EMT-B: worth it?

[Chrissy]

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Just wondering if an EMT-class is a worthy application enhancer. I'll admit that there is littl chance i'll be a profrssional EMT, but i've heard the training and experience can be looked upon favorably....however, the class committment is actually quite intensive so i'm wondering if it's worh it!

 

[Supadupafly]

I think doing things just to beef up your application can often be a waste of time. If you want to do it for personal satisfaction, do it. If not, some nice research or volunteer work might be more relaxing and just as helpful.

Just wondering if an EMT-class is a worthy application enhancer. I'll admit that there is littl chance i'll be a profrssional EMT, but i've heard the training and experience can be looked upon favorably....however, the class committment is actually quite intensive so i'm wondering if it's worh it!

 

[ChuckRock]

I think doing things just to beef up your application can often be a waste of time. If you want to do it for personal satisfaction, do it. If not, some nice research or volunteer work might be more relaxing and just as helpful.

Right on!

 

[Chrissy]

Thing is I have extensive experience as a hospital orderly (2 summers as undergrad) and i did research at the childrens hospital of philadelphia while an undergrad so i'm just kinda looking for "more" stuff or something different ya know

Right on!

 

[byeh2004]

its worth it if you do something with your EMT cert, adcoms wont be impressed if you just have a cert in your apps but do nothing about it

 

[Chrissy]

I have heard the same. thank you. i am leaning towards not doing it

its worth it if you do something with your EMT cert, adcoms wont be impressed if you just have a cert in your apps but do nothing about it

 

[PineappleGirl]

its worth it if you do something with your EMT cert, adcoms wont be impressed if you just have a cert in your apps but do nothing about it

I have heard the same thing. You definitely want to DO something with your EMT certification, even if it just on a volunteer basis. I am taking the course right now and it is very intensive. It's a summer program and it's 3 nights a week for four hours a night. The total class time is something like 170 hours. It is not difficult at all and you don't really have homework. If you pay attention in class the tests are not hard and you don't have to study much to pass, but it IS a lot of time spent in class and in lab. The course I am taking also has a lot of Saturday and Sunday labs so it really eats into your social life. I think it's interesting though. It's also providing me a lot of motivation to be a doc because it is frustrating that there is a lot you cannot do as an EMT such as provide a diagnosis for a problem. I probably will not work with an ambulance company but am thinking about working at my school's EMS or at least volunteering for a local EMS or at the hospital.
Feel free to pm me is you have specific questions about the class.

 

[VUMD2be]

I think my work experience as an EMT has been the most meaningful thing I have done in preparation for medical school. With no other experience do you feel the pressure that comes with being solely responsible for a patient's well-being (great insight to the responsibilities of physician-hood). While this is more intense and stressful than being a "coffee-fetcher" in an er (i've also done this), I think the rewards are far greater and the experience is simply unparalleled. Also, it is really easy to get a job, even during the school year. I worked one shift every other weekend or so and full time in the summers (night shift- still time to play in the day, if you don't mind being sleep deprived)...
Anyways, my opinion is prob. biased, but take it for what it worth.

 

[Modanq]

I got this link a while back from my Premed advisor email list. It really hypes up EMT. I too did EMT, but never followed through. As stated above, EMT is really time consuming, and should be taught in a week but is streched out for no apperent reason into three months. It is super duper easy. I did learn about patient care, but whatever you do (on your application) you have to hype it up. I Bet you someone could be a lifegaurd and really impress the ADCOM or be doctor and get rejected. It all in how you play it...

Oh heres the link http://www.nextgenmd.org/vol1-5/galenv1i5.html
It a New england Journal of Medicine article for premed nerds like us!

 

[45408]

As stated above, EMT is really time consuming, and should be taught in a week but is streched out for no apperent reason into three months.

Eh, you'd be hard-pressed to get all the hands-on stuff in that fast.

Anyways, I agree, if you're not using the training to DO something, it's pointless.

 

[aliendroid]

I got this link a while back from my Premed advisor email list. It really hypes up EMT. I too did EMT, but never followed through. As stated above, EMT is really time consuming, and should be taught in a week but is streched out for no apperent reason into three months. It is super duper easy. I did learn about patient care, but whatever you do (on your application) you have to hype it up. I Bet you someone could be a lifegaurd and really impress the ADCOM or be doctor and get rejected. It all in how you play it...

Oh heres the link http://www.nextgenmd.org/vol1-5/galenv1i5.html
It a New england Journal of Medicine article for premed nerds like us!

EMT should be done in about 5-8 weeks and it is doable, but not necessarily easy. Before I decided to go into the medical field I signed up for an EMTB class just as an experiment. To try something new. Taking the EMTB made me decide to pursue medicine. Don't take it just to beef up your application, you should take it for a good reason. Like anything else EMT programs have seats and taking a seat to just spruce up a med school application is selfish. They prefer if you continue on to full paramedic. I didn't know anything about this when I signed up for EMTB and the license only helped me when I did some stuff for the American Red Cross.
Honestly, if you have a good application, you're an older student with other experience and a reason to take an EMTB, then it'll help you. If you are a 22 y.o. traditional with honors this and honors that, 14,000 hours of volunteer, and an EMTB, it'll look like you're just adding it to your CV. My 0.02 cents.
The context in this case is important. Like the Associate dean at the med school in my city said, "don't do anything just to make your application look good, do it because you want to."

