Becoming a NY EMS

[ohgodidonteven]

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Is it worth it to become a NY EMS this year (rising junior)? It has no effect whether I can work as an EMS during the year at school (they accept untrained people), and i'm applying at the end of my junior year. Is it at all of use on my application?

 

[runrunrudolph1]

Is it worth it to become a NY EMS this year (rising junior)? It has no effect whether I can work as an EMS during the year at school (they accept untrained people), and i'm applying at the end of my junior year. Is it at all of use on my application?

EMT, haha EMS is the system, will you get a chance to actually work (aka patient contact) or are you just getting certified?

 

[ohgodidonteven]

If I get accepted into the school's EMS I will be trained and have patient contact (you can be accepted without being an EMT). If I don't, would taking the EMT course be useful at all?

 

[EMS5]

OP, search the forums as this question comes up a couple times a week.

As runrunrudolph1 said, EMS (emergency medical services) is the system, EMT (emergency medical technician) is the person.

Be wary that just getting certified in the first place will take anywhere from 4 to 6 months depending on class availability and your states credentialing system.

In general, if you are just doing this because it will look good as an EC/clinical experience, don't do it. The people you work with will know it, the adcoms will know it, and it's a waste of time that could be better spent doing something else. Judging by your initial post, you are primarily interested in the effect it will have on your application. Because of your current class status (rising junior), getting certified will have very little if any effect on your application due to your lack of field experience.

If you have a bona fide interest in EMS and pre-hospital patient care, by all means go for it. Your campus may only train you to the level of first responder (which is first-aid for dummies) if you are not on a transporting service, so beware. Working part-time for a private transport service can be a good way to bring in some extra cash during the summer, and volunteering at a fire dept/ ems squad is always time well spent IF you are truly interested in it.

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me and I'll help you the best I can.

 

[Omni]

If I get accepted into the school's EMS I will be trained and have patient contact (you can be accepted without being an EMT). If I don't, would taking the EMT course be useful at all?

Not unless he meant emergency medical serviceman.

 

[EMS5]

Not unless he meant emergency medical serviceman.

🙄 I'm going to do that next time I call in a patient on the way to the hospital...." hi this is medic xx, serviceman yy, coming to you with a..."

 

[ohgodidonteven]

In general, if you are just doing this because it will look good as an EC/clinical experience, don't do it.

I'd like to do it so I can learn how to perform first-aid and as you mentioned later, maybe work for an ambulatory service. My university has its own ambulances so we transport our own patients. However, it in itself is a significant investment of time for the training (6 hours a week for two semester) while I have MCAT/applications/classes/worl to do. Therefore, I wanted to know if there was some synergy between the two. I think what I may do is apply to the EMS squad, if I get in, then invest the time in the training, but otherwise, maybe take a course during the summer instead.

As for working part-time, how would you go about doing that? What's the pay like? What are the hours like?

 

[EMS5]

The first aid you will learn is more common sense stuff, nothing fancy. If it bleeds you bandage it, if everything is all f**ed up, just put it on a spine board and give it oxygen and take it to the hospital. I would suggest your college's first aid course (usually offered as a phys ed course), which will provide you with red cross first aid training and a cpr card.

The biggest point I am trying to stress is that you will not have sufficient time from now until you apply or even begin medical school to gain a significant amount of experience as a college student. I don't want to discourage you/anyone who is interested but the cert will be useless once you get into medical school.

Part-time transport services hire boat loads of EMT's straight out of class. Just find out who is hiring around you. Pay isn't as much as 911 EMS, but from what I've seen is typically around $10-12/hour. Hours depend on the company, but private transports happen at all times of the day.

 

[Tesseract]

Any NYS EMT-B class is intense. Yes, it may only be 6 hours a week on paper, but many of these classes also require clinical shadowing in emergency departments. You will also need to study outside of class. When I took my EMT-B class, I did a 12 hour/week class during the summer. I studied for 4-6 hours every week.

In my region of NY state, EMT-B's are paid about 12$/hour with prior experience. We also work 6, 9, or 11 hour shifts. Again, these shifts are on paper. If you take a call 30 minutes before an 11 hour shift ends, then you just earned a 12-13 hour shift.

The adrenaline rush keeps me in EMS. I have had some of the scariest, some of the most rewarding, and some of the most exciting times of my life in the back of an ambulance. By placing you in emergency situations, EMS will teach you to think critically and quickly. Also, you will start developing your bedside manner and may have the opportunity to meet some interesting people.

