EMT or EDT

[kerns]

What is a better job to hold part time as I prepare for med school. EMT with the fire service or other agency or emergency department tech in the ER or anything else?

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[rHinO1]

I am a EMT and I worked full time for a year on an ambulance. Currently I am working in an EDT like position in the sugery department of a hospital. There are good things and bad things about each position.

EMT:
You get a lot of hands on patient care experience. You will learn how to communicate clearly with patients, take a medical history, and perform a basic physical assesment. You will also get to see a wide range of healthcare facilities and jobs. The downside is that most company's will give you terrible hours (often graveyard) because it goes by seniority. Often shifts are 12 hour days and you have to work full time for atleast 6 months before you can go part time. This leaves you in a tough position for taking classes and studying. Also, as an EMT-B you will often get a large quantity of calls that are Dr. So & So wants Mrs. Smith to go from the nursing home to the hospital for a check up (not much to learn there after the 100th time).

EDT:
You will get to see alot more of what a doctor does. You will be surrounded by plenty of doctors and nurses who will answer your questions about different treatments and diseases. You will also have plenty of opportunity to meet doctors who can give you advice about med-school and possibly write you a LOR. You will also get to observe a lot of procedures that are very interesting to a pre-med student. The downside is that you will be surrounded by plenty of people who are more qualified to treat patients than you are and you're stuck doing a lot of grunt work. However, EDT's ussually make more money per hour than EMT's, by almost double in my experience.

Either one you choose you should have a good experience if you make the most of it. Good luck. I hope some of that helped.

 

[meliora27]

Both will be good experiences, however many ER tech positions like applicants to have had prior EMT experience, usually on an ambulance. As for shifts, I have never had an issue only working part time being an EMT. Nor have I had to work graveyard shifts.

 

[Florida Cracker]

I'm an EMT, too. I've been looking for a job out here in Phoenix and might finally be close to one with Southwest/Rural Metro.

I agree that EMTs will get a lot more pt contact. I noticed on my ambulance ride-alongs that you really get a chance to talk and connect with your pts, but you are just taking vitals and histories, for the most part.

My clinicals in the ED had me doing all the more advanced stuff that we learned in class, EKGs for example. The best thing about the ED was that you had so many people there to learn from. I have a knack for finding the nurses and PAs that love to teach, so I always learn a lot.

I'm hoping to get my job as an EMT and then volunteer in the ED, at least until I get enough experience to actually work at the hospital. I have my volunteer interview with a pretty good teaching hospital on March 10th.

Do you guys think it's worth getting Paramedic if you're going to be heading to med school?

 

[meliora27]

I don't think that becoming a paramedic will necessarily help your application. First, Medic school takes a while and when you're in it it's very time intensive. If you're planning on matriculating to medical school soon you may have very little time at all to even practice as a paramedic.

 

[rHinO1]

I agree that becoming a paramedic isn't worth the time if your ultimate goal is to go to medical school. Most programs take about 9 months to complete and there are usually several pre-reqs. Usually 1 year of full time emt experience & an anatomy/physiology course (sometimes a prep course too). Many people wash out of medic programs because they are very intensive and demanding. You are better off investing your time and energy in your pre-med classes and getting a good GPA/MCAT.

 

[Byam]

I don't think that becoming a paramedic will necessarily help your application. First, Medic school takes a while and when you're in it it's very time intensive. If you're planning on matriculating to medical school soon you may have very little time at all to even practice as a paramedic.

Agree completely. Remember, the road to medical school requires patience and determination. If you are truly set on entering medical school asap, I would recommend that you focus on that alone. Aside from the classroom hours and tests required, paramedics have to undergo a large amount of observation hours (In Texas, 624 hours of training are needed to become a paramedic. A licensed paramedic requires an associates degree in Para-Medicine.). Para-Medicine is a great career for those who like the health aspect as well as the public safety part. I have met plenty of physicians who delayed medical school to practice Para-Medicine. Just remember, although paramedics see and treat health dilemmas, most of it is outside of a hospital setting.

 

[mededu]

EMT seems to be a good option...

You might be interested in this thread:
http://more.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=276378

 

[sylvanthus]

I think it depends on what the ERs allow EDTs to do. Ive worked in three different emergency departments each in a different state and they varied dramatically.

