EMT or Drug Rehab Clinic?

[Disinence2]

So...after my post last week of quiting my horrable Job i have 2 more options lined up. The first, actualy using my EMT certification and working for an ambulance company, but it would be like 99% just interhospital transfers, its not a first responder. Second option, a tech at a drug rehabilitation clinic. From a "getting into med school" stand point what one do u think would be more valuable. The drug rehab sounds kinda cool cause u actualy get long term interaction with patients...

What do u think?

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[notdeadyet]

Drug rehab. There are many flavors of EMT work, some very rewarding. But if you're just going to be shuttling folks, I'd go with the rehab job. The more patient interaction the better...

 

[Disinence2]

How many EMTS are there really though? Its gotta be less than half of the applicants...

ill probably go with the Detox clinic, it might make me stand out a bit more, maybe ill get a good personal statment story about of it...

 

[123165]

I vote no on being a taxi-cab

 

[CTtarheel]

probably LOTS of people with EMT certifications. Probably not very many who actually have significant EMS experience. Out of those in my EMT class (at a university, more than half pre-meds), probably 10% are actually doing something with the certification.

 

[Siggy]

I vote no on being a taxi-cab

Meh, IFT=Cabulance for nursing homes, 911=cabulance for anyone with a cell phone, at least in Southern California.

 

[45408]

However, on a med school standpoint, EMTs are a dime a dozen.

in my class of 206, I know of 1-2 other EMTs besides myself. SDN loves saying this, but they're really NOT *that* common.

But I agree - do what interests you, otherwise it'll show right through. If you can get on a company that does 911 calls, I HIGHLY recommend it. Fewer than 10-15% of my calls were grandma shuttle work. Some calls are BS, but even if they were, the work was fun. It makes for great stories that start out like "So we got a call for a transsexual who overdosed," or "Right around 3am, this guy plowed his Camaro into the barrier on I-94." And if I wasn't on a call, I could sleep or watch TV and still get paid.

 

[Nom4d]

I'm far from an expert on the subject, but in this case I would advise against EMS for a variety of reasons.

A. EMS works 24 hour shifts and two-three days per week everywhere I've ever been. Could kill your GPA.
B. Half of my EMS class at the JC I started at were going into Nursing.
C. VERY VERY high burn out rates.
D. Standing out appears to be the name of the game. If you check the threads here you see people with sub-par GPA and MCATs getting accepted where as you also see people with good GPA and MCAT not getting in. EMT-B isn't hard to get and while taxi-cab would probably be a good way to get experience with patients, you may be the only one they see who puts down "drug rehab clinic" on your app. That alone may get you to the interview some places.

However, it is really your choice. If you think you would really enjoy the EMS for a bit, do it. Besides, 99% of the EMS work I did when I was trying to do it was picking up geri's at the dialysis clinics. One thing you may not know is that EMT-B qualifies you to become an ER/ED tech in a hospital which I though was a blast.

 

[45408]

Yea, I'm probably biased. Good luck OP.

Certainly, some areas have a huge saturation of pre-med EMTs (I was the only one at my employer at first, out of at least 100 employees, another joined after I'd been there a year), like southern Cali from the sound of it. I was the only one of 30 in my class. Almost everyone else was going for volunteer firefighter or just for the medical training (e.g., summer camp director).

 

[45408]

A. EMS works 24 hour shifts and two-three days per week everywhere I've ever been. Could kill your GPA.

on the other hand, I worked whenever they needed a shift filled (I could say yes or no to anything), which sometimes was an overnight shift, which was great when I didn't have anything going on, or I'd work on a Friday with no classes or no important classes and by Saturday morning, have a 24 hours to get paid for. Sleep until noon, and carry on as usual. I'd hate to have a job where you had to show up 4-5 times a week for 4 hours. I did work two 24s in a 72-hour period once though, in the middle of a school week. That was intense!

 

[Nom4d]

on the other hand, I worked whenever they needed a shift filled (I could say yes or no to anything), which sometimes was an overnight shift, which was great when I didn't have anything going on, or I'd work on a Friday with no classes or no important classes and by Saturday morning, have a 24 hours to get paid for. Sleep until noon, and carry on as usual. I'd hate to have a job where you had to show up 4-5 times a week for 4 hours. I did work two 24s in a 72-hour period once though, in the middle of a school week. That was intense!

Sounds like a great experience! You are correct, central/southern Cali seems to be pretty saturated and I have yet to find a company that will hire part-timers. If I had the opportunity I would have jumped at a job like you had.

