Firefighter/rotating schedule---how can I go back to school?

[Medic2MD4me]

I'd like to go back to school and complete my pre-reqs for med school. The problem is that I work a rotating schedule as a firefighter/paramedic. My department works 24 hours on, followed by 72 hours off. I have so much free time on my days off since I only end up working 2 days a week/8 days a month! I would have ample time to complete coursework and maintain a full time job with this schedule. HOWEVER, because my schedule rotates, actually taking the classes seems impossible!

I'd like to complete in 2 years, starting fall 2010. This would mean taking 2 classes a semester. IF class only met once per week, I would miss 1 class in each subject every 4th week when class fell on my shift day.

Has anyone else attemped going back to school while working a rotating schedule? How do you do it? I can't really do shift swaps with people because I'm the new guy.

I'm in the DC area and have actually emailed a couple post bacc programs seeing if I can take BIO 101 with professor X and sit in on professor Y's BIO 101 class when I am on shift.

The two deans that have written me back have given some some pretty negative response, ie "no, you have to attend every class by the same professor"

Anyone know of a school that offers REALLY flexible scheduling, not just part time or evening classes, but alternating days???

Is this an impossible dream with my current career? Please help.

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[wholeheartedly]

I don't know much about postbaccs but I think you might be able to swing that with a four year university if you just need pre-reqs. If you let instructors know your schedule well in advance they might ok it. I'd just keep calling every place nearby, maybe talk to individual instructors also, not just the deans.

 

[ShinyDome19]

Hey Medic,
I was in a similar boat as you. I worked 2-3, 24 hours shifts a week as an EMT for a year as an undergraduate. It was the best and most exhausting time of my life...but I was able to make it work...for a year at least.

How I made it work was this: First off go in and talk to all your potential professors face to face, not the deans...since its the professors that enforce their attendance policy. I think when I went in to talk to them, I was actually wearing my uniform as I was just coming off a shift and was on my way home...Not sure if that was a smart thing to do, but I think it showed them I was legit. All of the professors I talked to mentioned they didn't care about attendance, and I don't remember any of them giving me a hard time about having to reschedule an exam if I was working during the day it was being administered. But, this is largely to the fact at how my school worked. The school I attended was a decent sized university (~30K students), and classes were either Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 1 hour, or Tuesday and Thursday for 90 mins. I made sure to get all classes that were on M/W/F as this was the only way to fit in a full 12 semester hours, which included laboratories and lectures...If I missed a class on M/W/F, i was able to attend its corresponding lecture or lab on T/Th, under the same professor. same went for exams. But, in all truth, I may have only missed 1 or 2 classes the entire semester because I was able to trade shifts with coworkers...I know you said you were the new guy, but you'd be surprised how easily people will give you their weekend shift for one of your weekday shifts. I am not sure if your station has a policy about how many hours you have to have off between a shift, but there were several times I had to pull a double shift over the weekend to ensure I didn't miss a class.
If you cant get professors to allow you some leeway on missing classes and you cant trade shifts, I honestly dunno how you would go about it. Maybe try talking to the chairs of the individual departments..they have a lot of pull over their professors - I got in good with the biology chair at my former school and he helped make life a lot easier on several occasions - But, even with trading shifts, your still liable to miss a few classes here and there...Like I said up top, I was only able to make this work for a year, but I was in an undergraduate microbiology program and once I got past the basic biology/chemistry/physics courses and into the upperclassman courses, I could no longer schedule all my classes on M/W/F..and thus, I had to give up my EMT work. But, if I was only looking to do the core pre-reqs at the time, I could have easily continued to work.

Not sure if I gave you a whole lot of information...but at least you know its possible now. I had a couple friends who were also EMTs that did the same thing during their undergraduate studies...But again, they went to the same school and did the same thing that I did with scheduling classes. If you can get it to work, Iv got a lot of respect for ya...its tough and exhausting...but totally worth it...interestingly, I remember my grades being the highest during that time. best of luck

 

[Medic2MD4me]

Shiny,

Thanks for the reponse, that was a very refreshing and uplifting look on my situation. I've gotten a response from one dean for a larger university in the area (one that I actually get free or rediculously reduced tuition at for being a district employee). Similar to your post and the previous poster, he told me to speak directly with my potential professors. I am planning on meeting some of the professors over the next couple months, as I'd like to start next fall.

Our FD is very large, so I agree that it should be pretty easy to find shift swaps. I'll just have to recheck the policies to make sure there are no restrictions for probationary members swapping.

Thanks!

 

[CajunMedic]

I concur with the other posters. I'm a full-time Paramedic and a volunteer FF. We rotate 12 hr shifts, days/nights every other month. They let me swap to straight nights. I noticed you said you're probationary-Are they gonna let you study anything on duty other than the "Essentials of Firefighting" book?

Going to talk to people in uniform doesn't hurt, I went in mine since I had just gotten off work. I went in to handle some minor administrative stuff with my major. Got advised early, and met the dean of my program!

It wont be impossible, but it will be tough. There's nothing like doing Trig problems on the way to a call!