EMT class at cc: Factors into gpa?

[PingPongPro]

I took a EMT course at UCLA extension last summer. They have a contract with West Los Angeles Community College where I can pay money and get a grade/units at the cc.

I understand we put put down every college class we take on our med school applications and I was wondering if this class will count towards my cGPA?

It was 7 semester units ( I go to a quarter school, so don't know how this converts) and I got an A. The class was called Allied Health 52 if it matters.

Thanks.

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[ReptarBar]

its a college course, you got units, and you got a grade. yea its gonna count in your cgpa. and it will help your gpa a lot too...7 semester units is nearly 11 quarter units.

 

[aggiedoc2010]

It goes into the GPA. For Texas applications it went for science credit too. 5 hours of A credit booyah.... Thank god I actually tried hard in that class.

Just don't forget to send that transcript in addition to all the rest.

 

[PingPongPro]

Wow that's going to raise my GPA a lot. Pretty good deal for a 3 week class!

 

[Dyingduck]

Wow that's going to raise my GPA a lot. Pretty good deal for a 3 week class!

lol, 3 weeks 8am-5pm is no fun =D

I too attend the same program. Good reminder for my upcoming app

 

[the duck]

Sorry to Hijack this thread, but are you guys saying that all classes taken at a CC count toward your med school app. GPA, even if they are not transferable to a 4-year?

 

[BBender716]

Sorry to Hijack this thread, but are you guys saying that all classes taken at a CC count toward your med school app. GPA, even if they are not transferable to a 4-year?

Yes.


I almost regret taking that EMT course for credit now because now I have to report it everywhere even though I got a A+

 

[the duck]

Yes.


I almost regret taking that EMT course for credit now because now I have to report it everywhere even though I got a A+

Sweet! -waves hello to 7 semester units of A's-
So the algibra 2 class I took counts toward my sGPA?

This has made my day! 😍

 

[Morsetlis]

Lol.

I got a 99% on my EMT final but it was a private college (8 weeks) so it had no grade, much less a transcript.

 

[WatchForDaEF55]

I wish my EMT-B class was shorter, but it's 15 hours at a used-to-be-cc so it'll take up my entire summer. So I guess that's good news if I get all A's

 

[Morsetlis]

I wish my EMT-B class was shorter, but it's 15 hours at a used-to-be-cc so it'll take up my entire summer. So I guess that's good news if I get all A's

15... hours? Do you mean 15 weeks?

Anyway, if it's a total of 160 hours (like it's supposed to be) it'll count the same for AMCAS purposes regardless of how quickly you took it.

 

[tndoc12]

I took my EMT-IV class at a state school but it was only pass/fail and never went on my transcript. Is there any way I can count it?

 

[Siggy]

I wish my EMT-B class was shorter, but it's 15 hours at a used-to-be-cc so it'll take up my entire summer. So I guess that's good news if I get all A's

Even assuming you mean weeks, you do understand that the US EMT-B is the laughing stock of the prehospital world outside of the US?

 

[ahowardmd]

lol, 3 weeks 8am-5pm is no fun =D

I too attend the same program. Good reminder for my upcoming app

3 weeks 😱? My EMT course was 12 weeks at the local CC. I also got 11 credit hours for it, total GPA boost. And believe me, I'm betting my EMT experience had something to do with my 2 med school acceptances 😎. I don't know why more people don't do it.

Even assuming you mean weeks, you do understand that the US EMT-B is the laughing stock of the prehospital world outside of the US?

Well I would hope so, all we can really do is put O2 on people and transport. Okay, maybe we perform CPR every now and then, and do a little bandaging and splinting...but with the small amount of training I had at my community college, I personally never felt comfortable doing much else with patients (what else is there?).

 

[PingPongPro]

I just need to find something to do with my EMT-B certification now... It seems like my choices are limited being busy with school/volunteer/research/etc. What did you guys do with your certification? I found most jobs only hire full time, and thats a huge/long time commitment.

 

[xBODOMx]

Ugh. Not good news. My CC grades as B is 3.0 and A is 4.0. I got an 89 so is it only a 3.0 to admissions

 

[Mackey]

Even assuming you mean weeks, you do understand that the US EMT-B is the laughing stock of the prehospital world outside of the US?

What a fantastically snarky little comment with no relevance to the topic! Oh Mr., you're a snappy one!

