EMT certificate

[LaCasta]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Does anyone have an EMT certificate? What can you do with these, work in an ambulance? Would it be considered clinical experience

I came across a program and it said it was only 2 weeks, if it would be a valueable clinical experience to adcoms I might be interested.

 

[Phenol312]

i saw something like this as well...definitely interested in this

 

[armybound]

You can work in an ambulance or in some units. Yes it's clinical experience.

If it was only 2 weeks you're either going to be going 16 hours a day or it's something like first responder. My training took 3-4 months.

maybe I'm just not familiar with what you're talking about.

 

[foreverLaur]

well it depends. emt-basic? paramedic? etc... emt-basic isn't too exciting, but does count as clinical/patient contact.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Does anyone have an EMT certificate? What can you do with these, work in an ambulance? Would it be considered clinical experience

I came across a program and it said it was only 2 weeks, if it would be a valueable clinical experience to adcoms I might be interested.

I have one, yes you can work in an ambulance, although if your only a basic you will USUALLY be just transporting people, unless you join a volunteer squad.

I have no idea about this 2 week program, sounds pretty fishy. I did mine over the summer m-th 8-5 everyday, and that took a little over 8 weeks, so not sure how you can do it in 2.

 

[foreverLaur]

I have one, yes you can work in an ambulance, although if your only a basic you will USUALLY be just transporting people, unless you join a volunteer squad.

I have no idea about this 2 week program, sounds pretty fishy. I did mine over the summer m-th 8-5 everyday, and that took a little over 8 weeks, so not sure how you can do it in 2.

yea my EMT Basic was 120 hours total. I believe it took 3 months going 6-10 two days a week and sometimes three days a week.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

yea my EMT Basic was 120 hours total. I believe it took 3 months going 6-10 two days a week and sometimes three days a week.

Hmmm, Maybe NC is just strict, because I had 300 hours including my clinical rotations.

 

[LaCasta]

Sorry, I misstyped. The lady I spoke to said 2 days a week for 10 weeks. So if it is 16 hours a week it would add up to 160 hrs. Sorry for the confusion.

well it depends. emt-basic? paramedic? etc... emt-basic isn't too exciting, but does count as clinical/patient contact.

The lady I talked to did make a distinction between this program and the paramedic program. She said the paramedic program is a year and a half and this is 10 weeks, so I am assuming this is just the emt-basic program? She said it was just a certificate.

I have one, yes you can work in an ambulance, although if your only a basic you will USUALLY be just transporting people, unless you join a volunteer squad.

So if you join a volounteer squad you can actually respond to an emergency call?

 

[armybound]

Yeah, that would be an EMT-B certification if it's 10 weeks.

You can do the volunteer/EMS thing with the certification. It's some good experience.

 

[LaCasta]

Yeah, that would be an EMT-B certification if it's 10 weeks.

You can do the volunteer/EMS thing with the certification. It's some good experience.

Cool thanks. I hope I get to use the siren.

 

[emttim]

Cool thanks. I hope I get to use the siren.

Depending on your area, it can actually be quite difficult to get on a 911 unit. In California, most ambulance companies won't let you work on a 911 rig unless you've already worked for them for a minimum of 6 months doing transport. I think if you do the volunteer thing, you can get on 911 right away, but most of us who are EMTs are doing it as a job, so that may or may not be an option depending on your circumstances.

 

[Spin]

My school has a first responders course. Can you actually work on an ambulence with a first responder certification? Would having it make it easier to get EMT-B certification? Thanks!

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Sorry, I misstyped. The lady I spoke to said 2 days a week for 10 weeks. So if it is 16 hours a week it would add up to 160 hrs. Sorry for the confusion.



The lady I talked to did make a distinction between this program and the paramedic program. She said the paramedic program is a year and a half and this is 10 weeks, so I am assuming this is just the emt-basic program? She said it was just a certificate.



So if you join a volounteer squad you can actually respond to an emergency call?

Yup you sure can, or atleast around here. It might not be too bad getting a job, atleast you get to work on taking a patient history and stuff. Although usually if your transporting they send the papers with you

 

[zmeister22]

As for EMT-basic not being exciting, sure you aren't the one pushing the meds and stuff, but i am a tech at a Level 1 trauma center and burn center as a basic and this job is almost too much to keep up with! Within the last week, I have seen almost 25 major traumas, open thoracotomies and all, and I have been right in the middle of it working away every time. Definitely exciting to me 🙂.

 

[SigurRos]

Being an EMT is arguably the best clinical experience you can get. Depending on the available of ALS in your area, you may be responding to and running a whole spectrum of interesting calls.

 

[emttim]

As for EMT-basic not being exciting, sure you aren't the one pushing the meds and stuff, but i am a tech at a Level 1 trauma center and burn center as a basic and this job is almost too much to keep up with! Within the last week, I have seen almost 25 major traumas, open thoracotomies and all, and I have been right in the middle of it working away every time. Definitely exciting to me 🙂.

I want your job...lucky little...bah, nevermind. 😛 stupid transport ambulance company...*walks away pouting and shuffling feet*

Maybe I'll apply for an ER tech job at a trauma center after I transfer to a 4-year.