If the EDs in your area let you draw blood, run basic blood tests, perform EKGs and do plaster splints, I would say go the EDT route.

Then again it also depends what the EMTs in your area do as well. If you ride with a paramedic and respond to ALS calls, then you could get good experience doing that. But, if you are with another EMT-basic, you will likely spend more time doing nursing home transports and other mundane transports, unfortunately.

So, I would research your area and make the decision after you have more info.

 

[MSmentor018]

I've done both and here's what I've experienced with trying to study and working 60-80 hrs/wk. both are great for experience but if your primary goal is med school, I think ed tech may have more advantages. the hours could be a little better so you can study (24 hr shifts can be painful), a wider variety of patients and seeing them in a longer term setting besides the field, our hospital paid techs twice as much as EMT, but mostly you get face time with physicians to get LOR's. good luck!

 

[bigDinLV]

I agree that becoming a paramedic isn't worth the time if your ultimate goal is to go to medical school. Most programs take about 9 months to complete and there are usually several pre-reqs. Usually 1 year of full time emt experience & an anatomy/physiology course (sometimes a prep course too). Many people wash out of medic programs because they are very intensive and demanding. You are better off investing your time and energy in your pre-med classes and getting a good GPA/MCAT.

Disagree... It will take a year and a half or two years to become a paramedic. Just a few months to be an EMT. If your mom and dad aren't paying the bills and you need to pay bills, it is better pay than an EMT or ER tech.

When you put down on your application that you have a few years of being in charge of patient care, they like that. Every interview they asked about me being a paramedic and the things I had done. You give them a list of things that you have already done like advanced cardiac life support, pediatric advanced life support, neonatal resuscitation, prehospital trauma on top of all the patient care hours.. they love it.

The advantage of being a paramedic over an EMT or ER tech is that you can do some advanced treatment and you actually make significant patient care decisions. An example, as an ER tech you'll do the 12 lead EKG, but have no responsibility for reading it and the following treatment. As a paramedic you'll do the EKG, read it and incorporate that into your care for that SVT, bradycardia, MI or whatever.

The downside to becoming a paramedic.. The time it takes to get there.

 

[rHinO1]

Disagree... It will take a year and a half or two years to become a paramedic. Just a few months to be an EMT. If your mom and dad aren't paying the bills and you need to pay bills, it is better pay than an EMT or ER tech.

When you put down on your application that you have a few years of being in charge of patient care, they like that. Every interview they asked about me being a paramedic and the things I had done. You give them a list of things that you have already done like advanced cardiac life support, pediatric advanced life support, neonatal resuscitation, prehospital trauma on top of all the patient care hours.. they love it.

The advantage of being a paramedic over an EMT or ER tech is that you can do some advanced treatment and you actually make significant patient care decisions. An example, as an ER tech you'll do the 12 lead EKG, but have no responsibility for reading it and the following treatment. As a paramedic you'll do the EKG, read it and incorporate that into your care for that SVT, bradycardia, MI or whatever.

The downside to becoming a paramedic.. The time it takes to get there.

Huge downside. Remember that your paramedic liscense alone will not help you that much if you haven't actually used it. Meaning you actually need to spend some time practicing as a paramedic in the field. It takes atleast 8 years to earn an MD (4 years undergraduate & 4 years of medical school), without including residency and fellowships. Adding 2+ years to gain clinical skills that you will learn in medical school is not worth postponing your medical school education. Do paramedics learn a lot of skills? Yes, definetly. Will those skills help you get into medical school? Yes, but only if you have a good GPA/MCAT too. The argument that someone should get their medic liscense before going to medical school is the same argument that can be made for getting an RN.

I just wanted to clarify that I think being a paramedic is a very difficult job, and they deserve a lot of respect. The skills that you mentioned are very valuable and will help you as a doctor. However, postponing medical school for paramedic school is as I said before, just not worth it.

 

[bigDinLV]

Huge downside. Remember that your paramedic liscense alone will not help you that much if you haven't actually used it. Meaning you actually need to spend some time practicing as a paramedic in the field. It takes atleast 8 years to earn an MD (4 years undergraduate & 4 years of medical school), without including residency and fellowships. Adding 2+ years to gain clinical skills that you will learn in medical school is not worth postponing your medical school education. Do paramedics learn a lot of skills? Yes, definetly. Will those skills help you get into medical school? Yes, but only if you have a good GPA/MCAT too. The argument that someone should get their medic liscense before going to medical school is the same argument that can be made for getting an RN.