 

[Dyingduck]

Even assuming you mean weeks, you do understand that the US EMT-B is the laughing stock of the prehospital world outside of the US?

I agree. You don't get to do much as an EMT-B...as in...I can summarize 90% of the calls:

Oxygen.


Nonetheless, it is a good experience for pre-med to get hands-on pre-hospital care. It sure beats flipping burgers!


Anyway, for the person who took at UCLA center, did you go to the cc to get your transcript or can you do it online?

 

[Siggy]

What a fantastically snarky little comment with no relevance to the topic! Oh Mr., you're a snappy one!

Well... it's true. You're looking at 2 years to get into the entry level provider (primary care paramedic) for several parts of Canada, and here we have someone complaining that it's too long. Granted, most EMS programs are around the same length in terms of hours, however I wouldn't go around recommending the 2 week EMT-B programs. After all, we wouldn't want providers who have to care for other to ruin their summer!

Well I would hope so, all we can really do is put O2 on people and transport. Okay, maybe we perform CPR every now and then, and do a little bandaging and splinting...but with the small amount of training I had at my community college, I personally never felt comfortable doing much else with patients (what else is there?).

A little bit of A/P would be nice (actually, a full college level A/P series would be appropriate). How do you decide who get's supplemental oxygen and who doesn't? Or is it paint by numbers, everyone gets a non-rebreather? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to provide some pharmaceutical pain relief if the patient needs it? There's a minimum that all ambulances responding to emergencies should be able to provide, however I don't think that it's feasible when the lowest legally acceptable level has 110 (minimum under NHTSA National Standard Curriculum) hours of training.

 

[ThaliaNox]

Heh, you think EMT-Bs are bad. A lot of rural ambulance services run First Responders. Granted, this is changing in a lot of places, and there is always at least an EMT-B and a FR. One can get FR certification in a weekend.

However, to those who said that being an EMT is useless, I beg to differ. While on most sickness visits they can do little, in most trauma situations I'd much rather have an EMT-B on hand than many specialties of doctors.

It kind of reminds me of how EMTs have far more practical hands on medical ability than pre-clinical medical students. At least they CAN administer oxygen. Eight out of ten pre-clinical medical students wouldn't know how. Except, of course, the ones who were EMTs!

 

[Siggy]

Damn. You mean that people who are already trained and licensed at a level can provide a higher level of care than people who are laying the foundation of their medical training?

Similarly, people trained to handle emergencies handle them better than people who aren't trained to handle emergencies? Amazing!

 

[aggiedoc2010]

Even assuming you mean weeks, you do understand that the US EMT-B is the laughing stock of the prehospital world outside of the US?

Damn. You mean that people who are already trained and licensed at a level can provide a higher level of care than people who are laying the foundation of their medical training?

Similarly, people trained to handle emergencies handle them better than people who aren't trained to handle emergencies? Amazing!

As for many comparisons to Europe consider the amount of land mass the U.S. has. Imagine ever city must be covered with some EMS care. In some rural places response times right now are averaging at around 30 minutes (that is driving lights and sirens the whole way). It is currently not feasible in city and county budgets to cover all places with paramedics, thus the EMT-B is an excellent fail safe. I have known some EMT-B's that are smarter and better medics than those with higher certs. I have also known some terrible EMT-Bs. My question to you is would you rather have the mortuary come pick you up in their hearse like in the 50's or have an EMT with an ambulance pick you up and at least attempt to help your.

I am a very big proponent for bringing ALS coverage for every area in America, but 2 year programs that cost thosands and are major time commitments are not exactly attractive for many people to do for the potentially dismal pay, high stress jobs in some areas. EMT courses that just blow through the material in 2-3 weeks are not particularly effective, but what I have found is that on job training is much more beneficial.

Say what you want, but getting my EMT and working as one was one of the most beneficial things I did. Volunteering in the ER and taking water and blankets to patients is one thing, but caring for some really sick trauma and medical patients with just you and another person brings your medical experience to a new level. I know it has given me confidence with patient care and interaction.

As some say Paramedics save patients, EMTs save Paramedics. Translation: EMTs make sure the basics are taken care of while the paramedic focuses on higher level skills and treatments.

 

[Mackey]

Translation: EMTs make sure the basics are taken care of while...

As in.. driving.

 

[Siggy]

As for many comparisons to Europe consider the amount of land mass the U.S. has.