 

[LaCasta]

Depending on the available of ALS in your area, you may be responding to and running a whole spectrum of interesting calls.

What's ALS?

 

[Daedalus]

What's ALS?

Advanced Life Support - in the prehospital setting, this means paramedics and EMT-Intermediate (in areas that allow this level), who can start IV's and give drugs, intubate, etc.

I work as an EMT-B on a 911-only first in ambulance, ands its definitely the best clinical experience you can get. I've run several full arrests, major traumas, etc. by myself for quite some time before ALS showed up. Not to mention all the minor patients that we handle by ourselves. 👍 Definitely do it if you have the time.

 

[emttim]

What's ALS?

There's two primary types of calls that EMTs and medics run (I'm not counting CCT but if you want to know, that's critical care transport)...Advanced Life Support and Basic Life Support...BLS basically means the EMT is teching with the patient in the back, ALS means the medic is teching with the patient in the back, the difference being the EMT is providing EMT-level care and the medic is providing medic-level care....so ALS = medic, BLS = EMT.

 

[moe_4eva]

You can work in an ambulance or in some units. Yes it's clinical experience.

If it was only 2 weeks you're either going to be going 16 hours a day or it's something like first responder. My training took 3-4 months.

maybe I'm just not familiar with what you're talking about.

Be careful which schools you're applying to with this. I worked as a firefighter/EMT for 4 years, and they didn't count it as clinical at one of the schools I applied to. I now work in a trauma center as a tech, although that did require previous experience, so I guess it paid off.

 

[moe_4eva]

Why does it matter whether you call something "clinical experience" or not? I'd definitely list it on AMCAS regardless, but I wasn't aware that there were places that make you have so many "clinical experiences" before they would consider you.

It matters if you're one of the applicants on the fence, and they tell you that one of the only reasons you weren't let in is because you didn't have enough "clinical" experience.

 

[moe_4eva]

Then you just didn't do a good enough job selling it as clinical experience.

You can always get off the fence by improving your numbers, so I don't buy this as a deal-breaker. Either way, I don't think EMT-B training/experience is much of an application boost save for LOR opportunities or a nice essay/interview anecdote.

Oh god how I love the condescending attitude of so many of the people on here.

How might you know that I didn't sell it enough? Was it the fact that both of my interviewers recommended me? Was it how I wrote my primary essay on how working as a firefighter changed my life, and that it was one of the best clinical experiences I believed to be available? Really did your thinking on this one and didn't jump to conclusions at all, didja?

What the dean of admissions to that particular school told me was that they wanted clinical experience within a hospital, rather than on an ambulance/fire truck. Yes, they did mention a few things about my personal statement, although those were not deal-breakers (I specifically asked him).

As for numbers, yes, I suppose I could improve my 3.90 GPA and 31 MCAT (although it was 29 when I applied), but probably not by much.

You'd probably better start buying it as a deal-breaker, pal, since I was waitlisted and given that reason.

I can only hope you're going into a field where human interaction isn't a prerequisite.

 

[pluripotent]

There is a EMT "boot camp" course offered by Unitek that is two weeks. The upside is its two weeks, the down side is your studying non-stop and it costs over $2K (last time I checked). 😱😱


Each day the boot camp starts at 8:00 am sharp and continues until 8:00 pm.

http://www.unitekeducation.com/EMT_Boot_Camp_at_a_glance/

 

[emttim]

Being an EMT not counting as clinical experience? This is the first I've heard of that....so wait a second, you're telling me that my assessing a patient, providing medical care, and monitor such non-clinical stuff such as vitals, airway, etc. is inferior to changing linens in a hospital as a volunteer?

Sounds like that's one medical school I won't be applying to if that's their philosophy; they obviously don't have a clue what constitutes clinical experience. As far as I know, anything you do that's clinical in nature is clinical experience...y'know, logic. ;P

 

[moe_4eva]

Being an EMT not counting as clinical experience? This is the first I've heard of that....so wait a second, you're telling me that my assessing a patient, providing medical care, and monitor such non-clinical stuff such as vitals, airway, etc. is inferior to changing linens in a hospital as a volunteer?

Sounds like that's one medical school I won't be applying to if that's their philosophy; they obviously don't have a clue what constitutes clinical experience. As far as I know, anything you do that's clinical in nature is clinical experience...y'know, logic. ;P

It was ridiculous to me as well. To elaborate (that other guy got me pretty worked up), he told me that they would like to see me in a long-term clinical care situation. It still has me confused, although I've abided by what they asked and have reapplied (in addition to working in the ER, I float to other areas of the hospital and spent 4 months working as an in-patient phlebotomist)

 

[LaCasta]

Advanced Life Support - in the prehospital setting, this means paramedics and EMT-Intermediate (in areas that allow this level), who can start IV's and give drugs, intubate, etc.

I work as an EMT-B on a 911-only first in ambulance, ands its definitely the best clinical experience you can get. I've run several full arrests, major traumas, etc. by myself for quite some time before ALS showed up. Not to mention all the minor patients that we handle by ourselves. 👍 Definitely do it if you have the time.