 

[Silver4]

EMT-B isn't hard to get

Ok, if I hear this one more time on SDN, I think I'm going to go postal.

While an EMT-B certification isn't exactly rocket science, it takes TREMENDOUS commitment in many states. Show me a shadowing / lab position where you have to have
- CPR/AED for the Professional Rescuer
- 120+ hours of classroom time
- 12 hours of ER clinical precepting
- 24 hours of ride-on time
- AND a state and sometimes national certification to even START.

Beyond that, find me a volunteer or paid position without an RN or MD where YOU are responsible for keeping YOUR patient alive. Not running files, not watching the myriad of ways in which junkies can smuggle body-temperater human urine into their specimin cups. Actually, for real, keeping people alive and working with them to address their most immediate problems.

End rant.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Ok, if I hear this one more time on SDN, I think I'm going to go postal.

While an EMT-B certification isn't exactly rocket science, it takes TREMENDOUS commitment in many states. Show me a shadowing / lab position where you have to have
- CPR/AED for the Professional Rescuer
- 120+ hours of classroom time
- 12 hours of ER clinical precepting
- 24 hours of ride-on time
- AND a state and sometimes national certification to even START.

Beyond that, find me a volunteer or paid position without an RN or MD where YOU are responsible for keeping YOUR patient alive. Not running files, not watching the myriad of ways in which junkies can smuggle body-temperater human urine into their specimin cups. Actually, for real, keeping people alive and working with them to address their most immediate problems.

End rant.

http://www.fieldmedics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1224

Please, read that thread and then tell me- a 8 year veteran EMS instructor who has taught in 3 states and the military- about how hard people work to earn their BLS certifications. The standards need to be drastically tightened, because right now almost any schmuck can pass most courses with minimal effort.

Judging by the breathless nature of the way you describe EMS.....I'm guessing you've been in the field....maybe a couple of years, if that. 95% of our calls aren't life threatening "YOU keep YOUR patient ALIVE" type affairs. They are the routine or non-emergent transports the OP is bemoaning. If you don't like it, please go work elsewhere. Those of who have dedication to EMS will thank you for it. Hell, I'll even write you a recommendation letter.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

C. VERY VERY high burn out rates.

One study put it at over 88% at 10 years. The rule of thumb I use (and reference in classes) is "95% of the people are attracted by 5% of the calls (the traumas, the cardiac arrests, the "I saved the patient" calls), the 5% of people who stay as a career are sustained by the 95% of calls."

 

[DropkickMurphy]

And it will die a languishing death there......this is a premed matter and it is still regarding premeds and their involvement in EMS education, so it deserves to stay in the PreAllo forum.

 

[Silver4]

95% of our calls aren't life threatening "YOU keep YOUR patient ALIVE" type affairs. They are the routine or non-emergent transports the OP is bemoaning.

Please. I work in a box that contains a college campus and little else. The calls I get are of the "I'm drunk, help me vomit" and "OMG, I ripped my nail, can you make it look ok before the formal?" variety. And that's what I do.

If I didn't think that those patients needed to be treated with the same respect and professionalism as everyone else, I would quit. But I don't- when I went into this I never expected to be the lifesaver with the ER theme song dreamily playing in my ambient space as I walked through the crowd of mere-mortals on my eleveated cloud platform.

But when you do get paged out for the "difficulty breathing" that usually means "I lost my inhaler" but this time is a patient in status with no airway (thanks, dispatch) ... then you'd better be sharp on your skills and training.. and you'd better not be the EMT who's just trying to get into medical school.

And I still maintain that a solid, dedicated instructor will make you jump through hoops to get your BLS cert- it's the lazy, jaded, and cynical ones who allow the undedicated idiots through.

 

[spicedmanna]

One thing you may not know is that EMT-B qualifies you to become an ER/ED tech in a hospital which I though [sic] was a blast.

I think that is true in some states. Unfortunately, not in mine. You'll want to check up on that.

Besides, 99% of the EMS work I did when I was trying to do it was picking up geri's at the dialysis clinics.

I wouldn't generalize about EMS work based on your experience. While it is true that in some areas, EMT-B's are glorified short wagon drivers, it is certainly not always the case. For instance, in my area, EMT-B's mostly work for fire stations (as a volunteer or career personnel), which run all of the 9-1-1 calls. Private ambulance companies, in my area, do most of the interhospital transports and what not; they do not generally run 9-1-1 calls. EMS is very location-dependant. It is wise to check how it is run in your area, before choosing to dive in.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Please. I work in a box that contains a college campus and little else. The calls I get are of the "I'm drunk, help me vomit" and "OMG, I ripped my nail, can you make it look ok before the formal?" variety. And that's what I do.