Canada= Europe? I know there's been a few nasty earthquakes recently, but that's a lot of continental drift right there.

Imagine ever city must be covered with some EMS care. In some rural places response times right now are averaging at around 30 minutes (that is driving lights and sirens the whole way). It is currently not feasible in city and county budgets to cover all places with paramedics, thus the EMT-B is an excellent fail safe. I have known some EMT-B's that are smarter and better medics than those with higher certs. I have also known some terrible EMT-Bs. My question to you is would you rather have the mortuary come pick you up in their hearse like in the 50's or have an EMT with an ambulance pick you up and at least attempt to help your.

I'd hope that the people picking me up when I have a medical emergency would be required to understand anatomy and physiology. After all, even the podunk emergency departments will have physicians in all but the most extreme locations. Similarly, with the amount of money that a lot of rural EMTs (but by no means all) put into their movable disco ball they call a vehicle they could easily pay for paramedic school.

I am a very big proponent for bringing ALS coverage for every area in America, but 2 year programs that cost thosands and are major time commitments are not exactly attractive for many people to do for the potentially dismal pay, high stress jobs in some areas. EMT courses that just blow through the material in 2-3 weeks are not particularly effective, but what I have found is that on job training is much more beneficial.

Those areas still manage to attract physicians and nurses. I don't hear any big calls to make medical school shorter for physicians working in frontier locations. Would you want the physician in the emergency room treating you if he got to skip out of gross anatomy because GA is just too much to ask out of providers working in that area?

Say what you want, but getting my EMT and working as one was one of the most beneficial things I did. Volunteering in the ER and taking water and blankets to patients is one thing, but caring for some really sick trauma and medical patients with just you and another person brings your medical experience to a new level. I know it has given me confidence with patient care and interaction.

You know what's funny. The comments I've made about the benefit to applicants was that EMS experience was good provided they used it to experience health care. The only thing close to a negative was that no one really cares that an applicant can apply a splint.

As some say Paramedics save patients, EMTs save Paramedics. Translation: EMTs make sure the basics are taken care of while the paramedic focuses on higher level skills and treatments.

My take is that EMTs save paramedics... from doing manual labor. It's like saying nurses and ER techs are around because a physician will forget about CPR. If a paramedic forgets about something like maintaining proper oxygenation when intubating, then that paramedic needs to be remediated.

 

[Morsetlis]

It's the hands... hyperventilate before intubate all you want, you don't got 3 hands to snake an ET tube, bag, maintain laryngoscope, and start connecting all the O2 tubes, not to mention IV lines and EKG leads. This is why most city ALS ambulances have 2 medics in the back. For staffing shortages, a medic + an EMT will do just fine.

I think there was a research in a controlled environment showing that medic + EMT provided the same resuscitation success in a CPR code compared to double medic.

Anyway, the lack of in-depth instructions for EMT-Bs, lack of treatment options (hello 15Lpm nonrebreather mask), and lack of career support (most EMTs just want their 1100 hours to go to medic school) means that the EMT-B in the US shall forever be sucky unless there's institutional changes.

 

[WatchForDaEF55]

15... hours? Do you mean 15 weeks?

Anyway, if it's a total of 160 hours (like it's supposed to be) it'll count the same for AMCAS purposes regardless of how quickly you took it.

Supposed to be 2 summer sessions I think. I still need to look more into it.

 

[ThaliaNox]

I'd hope that the people picking me up when I have a medical emergency would be required to understand anatomy and physiology. After all, even the podunk emergency departments will have physicians in all but the most extreme locations. Similarly, with the amount of money that a lot of rural EMTs (but by no means all) put into their movable disco ball they call a vehicle they could easily pay for paramedic school.

I take it you've never really lived in a rural area? It can be well over an hour to the nearest hospital, and it may very well be staffed by a PA at night with a physician on call. Most rural rigs are run by volunteers. When are they supposed to take a paramedic course and keep up certifications with their full time job, and the fact that the nearest paramedic course might be hours from their home? I'd rather have an EMT-B and a first responder pick me up from my car wreck than nobody. They can try to stabilize me while calling in the one paramedic in a 100 mile radius for an intercept. He'll probably drive to meet the intercept in his own 1988 pick-up with a portable battery operated emergency light stuck to the roof. He'll then dump his truck and hop on the ambulance when they meet.