There's two primary types of calls that EMTs and medics run (I'm not counting CCT but if you want to know, that's critical care transport)...Advanced Life Support and Basic Life Support...BLS basically means the EMT is teching with the patient in the back, ALS means the medic is teching with the patient in the back, the difference being the EMT is providing EMT-level care and the medic is providing medic-level care....so ALS = medic, BLS = EMT.

Thanks

Just when I thought I finally learned every acronym on SDN, one came out of left field

Be careful which schools you're applying to with this. I worked as a firefighter/EMT for 4 years, and they didn't count it as clinical at one of the schools I applied to. I now work in a trauma center as a tech, although that did require previous experience, so I guess it paid off.

That sucks, guess each school has its own weird criteria in some aspects

 

[ChubbyChaser]

It was ridiculous to me as well. To elaborate (that other guy got me pretty worked up), he told me that they would like to see me in a long-term clinical care situation. It still has me confused, although I've abided by what they asked and have reapplied (in addition to working in the ER, I float to other areas of the hospital and spent 4 months working as an in-patient phlebotomist)

What school didnt count it as clinical experience??? So i can know not to apply, because I find that rather ridiculous.

 

[moe_4eva]

That's just it--you believed it to be one of the best clinical experiences available, but that is the point that I am contradicting (as I am in this whole thread). I'm saying that with many doctors, this sort of training is an impossible sell. The dean you talked to agrees with me, as I too tried to use this angle in my application process and got laughed at by adcom members. Depending on what state you live in, the 29 MCAT was probably your deal-breaker.

The 29 actually wasn't the deal breaker, it was part of the reason I was "on the fence" in the first place. And as I mentioned before, the whole point was that some schools don't see it as clinical experience, which was NOT your original point. Your's was...wait a minute...

Then you just didn't do a good enough job selling it as clinical experience.

Of course, you're still not seeing the big picture, but I've already relented that you're probably not capable of that. But as an insight, I obviously found out the hard way that I couldn't sell it as being outright clinical experience, and changed my job and my application to reflect that. In other words, I took the steps necessary to correct my errors, and reapplied based off of what I had learned, although I thought it worthwhile to warn others not to make the same mistake.

You'll find that what you perceive as rudeness is commonplace in the medical profession. This is an anonymous forum that allows for blunt constructive criticism. Wait until you get to interact with a team of residents and attendings who view you as dog **** simply because of the length of your white coat.

😀😀 I don't perceive it as rudeness (although it's funny that you think you've upset me somehow). I perceive it as a holier-than-thou attitude that will definitely help you to go far. I know and work with many, many doctors who have somehow (miraculously by your standards) seemed to have escaped this attitude. Just because you've adopted a certain stereotypical attitude that you believe will make you a better doctor, doesn't mean it will.

As for dealing with people who are ultimately trying to help you better yourself (and sometimes putting you down does make you better yourself), I've dealt with getting more "dog ****" in my four years with the fire department than I ever expect to get as a doctor. I started as the lowest of the low, and there are some of my captains and battalion chiefs that I could have probably never satisfied no matter how hard I worked, but it made me a better person for it.

So go ahead, try to put me down some more. It's given me a good laugh so far.

 

[LaCasta]

Thanks for your replies Moe, your posts were insightful. I am still not seeing a clear statement from Ice Nine as to why its so obvious to him that this would not be clinical experience, just very little annecdotal info. It seems like it would be the exception rather than the norm for a school not to consider it as clinical experience. If anyone else has better insight into that, please share.

As to your career change for better clinical exposure, did you switch from working in an ambulance to being an emergency room tech like others have mentioned on here?

 

[whateva07]

I have a full timejob right now but its not medically related at all. I think EMT might be a good job and I have had some good amount of clinical exposure through volunteering, but do you guys think it would be a good idea to do EMT?? And also would I just contact my local hospital about, or how would it work?

Thanks!

 

[ChubbyChaser]

I have a full timejob right now but its not medically related at all. I think EMT might be a good job and I have had some good amount of clinical exposure through volunteering, but do you guys think it would be a good idea to do EMT?? And also would I just contact my local hospital about, or how would it work?

Thanks!

Usually, a local community college would be your best bet, also check in your area for Jobs for EMTBs. I know that around here you cant be an ER tech with just your EMT you have to have a CNA also, so you are pretty much stuck transporting patients or volunteering.

 

[moe_4eva]

As to your career change for better clinical exposure, did you switch from working in an ambulance to being an emergency room tech like others have mentioned on here?

Yes, in a roundabout way. I actually started out working as a phlebotomist to satisfy them asking for a long-term care experience, but I really didn't like the quality of the experience, so I chose to move to the ER as a tech. It's actually been an eye-opening experience. The level of care I provide just as a tech vs as a firefighter is completely different. I do more now than I ever did as an EMT in the field, so I can't say I completely say I forgive them for telling me that.

And yes, I would definitely say it's more the exclusion than the rule, but it is something to keep in mind (if nothing else, go for varied experiences).