EMS experience as ECs?

[Gingermedic]

Hi there everyone!

I'm new to pursuing medical school and am trying to come up with a timeline/plan to obtain my premed degree. I see a lot on here about ECs which I assume are Extra Curricular activities. I see a lot of people volunteering at the hospitals, shadowing MDs, and scribing in addition to non-medical volunteer work.

My question is, does EMS experience count for ECs? I was an EMT for 4 years and have been a paramedic for 3. It seems to me that this gives me quite a bit of experience in the patient care setting (though, of course, different than a MD's perspective). I still plan to shadow an MD in the future, but I'm wondering if my experience with EMS counts for anything.

Thanks for your help!

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[Blanky]

It will be a great EC but it should be added to shadowing. In the absence of research some non clinical volunteering would be good also.

 

[Goro]

Hi there everyone!

I'm new to pursuing medical school and am trying to come up with a timeline/plan to obtain my premed degree. I see a lot on here about ECs which I assume are Extra Curricular activities. I see a lot of people volunteering at the hospitals, shadowing MDs, and scribing in addition to non-medical volunteer work.

My question is, does EMS experience count for ECs? I was an EMT for 4 years and have been a paramedic for 3. It seems to me that this gives me quite a bit of experience in the patient care setting (though, of course, different than a MD's perspective). I still plan to shadow an MD in the future, but I'm wondering if my experience with EMS counts for anything.

Thanks for your help!

That counts fine. I especially like the paramedic part.

 

[Gingermedic]

Thank-you for your help! Additional question (sorry, again, new to this whole thing), what's the purpose of ECs? To gain clinical perspective? To diversify your experience? To develop as a person?

Thanks again!

 

[Cryc_to_the_point]

I'm only a student, but my time as a paramedic seemed to be a positive. There are several of us in my class.

Goro will have a far more relevant answer, but to me it seems the ECs are to evaluate how well you can balance activities, show dedication/interest in medicine, and contribute to establishing yourself as having a personality.

 

[24GaugeEJ]

I included my clinical time as a paramedic -- both in training and afterwards -- in several of the extracurricular activities categories. I think it is perfectly reasonable to do so. Unpaid clinical observation is one of those categories; included a large number of my documented clinical time as a paramedic student (in my program we had hours set aside to shadow ED physicians, interventional cards, etc.). Paid clinical time is another; included all of my time as a paid medic both on the bus and in the ED. Received many, many interview invites this season and happily withdrew from nearly all of them when I was accepted into my hometown medical school. You'll do great things, Gingermedic! Good luck!

 

[MartyMcFly1992]

Subbing to this thread because I am a paramedic as well, I was hoping to include my clinical volunteering times as shadowing because I did some time in several spots including the ICU, Infusion Clinics, and Emergency Dept.

Currently I work as a Community Paramedic which is a different kind of paramedic, I act in a non-traditional role where I help manage the healthcare of people who are uninsured or underinsured with chronic medical problems that cause frequent readmissions. The program I work for has been extremely successful in reducing readmission rates of "frequent flyers". I was wondering how I might be able to make the uniqueness of this work into a positive and where it might come into play come application time.

 

[24GaugeEJ]

Marty, in addition to having worked as part of the 911 system, you’ve also got some practical experience in helping people to manage their chronic illnesses. I think this is a huge positive, which you should have no difficulty highlighting in your application. We have two of these programs in my city: one works with police and responds to substance abuse and mental health calls, the other acts more in the traditional community paramedicine role and works with CHFers, COPDers, etc.... I think it’s an awesome thing.

While you’re taking prereqs and applying, you’ll hear these youngsters talking about their shadowing time or working as a scribe. Neither of those beat out the direct patient care experience you’ve had. The issue is just spelling out exactly what you’ve done (as the ophthalmologist and oncologist on the adcom probably have no idea what medics do or what separates them from an emt-b). It’s one thing to hear a doc talk about disease and transcribe his comments, it’s another to run a cardiac arrest or spend two hours in someone’s home making sure they get their spiriva and get to their next pulmonology appointment.

 

[Magus5454]

I wrote about how my 8 hours of clinical time during my EMT training made me realize my passion for medicine. I also included my paid clinical time as an EMT for a private service. We did hospital to hospital and discharges so I was very familiar with the doctors at the two hospitals we had contracts with.

 

[curbsideconsult]

Subbing to this thread because I am a paramedic as well, I was hoping to include my clinical volunteering times as shadowing because I did some time in several spots including the ICU, Infusion Clinics, and Emergency Dept.

Currently I work as a Community Paramedic which is a different kind of paramedic, I act in a non-traditional role where I help manage the healthcare of people who are uninsured or underinsured with chronic medical problems that cause frequent readmissions. The program I work for has been extremely successful in reducing readmission rates of "frequent flyers". I was wondering how I might be able to make the uniqueness of this work into a positive and where it might come into play come application time.

I think what you're doing is great and it definitely is very unique. You have enough space in the Work/Activities section to write about this well to highlight the wonderful aspects of this program.

Also, I think you may be my density.

 

[24GaugeEJ]

I think what you're doing is great and it definitely is very unique. You have enough space in the Work/Activities section to write about this well to highlight the wonderful aspects of this program.

Also, I think you may be my density.

I don’t think you can tell unless we reach 1.21 gigawatts!

 

[PeninsulaDude]

Good thread to watch

 

[MartyMcFly1992]

Marty, in addition to having worked as part of the 911 system, you’ve also got some practical experience in helping people to manage their chronic illnesses. I think this is a huge positive, which you should have no difficulty highlighting in your application. We have two of these programs in my city: one works with police and responds to substance abuse and mental health calls, the other acts more in the traditional community paramedicine role and works with CHFers, COPDers, etc.... I think it’s an awesome thing.