 

[ahowardmd]

A little bit of A/P would be nice (actually, a full college level A/P series would be appropriate). How do you decide who get's supplemental oxygen and who doesn't? Or is it paint by numbers, everyone gets a non-rebreather? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to provide some pharmaceutical pain relief if the patient needs it? There's a minimum that all ambulances responding to emergencies should be able to provide, however I don't think that it's feasible when the lowest legally acceptable level has 110 (minimum under NHTSA National Standard Curriculum) hours of training.

Well, if I remember right from my EMT training...everybody gets supplemental O2.

Also, in my course we got basic A/P, which is plenty for an EMT-B.

 

[Morsetlis]

Also, in my course we got basic A/P, which is plenty for an EMT-B.

Lol. Yeah, the two-page anatomy handout is totally A&P. Hey look, cervical spine.

 

[ahowardmd]

Lol. Yeah, the two-page anatomy handout is totally A&P. Hey look, cervical spine.

Actually we spent a whole week or two on basic A/P. We had to know most of the bones, the organs, some basic physio (i.e. how epinephrine works, etc), and some things we went into more depth on (like with the lungs, we talked about the bronchi, bronchioles, alveoli, etc.). I would have to say I learned more anatomy in two weeks of EMT school than I learned in a semester of anatomy at my ghetto high school, and it was a decent primer for my Anatomy and Physiology courses in undergrad.

Basically, I'm not saying that EMT-B's learn a great deal about A/P, but they learn enough to provide basic life saving care and transport, which is all they are expected to do. The only reason I became an EMT was to see what hands-on patient care was like, to see if I really wanted to be a doctor. I did it, I liked it, so it served it's purpose. Other people become EMT's because they want to fight fires, but most fire dept.s want firefighters to have dual cert these days. Others want to become paramedics and provide advanced prehospital care, so they go through EMT first. It would be ridiculous if the baseline lifesaver was a 2 year course, because I doubt many people choose to be a career EMT-B (without being a firefighter or nursing on the side or something)...they just use it for other purposes. /rant

 

[Siggy]

Well, if I remember right from my EMT training...everybody gets supplemental O2.

Free radicals for everyone!

Also, there's research coming out that shows that supplemental oxygen (especially high FiO2 delivered by NRB) might be detrimental in stroke and MI patients.

 

[Siggy]

It would be ridiculous if the baseline lifesaver was a 2 year course, because I doubt many people choose to be a career EMT-B (without being a firefighter or nursing on the side or something)...they just use it for other purposes. /rant

You mean... like the "basic" level provider in parts of Canada have (the entry level is called a "primary care paramedic")? Quality over quantity. More education begets more interventions and both beget higher reimbursement and better patient care.

http://www.northernc.on.ca/programs/hsci/paramedic.html

 

[Morsetlis]

Paramedics in the US have one year of education...

Although, to be honest, some of those classes in Canada are "abnormal psychology", externships, and fitness classes.

 

[Siggy]

EMT-Paramedic in the US is not the entry level to work on an ambulance. The primary care paramedic in Canada is the entry level to work on an ambulance.

Oh, and externships and abnormal psych isn't useful for paramedics? Yea, because clinicals are useless and prehospital care never includes treating patients with psychatric disorders.

 

[ahowardmd]

You mean... like the "basic" level provider in parts of Canada have (the entry level is called a "primary care paramedic")? Quality over quantity. More education begets more interventions and both beget higher reimbursement and better patient care.

http://www.northernc.on.ca/programs/hsci/paramedic.html

I don't know much about prehospital care in other parts of the country, but in Florida the fire departments provide the prehospital emergency care. In most fire departments these days, everybody has to be at least EMT-B certified to get a job. So the guys running into the burning buildings, making 35K a year, can save your life while they're waiting for the paramedic to get to you. They're at least quite a step above a first responder. The paramedic spends most of his time in the back of the ambulance, keeping people alive on the way to the ER. The EMT-B spends most of his time driving the paramedic to the hospital. Why would you want every guy running into the burning buildings and driving the ambulances to be EMT-P certified? That would be a complete waste of time and resources.

So does every guy riding in a fire truck or on an ambulance in Canada have a two-year paramedic course under their belt?

Paramedics in the US have one year of education...

Although, to be honest, some of those classes in Canada are "abnormal psychology", externships, and fitness classes.