Please, if you pursue your certification, then use it to better the welfare of your community. Don't be one of those pre-meds that goes after it just to have the card in their wallet.

 

[ohgodidonteven]

The biggest point I am trying to stress is that you will not have sufficient time from now until you apply or even begin medical school to gain a significant amount of experience as a college student. I don't want to discourage you/anyone who is interested but the cert will be useless once you get into medical school.

I'm willing to believe that the cert is useless once I get into med school. I suppose spending a 1000 dollars for certification is not worth the summer or two of work I can do (or maybe it is?) What about working as an EMT in the summers between medical school? Or is that usually reserved for something else?

Thank you for your input Tesseract, I'd love to ride around as an EMT, in fact, one of my goals is to get into my school's EMS service so I can do just that (also why I love to volunteer in the ER, always something to do). However, my primary goal is to get into medical school, so if getting certified would harm my chances, then its something that might not be in my best interest. That being said, if you got into medical school, why would your EMT credentials be defunct? Wouldn't you still need them to get a job in an ambulance?

 

[EMS5]

I'm not in NY state so I'll leave the question of whether the agency will cover the cost of the class to tesseract...

The greatest deciding factor in whether or not you do it should be whether or not you could see yourself doing it if you weren't going into medicine. If its something you really want to do, I suppose you could find time in your first couple summers (I can't help but think I'll want to be a lazy bum those summers though).

If you haven't already, don't forget things like research and clinical experience that schools look for while you are working/taking summer classes. If you have, way to stay ahead of the game 🙂

EDIT: Let me clarify my statement about your EMT card being useless in medical school. Clinically speaking, in regards to patient care in the hospital, your card doesn't hold any gravity. As an EMT, I don't want a nurse (with all due respect, some nurses kick a** at this) telling me how to do c-spine; and in the same respect I'm sure a doctor or resident wouldn't want an EMT telling them their jobs. As long as you keep up your con ed and recerts, your card is good as long as you want it.

 

[ohgodidonteven]

Also, how close are you to the guys you ride around with? I've always thought that being on-call with a group of people would be a really good way to bond with them, kind of like serving in the military with the same members of a unit.

 

[EMS5]

Also, how close are you to the guys you ride around with? I've always thought that being on-call with a group of people would be a really good way to bond with them, kind of like serving in the military with the same members of a unit.

Ehh this can be a VERY subjective opinion from person to person. Working commercial EMS you will probably be part-time and work with a variety of people. You will definitely develop friendships (and not-so-much) but not the level of bonding you're referring to.

If you land a full time job in commercial or 911 EMS, especially when you work regular overnights (24/72's etc), there are bonds and friendships to be made, and people that just won't like you no matter what you do. It's a good experience on the whole.

 

[ohgodidonteven]

If you haven't already, don't forget things like research and clinical experience that schools look for while you are working/taking summer classes. If you have, way to stay ahead of the game 🙂

Haha, I've worked 8-week internships both summers doing bench work. I think working as an EMT would be something interesting to do, at least for a few summers (before having to do other things).

Working commercial EMS you will probably be part-time and work with a variety of people. You will definitely develop friendships (and not-so-much) but not the level of bonding you're referring to.

Hopefully I'll be running with the school's EMS and I know some people who are already on there (although not very well).

 

[ohgodidonteven]

Here's an update.

I took an accelerated course in my home state, became certified as an EMS and just applied for NY reciprocity. Huzzah.

 

[Morsetlis]

Any NYS EMT-B class is intense. Yes, it may only be 6 hours a week on paper, but many of these classes also require clinical shadowing in emergency departments. You will also need to study outside of class. When I took my EMT-B class, I did a 12 hour/week class during the summer. I studied for 4-6 hours every week.

In my region of NY state, EMT-B's are paid about 12$/hour with prior experience. We also work 6, 9, or 11 hour shifts. Again, these shifts are on paper. If you take a call 30 minutes before an 11 hour shift ends, then you just earned a 12-13 hour shift.

The adrenaline rush keeps me in EMS. I have had some of the scariest, some of the most rewarding, and some of the most exciting times of my life in the back of an ambulance. By placing you in emergency situations, EMS will teach you to think critically and quickly. Also, you will start developing your bedside manner and may have the opportunity to meet some interesting people.

Please, if you pursue your certification, then use it to better the welfare of your community. Don't be one of those pre-meds that goes after it just to have the card in their wallet.

I agree with everything except the last sentence. It is useful knowledge even if you wouldn't apply it. If nothing else, it prepares you for patient contact and history taking / pd later on in med school.