 

[nockamura]

its worth it if you do something with your EMT cert, adcoms wont be impressed if you just have a cert in your apps but do nothing about it

I had my EMT-B certification and didn't do anything with it, but it was still a great conversation starter for many of my interviews. I say go for it- the ridealongs alone are worth it.

 

[AWhitehair]

I had my EMT-B certification and didn't do anything with it, but it was still a great conversation starter for many of my interviews. I say go for it- the ridealongs alone are worth it.

I also took the EMT-B course at my school and enjoyed it. The only thing is... I moved out of state and now I am having a hard time transfering my certification so I can work in Florida. It is so annoying! I agree about the ride-alongs... they are great but, if you take the time and money to get the cert I would use it for something. I know it doesn't pay a lot for a summer job but at least consider doing some volunteer work with it.

AWhitehair

 

[abraxas]

My EMT program was worth 8 credits and only took me 6 weeks to finish over the summer so it was a nice way to pull up my C+ in Calc and my B- in O Chem, that said besides the easy credits unless you have some considerable work experience as an EMT (6+ months of part time is nice) it wont help you that much...

 

[Flopotomist]

Hmm.. not sure where some of you did your EMT-B training, but yikes, to do it in just a few weeks??? I don't think we could have finished just the anatomy portion of my EMT class in that time - let alone all the other stuff. Heck, the practical portion alone took a ton of time. We had 6 semester hours, and it still was a TON of studying - was my experience abnormal?

BUT, having said all that, working on the ambulance was some of the most rewarding times of my life. I don't think getting the cert just for the sake of getting it is a good idea though.

 

[SpeedRacer]

Hmm.. not sure where some of you did your EMT-B training, but yikes, to do it in just a few weeks??? I don't think we could have finished just the anatomy portion of my EMT class in that time - let alone all the other stuff. Heck, the practical portion alone took a ton of time. We had 6 semester hours, and it still was a TON of studying - was my experience abnormal?

BUT, having said all that, working on the ambulance was some of the most rewarding times of my life. I don't think getting the cert just for the sake of getting it is a good idea though.

i agree - i can't imagine doing a course in a few weeks. we didn't have a ton of studying (except around practicals/ntl registry stuff), but we sure did have 8 hours of class a week.

 

[abraxas]

my class was from 8 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon 5 days a week and that included practicals we did have to do 40 hours of shadowing out side of class though 20 in an ambulance and 20 in the ER... On the whole it was a rather easy class even though we did it in 6 weeks, that could be because i had a really cool instructor who made the classes fun and entertaining... I will always remember his advice with dealing with a critically wounded AMA patient, just go back to your ambulance turn the radio and air conditioner on and wait till he passes out then go throw him on a gurney...

 

[nockamura]

I'm NorCal certified and as far as I can tell, you can't just transfer your EMT-B status, you need to take the certification test for the area you would like to use your license in. For most places, that's the national registry.

 

[shatter]

I am a rising junior. I am thinking about getting EMT-b, and working my senior year. I understand that is quite late, but the experience might be useful for secondaries and the interview.

What would you guys do?

 

[nebrfan]

You could also get certified as a phlebotomist - it doesn't take much (I was trained on the job - not sure how that works in all states) and you get to see a lot. My PS was based around some of it and my interviewers seemed to be interested

 

[NontradICUdoc]

Let's play devil's advocate here.

Imagine you are an adcom. You come across 10 applicants that are pretty equal. However 5 of them have on their application that they are an EMT. You are intrigued and bring them in for an interview.

Knowing that you have 1 spot left for admission and 4 on waitlist, the interview is the make or break.

After speaking to them you come to find out that 3 of them have only taken the class but have never used the skills that they learned. Sure they say that they are interested in medicine and taking the EMT class made it even more clear for them. But the closest they ever came to using their skills was the final test for the state license.

The other two have had some exposure to medicine other than a class. Applicant 1 volunteered in the emergency room of their local hospital. They were involved in patient transport, helping patients to the bathroom, taking tubes to the lab for testing and re-stocking equipment. Applicant volunteered on an ambulance for 5 hours a week either doing transport or getting their hands dirty with EMS.

Now I ask you, which applicant gets the coveted admission?

 

[NontradICUdoc]

5{\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0ra]I'm NorCal certified and as far as I can tell, you can't just transfer your EMT-B status, you need to take the certification test for the area you would like to use your license in. For most places, that's the national registry.[/QUOTE]


Contact the new state's department of health and find out if you can take the reciprocity test. Most states wont make you take the entire course. Call and find out, it will take 5 minutes.

 

[abraxas]

You could also get certified as a phlebotomist - it doesn't take much (I was trained on the job - not sure how that works in all states) and you get to see a lot. My PS was based around some of it and my interviewers seemed to be interested

if you can get certified as a phlebotomist do it, here in california though you have to take a class which they fricking want $1000 for i mean $hit i could become a paramedic for almost that much...

 

[thirdunity]

if you can get certified as a phlebotomist do it, here in california though you have to take a class which they fricking want $1000 for i mean $hit i could become a paramedic for almost that much...

If you can't find a job in the field you normally work in (for market or location reasons), you may be able to qualify for state-funded training through a program called the Workforce Investment Act. Many phlebotomy schools are eligible training providers.

I am a former "dotcom" worker, and this is what I am going to be doing.

Also, some community colleges (such as Ohlone in Fremont) offer phlebotomy. Unfortunately, my local one doesn't...