In Florida, Paramedic is a two-year associates degree at the community college. Where did you get your "one year" information?

 

[Mackey]

I don't know much about prehospital care in other parts of the country, but in Florida the fire departments provide the prehospital emergency care. In most fire departments these days, everybody has to be at least EMT-B certified to get a job. So the guys running into the burning buildings, making 35K a year, can save your life while they're waiting for the paramedic to get to you. They're at least quite a step above a first responder. The paramedic spends most of his time in the back of the ambulance, keeping people alive on the way to the ER. The EMT-B spends most of his time driving the paramedic to the hospital. Why would you want every guy running into the burning buildings and driving the ambulances to be EMT-P certified? That would be a complete waste of time and resources.

So does every guy riding in a fire truck or on an ambulance in Canada have a two-year paramedic course under their belt?

In Florida, Paramedic is a two-year associates degree at the community college. Where did you get your "one year" information?

Paramedic degrees fluctuate from one year to two years, depending on full-time, part time, clinical reqs., etc. It is a very unorganized training regime that varies from state to state.

In addition, that may be how it is in Florida, but many other locales around the country, namely large cities or well-to-do counties employ paramedics on any fire apparatus.

 

[Siggy]

I don't know much about prehospital care in other parts of the country, but in Florida the fire departments provide the prehospital emergency care. In most fire departments these days, everybody has to be at least EMT-B certified to get a job. So the guys running into the burning buildings, making 35K a year, can save your life while they're waiting for the paramedic to get to you. They're at least quite a step above a first responder. The paramedic spends most of his time in the back of the ambulance, keeping people alive on the way to the ER. The EMT-B spends most of his time driving the paramedic to the hospital. Why would you want every guy running into the burning buildings and driving the ambulances to be EMT-P certified? That would be a complete waste of time and resources.

To be fair, I don't want fire suppression and EMS to be combined anyways. There's a reason why places like Wake County and Boston EMS run circles around fire based EMS. The last thing I want is some fire fighter who's only motivation to be a paramedic or EMT is because it was required for him to fight fires to be providing me care. Furthermore, if a fire apparatus is arriving before an ambulance on a majority of calls, then that's a great indication that there isn't enough ambulances available, and thus the fire department is failing their community in their misguided quest to provide emergency medical services. EMS shouldn't be just another source of revenue to secure fire fighter jobs and buy more big red trucks.


Oh, and if you think fire based EMS is so great in Florida, look up the issues in Collier County. Collier County is well known because of a bunch of cry baby fire fighters are mad at the medical director because they won't meet his training requirements.

 

[Mackey]

EMS shouldn't be just another source of revenue to secure fire fighter jobs and buy more big red trucks.

Haha, this man has been in EMS before!

 

[ThaliaNox]

To be fair, I don't want fire suppression and EMS to be combined anyways. There's a reason why places like Wake County and Boston EMS run circles around fire based EMS. The last thing I want is some fire fighter who's only motivation to be a paramedic or EMT is because it was required for him to fight fires to be providing me care. Furthermore, if a fire apparatus is arriving before an ambulance on a majority of calls, then that's a great indication that there isn't enough ambulances available, and thus the fire department is failing their community in their misguided quest to provide emergency medical services. EMS shouldn't be just another source of revenue to secure fire fighter jobs and buy more big red trucks.

I'm sure that the departments you're maligning would love to buy more ambulances and not "fail their communities," but money is a factor in the real world, grasshopper. It's cheaper to have fewer trucks and have people be dual-certified. Better something than nothing, yes?

 

[Siggy]

You've apparently never seen California fire based EMS in action. I always thought it was funny that one city would send a fire engine or ladder truck, and their own ambulance (dispatched at the same time. It wasn't like the "paramedic van" was out on a call and the engine was second due), but still rely on a private company for the actual transport with the fire medics providing care on the private ambulance. Nothing says economical like sending one piece of equipment that has no business on a medical call while spending money on an ambulance that never gets used as an ambulance because a private company is contracted to provide the actual transport.

Similarly, nothing says economical like sending fire engines to medical calls. Ambulances cost less in terms of purchasing price and maintenance.

Similarly, something is better than nothing is like saying that you don't mind if the physician in the emergency room is a radiologist who hasn't been taught emergency care past his medicals school clerkships because, hey, at least a physician is present, right?