Are ADCOMS wary of Paramedics/Military Medics?

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SARmedic8401

SARmedic8401

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Anyone who's been in the EMS or Military medicine fields are aware of the "Para-God" mentality that sometimes exist, or the military medics who take the nickname "doc" a little too far. How can an applicant convey to ADCOMs that the negative traits associated with these stereotypes are not reflective of him or herself? Is it a combination of LORs, service oriented ECs, and strong interview? Or, is this such a non-issue that it needs no worrying about, and just let your application speak for itself?

I'm still 10ish months away from applying, but am trying to get as much insight as I can, in preparation.

Thanks!
 
Strong research interests? I don't have the experience to answer your question, but I imagine that clinical research (kind of like the opposite end of what a paramedic might do) would round out your application. I am waiting for my EMT license in the mail so I can start applying to ambulance services around me; I have a lot of science coursework and research experience but not a lot of patient contact hours at the moment. This I imagine, is "the other side of the coin." What are your research interests?
 
adrenocorticotropicana said:
Strong research interests? I don't have the experience to answer your question, but I imagine that clinical research (kind of like the opposite end of what a paramedic might do) would round out your application. I am waiting for my EMT license in the mail so I can start applying to ambulance services around me; I have a lot of science coursework and research experience but not a lot of patient contact hours at the moment. This I imagine, is "the other side of the coin." What are your research interests?
Click to expand...

I have no formal research experience, but am a public health major and am interested in related issues. I prefer to be social and outside more than I enjoy a lab setting. The kind of research that interests me would be more along the lines of healthcare/disease disparities, population needs, mental health, etc. I don’t think/hoping that my lack of research experience is a deal breaker for some MD/DO schools, especially the more service oriented ones. I would love to get involved, though, if I can land a spot at a school that offers a dual MPH option.
 
Congrats on getting your EMT tho. It’s a great experience to have depending on where and what system you’re working in.
 
SARmedic8401 said:
Anyone who's been in the EMS or Military medicine fields are aware of the "Para-God" mentality that sometimes exist, or the military medics who take the nickname "doc" a little too far. How can an applicant convey to ADCOMs that the negative traits associated with these stereotypes are not reflective of him or herself? Is it a combination of LORs, service oriented ECs, and strong interview? Or, is this such a non-issue that it needs no worrying about, and just let your application speak for itself?

I'm still 10ish months away from applying, but am trying to get as much insight as I can, in preparation.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Military medics we love.

Parameds are fine, but sometimes they get into trouble int he clinical years because they feel they already know everything. The few I've interviewed seem to bone for EM, and have a "bag and tag 'em" mentality.
 
Thanks Goro. I look forward to making a WAMC/schools list post in the spring and getting your insight on that.
 
I don't think it's a negative at all. The subject has come up in a favorable light for me at all my interviews (military medic, not civilian). I do know a few medics who take the moniker "doc" too far, so I understand your point. However, most adcoms (as in most people in general) are not ex-military and don't have experience with these weirdos so I don't think it will be a factor. On the off chance that an adcom member or interview were ex-military AND familiar with such phenomena, they would be able to tell right away by your personal statement/interview if you were, in fact, a self-proclaimed medic messiah.
 
Having served on our ADCOM for two years and being a veteran MP myself, absolutely beneficial to be prior enlisted with med exposure. If I can perform my duties downrange while being shot at, I can handle a GSW in a trauma bay or a fibromyalgia patient in rheum clinic. Prior EMS is also nothing to be concerned about because I feel like >20% of all our applicants had it on their application. Just don't represent yourself in your application to be godlike or a physician yet and you'll be good.

I'd recommend focusing on a meaningful experience from either EMS or military for your PS- they're always great to read.
 
esob said:
I've never driven as slow as I do on base. That 5 MPH tolerance that you can get away with from civilian cops doesn't fly well with the MP's lol
Click to expand...

Haha I remember some of the Marine PMOs wouldn’t even let you on base if you weren’t clean shaven.
 
Civilian paramedic here, current 3rd year. Just stay humble and know your limitations. If you don't know them, preclinical education will make those limitations and large gaps in knowledge clear. Also, the hospital is quite a bit different than the field and there will be no shortage of things you don't know.

Stay humble or get embarrassed
 
Apologies, I kind of went off topic. As far as interviews/applications go, my experience was not a hindrance at all. In fact, it was rarely even brought up during interviews. Most of my interviewees brought up other more unique experiences I had listed on my ECs, despite them feeling quite insignificant to me.
 
pericardium said:
Apologies, I kind of went off topic. As far as interviews/applications go, my experience was not a hindrance at all. In fact, it was rarely even brought up during interviews. Most of my interviewees brought up other more unique experiences I had listed on my ECs, despite them feeling quite insignificant to me.
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Awesome. Thanks for the insight. I’m just trying to get as good of a picture of the process as I can prior to applying.
 
I can't speak to the experience of being an enlisted medic, but I worked in EMS as an EMT and as an ER tech. Neither of those experience were brought up during my interviews, but I felt that I was able to add depth to my answers because I actually had patient contact and all the experiences it came with. It ultimately helped me decide that this was the right path for me. I do not think it will hinder you as an applicant as long as you don't take it to an extreme and act arrogant. You'll be good to go! Best of luck and thank you for your service!
 