If I didn't think that those patients needed to be treated with the same respect and professionalism as everyone else, I would quit. But I don't- when I went into this I never expected to be the lifesaver with the ER theme song dreamily playing in my ambient space as I walked through the crowd of mere-mortals on my eleveated cloud platform.

But when you do get paged out for the "difficulty breathing" that usually means "I lost my inhaler" but this time is a patient in status with no airway (thanks, dispatch) ... then you'd better be sharp on your skills and training.. and you'd better not be the EMT who's just trying to get into medical school.

And I still maintain that a solid, dedicated instructor will make you jump through hoops to get your BLS cert- it's the lazy, jaded, and cynical ones who allow the undedicated idiots through.

You make a valid point. I was one of those instructors who did my best to turn out competent and above the par students- teaching them more than was required and forcefeeding it to them if they didn't want it. If they couldn't satisfy me to the point where I felt I could turn them loose on the sick and injured of the world, then they failed the course.

 

[Disinence2]

Wow, crazy.... I got my EMT cert freshman year to be exposed to different areas of health care which helped me clearly define my motivation to become a physican. Ide like to use it, but where i live the only way u get to respond to 911 calls is if your on a fire department. I still think that being an EMT is looked upon as a posative thing by ADCOMS in terms of medical school because if your like me, and actualy learned something about yourself from the process it was worth it. I don't think just writing NREMT-B on your amcas will help much.

I think im going to go for the drug rehab clinic, Im sure ill learn something equaly important from my experience there.

and BTW, my EMT-B class was one of the easiest ive ever taken, it was a nice 15 credits of A to help out my GPA.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Of course I can't say anything, I'm doing my EMT-P courses starting next summer and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to the 40 hrs raising my GPA a decent amount.

 

[Unlimited415]

To continue the PreMed concerns part of this discussion, I think the final answer to relevent experience you're going to get depends on your area. Do 5 - 10 ride alongs with your local ambulance crews and find out what kinds of calls YOU should expect when you start working (maybe you have to do routine transfers for the first 6 months or have seniority to work 911). Then decide if that's relevant enough patient contact for you.

And there are different shifts, part-time, full-time, etc at different companies.

I think the drug rehab could good...depending on how much contact you get with them. Are you going to be an office assistant or actually shadow the people attending to the patients?

In my opinion, I would do drug rehab program UNLESS you'll be working actual 911 calls at the ambulance job.

 

[notdeadyet]

C. VERY VERY high burn out rates.

That's always a bit overstated because it includes all of the EMTs. Very, very few make EMT a career and switch to other non-EMS fields.

Burn out to me implies being not being able to continue for reasons of experiences on the job itself. Most leave EMT because it was a transfer point to begin with, or they got tired of the very poor pay.

 

[MountainEM]

OP: I am an EMT and work as an addictions counselor at a recovery center. I like both but addictions is an awesome field...I enjoy working with addicts

dave

 

[shaggybill]

and BTW, my EMT-B class was one of the easiest ive ever taken, it was a nice 15 credits of A to help out my GPA.

You're getting college credit for your EMT class?

How?

 

[greytmedic]

I may be a pre-med, but I have much, much more experience and comfort working with people than every other one of my fellow pre-meds.

I am one of your fellow pre-meds and I might just come close to your grand level of experience and comfort.

Greytmedic, EMT-Paramedic

 

[greytmedic]

You're getting college credit for your EMT class?

How?

Any EMT class that is put on through a community college or university will give you college credit. It is usually non-transferable to a 4 year degree but will show up on transcripts, will have to be entered on med school applications, and affect your overall GPA. If the class is put on through a hospital or ambulance provider they will probably not be for college credit and will not affect a GPA.

 

[CardiacIntensivist]

http://www.fieldmedics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1224

Please, read that thread and then tell me- a 8 year veteran EMS instructor who has taught in 3 states and the military- about how hard people work to earn their BLS certifications. The standards need to be drastically tightened, because right now almost any schmuck can pass most courses with minimal effort.

Judging by the breathless nature of the way you describe EMS.....I'm guessing you've been in the field....maybe a couple of years, if that. 95% of our calls aren't life threatening "YOU keep YOUR patient ALIVE" type affairs. They are the routine or non-emergent transports the OP is bemoaning. If you don't like it, please go work elsewhere. Those of who have dedication to EMS will thank you for it. Hell, I'll even write you a recommendation letter.

I concur.

 

[21Rush12]

This thread is 11 years old...since when are spambots are necrobumping?