EMT-B or ER volunteer?

[bunnybelle]

Hi all,

So I am applying this cycle and planning to start out a new volunteering gig very soon, mostly because I have done 60 hours in my previous volunteering position (I feel like I have been exposed a fair amount in that field), and its schedule doesn't work out with my current full-time job. I have basically been applying everywhere in the past month and finally cleared in both the firehouse and the hospital to do EMT-B and ER volunteer.

My plan is to pick one, start in March, and continue throughout the interview season, so I could accumulate some hours before AMCAS deadline and talk about it during interviews. I am also fairly bored now in my gap year, since my job isn't challenging at all, although it is still full-time, so I want to find something to fill up my schedule a bit.

Upside of EMT-b: the firehouse is going to train me for the EMT-b certification for free; it is comparatively exciting, since it's a lot of hands-on actual medical experience.
Downside of EMT-b: I was honest about going to medical school in Fall 2019, it was a short commitment to the firehouse, therefore they made me sign this a proposal that said I would commit at least 45 hours per month (normally their rules is 30 hours/ month) as a volunteer. I am a little intimidated at the prospect of a 12 hour shift every week without any break...

Upside of ER volunteer: flexible, low commitment (minimum 3 hours a week), potential to shadow residents (I have about 70 hours of shadowing in psychiatry at the moment, so this is tempting)
Downside of ER volunteer: it seems to be just a fancy type of regular hospital volunteering (hanging out with patients with minimal responsibilities, which is what i did previously for that 60 hours), it constitutes of rounding, escorting patients from waiting room to where they are supposed to be.

My priority in my life right now is of course to do well in the application cycle. However, I don't want to stress myself out too much, and I guess I have to make ample time to write my personal statement later on. Is a 12-hour shift (or two 6-hour shifts) on top of a full-time job per week too much? Or is it worth it because it is EMT and it is freaking cool? Any insight would be appreciated, thank you guys in advance!!

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[alkylgroup]

I personally have never done either of these experiences, but know people who have. It sounds like you have a lot of time on your hands, though it may be difficult to keep a 12 hour/week commitment while interviewing. Depending on where you are located, each interview+travel can eat up 2 full days, so you will probably be missing a lot of work, on top of your volunteering position. And it's very hard to predict how many interview invites you will receive.

My perception (though not 100% sure) is that EMT and ER volunteer are both pretty common among med school applicants, so I'm not sure how much of an additional boost your EMT experiences will give you in interviews. But if you think you can maintain the commitment, then it sounds like a great opportunity. Best of luck!

 

[Doogie.Howser]

My advice is get into the ER. If it's getting EMT-B and becoming an ER Tech, or being an ER volunteer, I would say do whatever will get you in the ER the fastest. So probably ER volunteer.

I say that because I've worked as an EMT-B for four years - 1.5 on ambulance, 2.5 in ER. I have gotten 93908398739 times more exposure and knowledge being in the ER. My opinion is that the benefit of ambulance work goes to those who want to join the Fire Department and be practicing paramedicine, and the benefit of ER work goes to those who want to be in the clinical setting. Your exposure will be far greater in a clinical setting, and you'll see how medicine is practiced by physicians, not paramedics.

 

[Lucky Day]

I say that because I've worked as an EMT-B for four years - 1.5 on ambulance, 2.5 in ER. I have gotten 93908398739 times more exposure and knowledge being in the ER. My opinion is that the benefit of ambulance work goes to those who want to join the Fire Department and be practicing paramedicine, and the benefit of ER work goes to those who want to be in the clinical setting. Your exposure will be far greater in a clinical setting, and you'll see how medicine is practiced by physicians, not paramedics.

This. /End of thread

 

[plaidminouserfinthri]

My advice is get into the ER. If it's getting EMT-B and becoming an ER Tech, or being an ER volunteer, I would say do whatever will get you in the ER the fastest. So probably ER volunteer.

I say that because I've worked as an EMT-B for four years - 1.5 on ambulance, 2.5 in ER. I have gotten 93908398739 times more exposure and knowledge being in the ER. My opinion is that the benefit of ambulance work goes to those who want to join the Fire Department and be practicing paramedicine, and the benefit of ER work goes to those who want to be in the clinical setting. Your exposure will be far greater in a clinical setting, and you'll see how medicine is practiced by physicians, not paramedics.