Presumably you're applying to medical school at least in part because you *don't* think your EMT or paramedic training was sufficient for what you want to be doing in medicine. If you take that angle on your app, you won't have any worries about coming off as a know-it-all.
 
I was an 18D. I talked about what I do know with confidence, but also explained that there is a whole lot more that i don't. Be humble in how you speak and it will not be an issue.
 
My favorite is "I'm almost a doctor." Makes me want to puke. These are often the folks that don't even have an AS in "paramedic science."


What. A. Joke.
 
frosted2 said:
My favorite is "I'm almost a doctor." Makes me want to puke. These are often the folks that don't even have an AS in "paramedic science."


What. A. Joke.
Click to expand...
Do you mean to tell me that a 6 month accelerated paramedic certificate isn’t pretty much the same as going to medical school?! My whole life has been a lie...
 
SARmedic8401 said:
Anyone who's been in the EMS or Military medicine fields are aware of the "Para-God" mentality that sometimes exist, or the military medics who take the nickname "doc" a little too far. How can an applicant convey to ADCOMs that the negative traits associated with these stereotypes are not reflective of him or herself? Is it a combination of LORs, service oriented ECs, and strong interview? Or, is this such a non-issue that it needs no worrying about, and just let your application speak for itself?

I'm still 10ish months away from applying, but am trying to get as much insight as I can, in preparation.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
It was always talked of as a very strong positive (911 paramedic) in all the interviews that I attended. I wouldn’t be worried about the negative stereotypes; outside of the insular 911/army communities no one really knows that these negative perceptions even exist. I’d just write a good PS, and interview well and it’ll work out just fine.
 
SARmedic8401 said:
Do you mean to tell me that a 6 month accelerated paramedic certificate isn’t pretty much the same as going to medical school?! My whole life has been a lie...
Click to expand...
Haha I did an 8.5 month accelerated program, and honestly it was harder than medical school by far. Got better skills training too...
 
Medic741 said:
Haha I did an 8.5 month accelerated program, and honestly it was harder than medical school by far. Got better skills training too...
Click to expand...

Haha oh man. Was it the amount of content you had to learn in a short amount of time or the hours of ride time/clinicals that made it harder? For me, we had a lot of online content, classes every weekend, and then pretty much lived at the firehouse to get my hours in. The content wasn’t too bad for me since i already had a lot of it from the military. It was just the 80-90 hour weeks I was putting in between work and ride time that was challenging
 
SARmedic8401 said:
Haha oh man. Was it the amount of content you had to learn in a short amount of time or the hours of ride time/clinicals that made it harder? For me, we had a lot of online content, classes every weekend, and then pretty much lived at the firehouse to get my hours in. The content wasn’t too bad for me since i already had a lot of it from the military. It was just the 80-90 hour weeks I was putting in between work and ride time that was challenging
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Haha it was definitely the class+clinical combo. Our classes were M/W/THR 8a-5p and it was an hour drive... as not a morning person that was rough. Got used to the 80 hour weeks fast!

But seriously... with the discipline you’ve got you’ll do really well in school. If you have any questions feel free to pm me! We need more medics in MED school... it’s a unique skill set/perspective that you don’t realize just how valuable it is until you’re getting into the ‘thick’ of med school content.

Now for some APRT and squat benders...
 
adrenocorticotropicana said:
Strong research interests? I don't have the experience to answer your question, but I imagine that clinical research (kind of like the opposite end of what a paramedic might do) would round out your application. I am waiting for my EMT license in the mail so I can start applying to ambulance services around me; I have a lot of science coursework and research experience but not a lot of patient contact hours at the moment. This I imagine, is "the other side of the coin." What are your research interests?
Click to expand...
Cool dude! Stay safe out there
 
Medic741 said:
Haha it was definitely the class+clinical combo. Our classes were M/W/THR 8a-5p and it was an hour drive... as not a morning person that was rough. Got used to the 80 hour weeks fast!

But seriously... with the discipline you’ve got you’ll do really well in school. If you have any questions feel free to pm me! We need more medics in MED school... it’s a unique skill set/perspective that you don’t realize just how valuable it is until you’re getting into the ‘thick’ of med school content.

Now for some APRT and squat benders...
Click to expand...
Yup... I was sleeping maybe 2-3 hours a night (because, PAPERWORK) and driving 1.5 hours to get to some of my clinicals for a month straight. Hardest thing I've done in my life so far.
Looking back it was highly dangerous.
 
My B.S. is in Paramedic science. I saw a lot of the "I'm basically a doctor," but none of them had the stones to apply much less get selected. One common thread I've seen between my colleagues is that they seem painfully aware of their shortcomings and tend to go out of their way to fix that. I'd like to say I do the same but I'm biased
 
Cryc_to_the_point said:
My B.S. is in Paramedic science. I saw a lot of the "I'm basically a doctor," but none of them had the stones to apply much less get selected. One common thread I've seen between my colleagues is that they seem painfully aware of their shortcomings and tend to go out of their way to fix that. I'd like to say I do the same but I'm biased
Click to expand...
I'd like to say the same thing about myself! Its crazy how much some people don't know how much they don't know.
 
Most adcoms don't even know the difference between EMTs and paramedics.

I wouldn't worry about it too much and would follow Quimica's advice when writing your personal statement.
 
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