Back to the field

[EMS5]

Some people just belong in the field...so I'm going to finish my BS in emergency health services/paramedic and go back to the field for a while.

Anyone else headed back to the field lately/soon?

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[Altruist]

I respect your decision, but I don't think there's much chance I'll ever go back to the streets as a medic.

I started med school with the best of intentions. I was in a new state and got my state medic license thinking I'd volunteer with the local auxiliary... but it just never happened. It came down to the fact that after a solid week of school, the last thing I want to do is spend all Saturday or Sunday on a rig. I've kept my NREMT-P cert, mostly out of pride I suppose, but I switched to inactive in my last renewal.

I guess my justification is that going back to it in a half-assed way would be worse than not at all. I would give you odds of about 50/50 that I'll end up back in EM once I'm done with school, so it's not that I don't like it. But 5 years of being a medic was enough for me.

Good luck, and stay safe.

 

[Dwindlin]

I went back. Tried not to because of school. Missed it too much. I typically do every Saturday.

 

[deleted6669]

I don't work the field anymore, haven't in 15 yrs, but I do supervise and train medics( during their hospital training). I still keep the credentials up (for st. cred mostly) and my id's say pa-c, emt-p. I'm more proud of the emt-p than my postgrad ms so list the emt-p instead of the ms(and don't want to do the rn thing of rn, bsn, ccrn, cen, cns, etc).
if I ever end up in a rural location I will probably volunteer in the field again but let someone else do the heavy lifting and driving....

 

[Dwindlin]

I don't work the field anymore, haven't in 15 yrs, but I do supervise and train medics( during their hospital training). I still keep the credentials up (for st. cred mostly) and my id's say pa-c, emt-p. I'm more proud of the emt-p than my postgrad ms so list the emt-p instead of the ms(and don't want to do the rn thing of rn, bsn, ccrn, cen, cns, etc).
if I ever end up in a rural location I will probably volunteer in the field again but let someone else do the heavy lifting and driving....

lol I don't drive anything anymore. I always tech on the box and ride backwards on engine calls.

 

[McPoyle]

Loved it for six years, went to school intending to work casually but ended up letting my cert lapse this past March.... Missed for a bout a week till I was talking to some old coworkers via FB about what they'd been up to.... Yeah I made the right decision.

 

[snydermedic]

I just left my job to finish my Bio/Pre-Med Bachelors full time about 6 months ago. Every time i hear an ambulance going "red" through the city I think to myself "Man I could use a call right now." I just don't have any space in my schedule for working/volunteering right now. I just miss that feeling of working up a pt and knowing you made a difference.

 

[pseudoknot]

I continued to ride on the ambulance during med school, including third year. I just challenged the paramedic exam and am working to get cleared as an ALS provider by my agency (in a few weeks I'll be doing that full time as a fourth year elective). I kept doing it because it was fun and I enjoyed having an area where I felt competent and was a valued member of the team, unlike medical school.

 

[1fastmedic]

It's been an interesting 13 years on a medic truck, but I'm ready for a break from it all. Will be sending the NREMT-P cert to the "inactive" list this renewal cycle. My state card, however, will be renewed in July before I start class, and will remain current until I finish med school. I don't think I'll ever go back on the road, although I would be interested in EMS affiliation after I graduate in 2015. For those that will still be out there in the field, stay safe.

 

[fiznat]

It's been an interesting 13 years on a medic truck, but I'm ready for a break from it all. Will be sending the NREMT-P cert to the "inactive" list this renewal cycle. My state card, however, will be renewed in July before I start class, and will remain current until I finish med school. I don't think I'll ever go back on the road, although I would be interested in EMS affiliation after I graduate in 2015. For those that will still be out there in the field, stay safe.

Congrats on your graduation from EMS! I feel the same way, and if my applications this cycle are as successful as yours were, I too will be hanging the NREMT-P up for a little while. I do think an EMS fellowship or something like that would be interesting, though.

 

[SarVA]

Pseudoknot - what is the process for challenging the paramedic exam in VA? What year do you have to be in before you can try it? I am currently a Virginia EMT-B and will likely be attending UVA SOM starting in the fall (I've been accepted but I'm waiting until the Spring to make my final decision about where I go).
Thanks!
Sarah

 

[pseudoknot]

You have to be a third or fourth year med student. The regulations are currently outlined in these two documents:

http://www.vdh.state.va.us/OEMS/Training/TPAM/Policies/T-660.pdf
http://www.vdh.state.va.us/OEMS/Training/TPAM/Forms/TR-37 - PA & NP Competency Summary.pdf

You also need the signature of a Virginia OMD, and according to T-660 you need to be ALS already (I was Enhanced when I did this). However, I do know one person who did it as an EMT-B. It all seems to be on a case-by-case basis. This may change as this gets incorporated into the new EMS regulations currently winding through the approval process.

They also refer to 50 team leads in the form TR-37. My reading of T-660 is that med students shouldn't have to do those, only PAs and NPs, but I was initially told I would have to complete that as well. Later they let me hand in the paperwork without the 50 team leads.

It's a little confusing. Let me know if you have more questions. Good luck!

Pseudoknot - what is the process for challenging the paramedic exam in VA? What year do you have to be in before you can try it? I am currently a Virginia EMT-B and will likely be attending UVA SOM starting in the fall (I've been accepted but I'm waiting until the Spring to make my final decision about where I go).
Thanks!
Sarah