I don't think its accurate to take experience two positions and generalize it to be intrinsic to ambulance vs hospital. I would say it's entirely dependent on what you're actually doing with your time. It's also worth mentioning that SDN often has a bias against EMS which is rooted in the observation that premeds are getting EMT-B certs and doing absolutely nothing with them, or being nominally involved with EMS in a very superficial way.

Collegiate EMS and volunteer rescue squads are incredibly diverse in the scope of responsibility and commitment of the members. This varies from having a chase car that only responds to campus student calls, to having ambulances operating on the 911 system for the entire region. I would the say same is true of any hospital volunteering position. There's a huge difference between interacting with patients and assisting in procedures versus stocking supplies, cleaning, sitting at a computer, or shuffling papers.

OP should do what would give him the best experience and based on his description of the ER job, I'm not sure its obviously better. Exposure to physicians and the networking is definitely a plus though. But ultimately you should pick the one that makes you interesting and gives you the best experience interacting with patients. People will see through the positions and titles as soon as you start writing and talking about them in essays and at interviews.

 

[Pholaffle]

I did both of these experiences through college (and still do EMT occasionally). I agree with above posters about the value of working in the ER over working in the field, however I would warn that the ER Volunteering is nothing like working as an EMT or ER tech (which usually requires EMT certification and experience). I appreciate what I learned through the ER volunteering but it did not help me rationalize my motivations to pursue medicine compared to the EMT work. Of course each experience is different and you should choose whichever you believe will set you up for the next big thing down the road. You should also consider the time commitments of each and how they relate to you succeeding in your studies.

Edit: You should also look into the scope of work as a volunteer. I ultimately had to define my volunteerism here as non-clinical because I honestly didn't have those types of duties. As an EMT, you get first hand exposure to many clinical cases in the field and you can be exposed to some very humbling experiences by seeing patients in their environment. Again, if working in the ER is the next step, I would preference EMT vs. Volunteering and leverage that work experience to get into the ER.

 

[Trollest]

@op unless you are planning to work as a scribe in the ER. I would take EMT over ER volunteering UNLESS the hospital you are involved with has medical opportunities for you guys.

I did both of these experiences through college (and still do EMT occasionally). I agree with above posters about the value of working in the ER over working in the field, however I would warn that the ER Volunteering is nothing like working as an EMT or ER tech (which usually requires EMT certification and experience). I appreciate what I learned through the ER volunteering but it did not help me rationalize my motivations to pursue medicine compared to the EMT work. Of course each experience is different and you should choose whichever you believe will set you up for the next big thing down the road. You should also consider the time commitments of each and how they relate to you succeeding in your studies.

 

[21Rush12]

Homeboy - one 12 hour shift a week is nothing. Also, you have breaks between calls. EMS is great though. You’ll get out of either of these experiences what you put in.

 

[sunshine859]

I would 100% recommend working as an EMT. Yes, it will not be the same as the type of medicine you'd be seeing in the hospital setting; however, you will actually be the one interviewing the patient, making decisions about what interventions to take, and playing the part of caregiver. Med schools value applicants who are actively involved in clinical care; ER volunteering often ends up being very passive, like shadowing. (You've already done a lot of shadowing.) I worked as an EMT for several years before applying to med school this cycle, and I was asked about my experiences in nearly every interview.

 

[bunnybelle]

I did both of these experiences through college (and still do EMT occasionally). I agree with above posters about the value of working in the ER over working in the field, however I would warn that the ER Volunteering is nothing like working as an EMT or ER tech (which usually requires EMT certification and experience). I appreciate what I learned through the ER volunteering but it did not help me rationalize my motivations to pursue medicine compared to the EMT work. Of course each experience is different and you should choose whichever you believe will set you up for the next big thing down the road. You should also consider the time commitments of each and how they relate to you succeeding in your studies.

Edit: You should also look into the scope of work as a volunteer. I ultimately had to define my volunteerism here as non-clinical because I honestly didn't have those types of duties. As an EMT, you get first hand exposure to many clinical cases in the field and you can be exposed to some very humbling experiences by seeing patients in their environment. Again, if working in the ER is the next step, I would preference EMT vs. Volunteering and leverage that work experience to get into the ER.

