through a rigorous course that requires full time. It's because they pay you to go to class, so they want you out asap.

 

[xnfs93hy]

First let me tell you that it's a great idea to be an EMT because of the CE. Secondly, there is a way you can get trained for free. Have you ever tried calling the city or maybe the fire department?

It may be a little more time consuming because they will put you through a rigorous course that requires full time. It's because they pay you to go to class, so they want you out asap.

It's worth it IMO. Because the course by me is upwards of $550. If you are part of a vol. squad, it's no cost..the volunteer org. pays for all of it.

 

[Kate47]

We have an EMS course which prepares you to test to become a certified EMT-B at our high school. I was wondering just how much becoming an EMT-B and working part-time as one would help in regards to medical school.

EMS is amazing. I have so much fun on calls and am going into my senior year. I'm an EMT in MD so had take hazmat and ems, but it was worth every second. Great interactions with patients and seeing patients with different conditions giving you a great perspective on the diseases.

 

[docB]

While the consensus is building that EMS is a terrific stepping stone to med school let me just point out that everyone who has said that is a pre med. You'll note that the attending/EMS director and the paramedic who got into medical school disagree.

EMS is a great field but it is its own field. It is inappropriate to try to use it as an extracurricular activity to pad an application. There is a lengthy explanation of why here.

 

[146233]

Great interactions with patients and seeing patients with different conditions giving you a great perspective on the diseases.

docB is right. He and I, each with exposure to both EMS and "real" medicine, are urging you to use caution when pursuing EMS as a resume-builder or stepping stone into medical school. Maybe take that for what it's worth?

The "perspective" EMS gives you is "I'm sorry you're feeling ill, here's some oxygen, let me take you to the hospital." While it is occasionally possible to get a moment of the emergency physician's time, the "perspective on the diseases" is very limited, even at the ALS level.

Prehospital providers know a great deal about an extremely small area of medicine; in fact, the actual "medicine" they know is very small - it's mostly packaging and transport with the occasional identification of an immediate life-threat. As a hardcharging paramedic, I didn't want to believe this, but now that I'm in my second year of training, I now know it to be true. This, of course, isn't to say that EMS doesn't have a very important place - it does - but it is not part of the traditional pre-med curriculum for a reason.

If you want perspective on disease, study hard, get into medical school, and enjoy pathology/pathophysiology. That is great perspective.