EMT during school??

[spyyder31]

I am very interested in becomming an EMT. I plan to go to med. school and I thought that this would be the ulitimate in clinical experience...and pretty darn exciting too. The only problem is that I can't seem to find time to do it. Is anyone out there working "part time" as an EMT/paramedic? How do you do it?

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[12R34Y]

I'm currently working part-time as a paramedic and the way I got through EMT school was doing it during the summer between semesters. The EMT-Basic cirriculum is only about 4-6 weeks long. Take it over the summer. Talk to your college and check local community colleges. Most seem to have programs. After becoming an EMT I got hooked on it and I quit college and became a paramedic and worked full-time for 3 years. Now I'm back to school full-time and will be applying to med school next cycle. You're right it is an excellent way to gain clinical experience. It's also incredibly exciting. Impacting peoples' lives is the best feeling in the world.

 

[cdstafford]

I volunteer as a member of my college's rescue squad (as opposed to "working"). It's demanding of my time but it's an investment rather than a waste. I don't consider it the "ultimate" in clinical experience because of the nature of the care that is provided in the prehospital setting but it's still a great experience and one that I highly recommend if you're interested. I don't know how it works in your state, but here in Virginia the EMT-Basic course is somewhere in the area of 130 hours classroom plus another 10 hours of clinical time, up to 4 of which can be done on an ambulance and the rest of which need to be in the ED of a hospital. And you never know--if the head nurse in the ED you pull clinical time in likes you, you could ask nicely if it could be arranged for you to volunteer specifically in the ED as a technician. I'm not sure if there would be any constraints placed upon you since you'd be functioning as a volunteer, but I remember being able to help a LOT when I did the same for a while. Hope all this helps

Feel free to email me with any questions regarding the EMT/B process you may have (though I'm sure that 12R34Y is equally as qualified to offer you advice). Good luck!

--Stafford

 

[mandi22]

HELLO MY NAME IS MANDI AND I AM KINDA IN A SIMILAR SITUATION. IM 22 AND A LVN RIGHT NOW IM WANTING TO GET INTO PREMED AND I WAS WONDERING IF ANY OF YALL CAN GIVE ME SOME SUGGESTIONS. I WOULD LOVE SOME FEEDBACK IF YALL CAN HELP PLEASE EMAIL ME OR JUST POST REPLY.. THANK YOU MANDI

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[Nanook]

Before you go through the effort of investing "only" 4-6 weeks in the EMT I class, be sure to check if there is somewhere nearby that you can work or volunteer.

In my home town, volunteering was easy, but here in the town where I attend college, all EMT services are handled by the fire dept. This means that you have to train as a fireman (another healthy time investment), and work as a fireman (or volunteer), and you might get to go on a few EMS calls. In short, it stinks.

So make sure you have somewhere you can use the certification. If you attend a larger college, many have their own EMS teams, though they are usually volunteer. Paramedic schools, by the way, are usually quite a bit longer (2 years? not sure). Sort of like getting your basic RN.

 

[Hskermdic]

As a paramedic I can tell you that is was a great experience but was very demanding as a full time job. The service I worked on was privately owned and had several part time employees who were also going to school. The EMT Basic course that has been adopted within the last several years is exactly that - Basic. Don't expect it to teach you much. If you are going to work as an EMT and a good one it will take a lot of hard work on your part or a very good program. You will find some cheap EMT instructors out there but they may not prepare you. If this is something you are interested in you can coutact you states Board of EMS and get a list of available courses but then talk to EMS in your area and find out whose courses they reccomend.

Also if you are doing this to boost your resume to medical school I don't know how helpful it is. I have heard that now days so many people say they are EMTs that being an EMT is not even maked on your application as something to consider. I don't know that being a paramedic is skipped over quite as much during the application process (At least I know it wasn't in my case as it came up in my interview)



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Carrie
KCOM '03

 

[ebola95]

hey there all....

i did something simmilare and would highly recommend it to anyone looking ot "find out" if emergency medicine or blood and guts is for them....

i got my MFR (first responder) during high school and got my EMT/Basic the summer between high school and college while working with the local fire department (i highly recommend taking it too!)...finished off my paramedic program while in college (not easy to do with 14 credits!)...i worked a private ambulance company in Kalamazoo the following summer, and got a full-time position at the local hospital emergency room as an ER TECH for the last three years while working on my undergrad degree...i am starting at CCOM in the fall and cannot immagine making hte decision to practice medicine without any of my experiences...

for those EMS cronies out there....they can back me up on this one...there is nothing like responding to an MVA code three only to extricate someone and have to 'tube them while they are still pinned in the vehical....WHAT A RUSH!!!!

good luck to everyone and keep in touch

-john

 

[RAM#48]

Tubin' somebody while they are pinned or entrapped is quite a feat. The only thing that beats it is when they are upright and the fire department has just cut off the roof

 

[brookeJ]

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