Emergency Department - Morgue

[Ol' Blue Eyes]

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Have any of you worked as a "patient transport associate" at a hospital? I am just beginning to cycle into my life as a quasi non-traditional premed, and I might be getting this type of job very soon. I am wondering if I should keep looking for better possibilities for experiences(e.g. clinical research) that may look better on a resume or if I should take what I can get, considering my newcomer status to the field. I have read the forums on clinical experience, emergency departments, etc., but I wanted to see if anyone had had any positive experiences doing this kind of work(i.e. "transport patients from the ED to inpatient floors and/or hospital test areas, transport deceased patients to hospital morgue, deliver specimens to laboratories, maintain records of time patient was transported, maintain transport equipment in clean condition..."). Should I be concerned that I am not getting started on the right clinical / research track, or is it safe to assume that bigger and better things will come of this?



Ol' Blue Eyes 👍

 

[The JockDoc]

I used to volunteer in the ED, and I really, really disliked transporting stuff. Pushing sleeping patients, carts full of blood, food, charts etc. does very little to increase your knowledge of medicine (but maybe, maybe how a hospital functions). It's constantly back and forth along the hospital corridors for your entire shift. Sometimes you might get lucky and talk to the patient you transport, that's cool 🙄 .

It may help to get paid though. Just don't think it will be an enthralling experience. My advice is to look for other things to do if you're trying to get more research/clinical experience.

 

[skhichi]

In high school I worked (volunteered) as a patient transport tech. Most of the people that actually worked there were college-aged guys that were in the midst of applying to medical school. I think that it is decent exposure to a medical setting. It's not the best because you don't really see anything. I wasn't allowed into the morgue at the time since I was only like fourteen but seeing deceased people would probably toughen you up a little for the anatomy labs to come.

 

[sistahnik]

well I work in the ER as an ED Tech. I draw blood, do EKG's, etc. I do some transporting of patients, mostly when they are monitored patients though, just in case of coding the nurse has someone to perform CPR with him/her. I have been a tech for a little over a month now and I have assisted with CPR and taken a body to the morgue already. it is very awful to see someone just stop breathing, do CPR, and then they code and not come back around. the morgue is a very horrible place to go but it will definitely allow you to see the other side of things. I had a very tough time bagging the patient and transporting them to the morgue but I needed to do it to get my skin toughened a little. I think it's a great job because I will know what to expect from the families when they are told their loved ones are passed away, also working in the ER offers some challenges so that if I get a chance to do rotations, nothing will be a surprise to me. I think that I will still have some surprises, but at least I will know how to respond and be prepared to take care of business. this last month has been a great learning experience for me, because for 6 years I was used to all my patients coming in the office and leaving to go home afterwards. In the ER, the patients will come in dead or alive and if they come in dead, they will definitely not return home, at least not the way they came in. 🙁 that first patients death really took a toll on me and when I was on my way home that day I just couldn't stop crying and I couldn't stop thinking about her. sorry to be so long winded about the whole ER thing, but I'm so excited to be apart of the team. you should really give it a try. 👍 😉

 

[Ol' Blue Eyes]

Well it looks like I got the job if I want it, as a Patient Transport Associate. I walked through the hospital, a large one, and was shown the different floors, various emergency departments, and the morgue. The manager said that he thought that I was overqualified. I told him that I had no place else to go and that I hoped to get somewhere better by starting with this opportunity.

He was actually relieved when he heard that I did not plan to be there for more than a year, because he said he did not understand how someone could do it for longer. As I watched the doctors walk through the halls though, I wished that I could do more than just wheeling around patients as a job. Take what you can get sometimes, I guess. This will be a decent experience, and it will only be part time.

 

[Gerg]

You're there, and you're getting paid. Sure people are busy, but network, network, network. Nobody like the Chief of Staff of a huge hospital to write you a LOR.