Hey! Thank you for the great advice. I do agree with you that hospital volunteer isn’t exactly “clinical”. It is patient interaction, but it also has very limited responsibility. I think your advice on EMT first -> EMT in ER is great, and it is very applicable to younger applicants. I unfortunately don’t think I have enough time to do that at this point.

 

[bunnybelle]

Hey guys!! OP here. Thank you all so much for the wonderful insights. I think I’m going to calculate the votes on each. Been having headaches because of this for a week.

One thing for the ones advocating for EMT, my timing is a bit awkward, since I don’t have the certificate yet and I have to be trained from March until July or August. I was told that I can start working as soon as I finish some basic classes, but the majority of the time before I submit AMCAS will still be during training. Is that an issue in terms of hours? Because in ER, I think I can start inputting actual volunteering hours right away. But for interviews, either would be fine. This is a bit of a last minute effort from me, since I was trapped in studying for MCAT last fall (excuses). Also from another practical standpoint, would EMT experience have a significant boost on my application compared to ER volunteering, considering that I put real effort in both and have good stories out of the experiences?

For those advocating for ER, do you have any tips on getting more exposure and involvement as a volunteer, instead of being restricted to only giving people blankets? I actually had a relatively positive experience with my previous hospital volunteering position. It was very memorable because my supervisor told me a lot of stories about gang violence in inner city Baltimore and how it played a role in the lives of the kids we saw. She was very open and updated me on progress of each kid every week. I worked in a psychiatric after school program for kids and teenagers.

Also, I am actually unsure if 12 hours would be very stressful for me. When I was doing my interview at the firehouse, they told me I should do a Sunday 7-7 shift. I was in shock knowing that if I committed to this, all my sundays would be gone for the next a year and half...So I kinda freaked out. Also mostly concerned about the commitment, because I need to write a ton of essays starting soon. Personal statement secondaries and recommendation letters (a couple of my recommenders asked me to do that...) Aiming for killer essays 🙂

Last but not the least, did I sound like a dude? I am not a dude guys LOL

 

[Tenk]

ER volunteer and meet the attendings and let them know you are interested in medical school.

 

[Welshman]

Working on an ambulance is probably easier work and you’re fairly autonomous, working in the ER you’re on the bottom of the totem pole, scut work, but you see more

 

[21Rush12]

Hey guys!! OP here. Thank you all so much for the wonderful insights. I think I’m going to calculate the votes on each. Been having headaches because of this for a week.

One thing for the ones advocating for EMT, my timing is a bit awkward, since I don’t have the certificate yet and I have to be trained from March until July or August. I was told that I can start working as soon as I finish some basic classes, but the majority of the time before I submit AMCAS will still be during training. Is that an issue in terms of hours? Because in ER, I think I can start inputting actual volunteering hours right away. But for interviews, either would be fine. This is a bit of a last minute effort from me, since I was trapped in studying for MCAT last fall (excuses). Also from another practical standpoint, would EMT experience have a significant boost on my application compared to ER volunteering, considering that I put real effort in both and have good stories out of the experiences?

For those advocating for ER, do you have any tips on getting more exposure and involvement as a volunteer, instead of being restricted to only giving people blankets? I actually had a relatively positive experience with my previous hospital volunteering position. It was very memorable because my supervisor told me a lot of stories about gang violence in inner city Baltimore and how it played a role in the lives of the kids we saw. She was very open and updated me on progress of each kid every week. I worked in a psychiatric after school program for kids and teenagers.

Also, I am actually unsure if 12 hours would be very stressful for me. When I was doing my interview at the firehouse, they told me I should do a Sunday 7-7 shift. I was in shock knowing that if I committed to this, all my sundays would be gone for the next a year and half...So I kinda freaked out. Also mostly concerned about the commitment, because I need to write a ton of essays starting soon. Personal statement secondaries and recommendation letters (a couple of my recommenders asked me to do that...) Aiming for killer essays 🙂

Last but not the least, did I sound like a dude? I am not a dude guys LOL

When the idea of doing one 12-hour shift a week is enough to deter someone who says they want to go to medical school, there is nothing to say but “bro...seriously?” regardless of gender.

In your situation though given what you’ve said, I think the ER is the way to get the most hours in the amount of time you have and to experience more.