While you’re taking prereqs and applying, you’ll hear these youngsters talking about their shadowing time or working as a scribe. Neither of those beat out the direct patient care experience you’ve had. The issue is just spelling out exactly what you’ve done (as the ophthalmologist and oncologist on the adcom probably have no idea what medics do or what separates them from an emt-b). It’s one thing to hear a doc talk about disease and transcribe his comments, it’s another to run a cardiac arrest or spend two hours in someone’s home making sure they get their spiriva and get to their next pulmonology appointment.

Thanks 24GuageEJ, I appreciate your input! I am hoping that I can make these experiences stand out on my application as my main concern was what you addressed (nobody can differentiate between an EMT and a medic; although there is a veritable ocean of difference between the two certs.) So my plan is to try and continue the work I am doing while finishing my prereqs and hopefully salvaging the disturbingly low GPA I earned myself in the past. Just now finished my Associates and my cGPA is around 2.35 w/o my EMS credits and 2.5 with.

I love this program that I work for and the impact in my community is immeasurable but the citizens we serve truly appreciate what we do. I am happy to hear it is in other communities as well! I'd be interested in learning more about the ones who work with police... I can definitely see the value of a paramedic intervening with violent psychiatric pt.

 

[Cryc_to_the_point]

Make straight As. Not joking.

 

[24GaugeEJ]

Make straight As. Not joking.

Totally accurate. It may not be worthwhile to you yet, but then again I don’t think it’s too early to get a realistic idea of exactly what you’ll need to do to be competitive in this whole process: spend 20 bucks on the Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR) that the AAMC puts out. It lists the gpa and mcat distributions for both students accepted to and those matriculating at MD schools. I’m sure there’s an equivalent for AACOMAS as well.

It’s a great resource that breaks down scores into a mean and percentiles (10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th). Even though ECs and professional experience are important, you’ll never get your foot in the door to mention them unless you’ve got competitive grades and test scores.

Don’t be overwhelmed. Take it one class at a time, figuratively speaking. But if you really want to do this, you’re going to be dedicating nearly all of your free time to it, especially if you’re working.

I also highly recommend getting a dossier service like Interfolio to keep track of letters of recommendation as you take these classes. Get letters as early as you can from faculty (and make sure that they put them on University letterhead and sign them prior to uploading), preferably after you’ve just aced an exam. Worrying about faculty actually submitting letters while you’re trying to get all of your application stuff together really sucks.

 

[MartyMcFly1992]

Totally accurate. It may not be worthwhile to you yet, but then again I don’t think it’s too early to get a realistic idea of exactly what you’ll need to do to be competitive in this whole process: spend 20 bucks on the Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR) that the AAMC puts out. It lists the gpa and mcat distributions for both students accepted to and those matriculating at MD schools. I’m sure there’s an equivalent for AACOMAS as well.

It’s a great resource that breaks down scores into a mean and percentiles (10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th). Even though ECs and professional experience are important, you’ll never get your foot in the door to mention them unless you’ve got competitive grades and test scores.

Don’t be overwhelmed. Take it one class at a time, figuratively speaking. But if you really want to do this, you’re going to be dedicating nearly all of your free time to it, especially if you’re working.

I also highly recommend getting a dossier service like Interfolio to keep track of letters of recommendation as you take these classes. Get letters as early as you can from faculty (and make sure that they put them on University letterhead and sign them prior to uploading), preferably after you’ve just aced an exam. Worrying about faculty actually submitting letters while you’re trying to get all of your application stuff together really sucks.

Awesome, thanks a ton for the advice and everything. I have really been working towards reinventing myself as a student and I have been doing a decent job so far but as I'm sure everyone who has been me at some point is aware that this is extremely demanding as a full-time student/Paramedic.

I just signed up for interfolio, thanks for the solid advice, I never would have thought to do that!

 

[24GaugeEJ]

Awesome, thanks a ton for the advice and everything. I have really been working towards reinventing myself as a student and I have been doing a decent job so far but as I'm sure everyone who has been me at some point is aware that this is extremely demanding as a full-time student/Paramedic.

I just signed up for interfolio, thanks for the solid advice, I never would have thought to do that!

Not a problem. Ask professors as you complete their classes. Make sure they scan a signed copy of the letter on university letterhead. As you sign up for amcas stuff and start your application you can just upload them at your leisure. Most MD schools require, at a minimum, two science faculty (i.e. biology, chemistry, organic, biochemistry, or physics) and one non science faculty (sociology/psychology) letter. When I asked people for letters, I made sure to ask for an appointment to tell them about myself, and sent a CV and personal statement ahead of time (good opportunity to start forming your application personal statement). I have heard that DO programs require a letter and shadowing time from a DO. However, don’t make the mistake of thinking that letters from docs that you work with will make a whole lot of difference to most admissions committees. A good personal letter helps, but they’re mainly looking for those faculty letters.

 

[24GaugeEJ]

Other than the above, just make sure you get A’s in your classes. Grades and MCAT really are the most important things.

 

[Cryc_to_the_point]

Read up on active learning, spaced repetition, and expect this to be your job.

 

[MartyMcFly1992]

Read up on active learning, spaced repetition, and expect this to be your job.

Did you have any good sources for this? I am not a fan of scanning wikipedia articles and everything on google is in a pretty vague blog format.

 

[frosted2]

@MartyMcFly1992

Anki.
Glad to see another medic chasing the dream.
Welcome!

 

[Cryc_to_the_point]

Learn to build Anki. YouTube it. Learn to teach yourself.