I just wanted to clarify that I think being a paramedic is a very difficult job, and they deserve a lot of respect. The skills that you mentioned are very valuable and will help you as a doctor. However, postponing medical school for paramedic school is as I said before, just not worth it.

No, simply putting med school on hold isn't the best idea. If you read the first paragraph of my other post I mentioned it for those that need to work through school in order to pay their own way. You can have a respectable job and be financially independent in about 1 1/2 years. then go for college and on to med school.

It would almost be a better plan to get a nursing degree. Start working and finish up a BSN. The time spent would actually go towards your college degree.

 

[MSmentor018]

It would almost be a better plan to get a nursing degree. Start working and finish up a BSN. The time spent would actually go towards your college degree.

only the 1st-2 years will be accepted eng, soc, his...etc. I have a BSN and had to take gen chem 1+2 (the chem needed for nursing doesn't count), orgo 1+2, biochem, phy 1+2, and pre-calc. those are not included in the BSN

it'll be around 8 years before you can even apply for med school. if you want to practice nursing for a while, definitely do it. if it's a stepping stone for med school. don't waste the time/money. go straight for a chem/bio degree. work as a tech. get the good grades/mcat and go from there.

 

[bigDinLV]

only the 1st-2 years will be accepted eng, soc, his...etc. I have a BSN and had to take gen chem 1+2 (the chem needed for nursing doesn't count), orgo 1+2, biochem, phy 1+2, and pre-calc. those are not included in the BSN

it'll be around 8 years before you can even apply for med school. if you want to practice nursing for a while, definitely do it. if it's a stepping stone for med school. don't waste the time/money. go straight for a chem/bio degree. work as a tech. get the good grades/mcat and go from there.

If you had the plan, couldn't you just take the necessary chem, bio and ect instead of the lower level intro type stuff??

 

[MSmentor018]

If you had the plan, couldn't you just take the necessary chem, bio and ect instead of the lower level intro type stuff??

no, the lower level stuff is the pre reqs for the nursing degree. the main diff is with nursing you're working towards a degree so they're 100-200 level courses (communications, humanities, humanities elective, psy x 2, foreign language, human dev, anatomy/physio are not shared with medicine), then nursing school 300-400 level. with a "pre med type degree" like chem/bio you need to have the 300-400 level courses just to apply to med school.

 

[bigDinLV]

no, the lower level stuff is the pre reqs for the nursing degree. the main diff is with nursing you're working towards a degree so they're 100-200 level courses (communications, humanities, humanities elective, psy x 2, foreign language, human dev, anatomy/physio are not shared with medicine), then nursing school 300-400 level. with a "pre med type degree" like chem/bio you need to have the 300-400 level courses just to apply to med school.

Actually, many of the courses required to get into med school are often 100 level.. Bio, physics, and chem are usually acceptable at the 101 and 102 level, as long as they aren't the "intro" classes. In my chem 101 and 102 I was in the same class as chem majors. Bio was something like 105 and 106. Physics was something like that too.

Organic chem was a 200 level class.

They do require you to work up to some 300 level classes. For instance my biochem, genetics, neurophysiology and biopsychology were all at that level.

If you wanted to get a BSN it just doesn't make much sense that you couldn't replace the intro to chem with a Chem I and II etc. That was my point in my last post.

 

[rHinO1]

No, simply putting med school on hold isn't the best idea. If you read the first paragraph of my other post I mentioned it for those that need to work through school in order to pay their own way. You can have a respectable job and be financially independent in about 1 1/2 years. then go for college and on to med school.

It would almost be a better plan to get a nursing degree. Start working and finish up a BSN. The time spent would actually go towards your college degree.

Just wanted to add that it may depend on the area you live in. In southern california where I live, a paramedic working for AMR (big ambulance company) starts off around $13 an hour. EDT's at my hospital make $14 an hour starting ($16 if they work evenings). The paramedics I know make most of their money working overtime, which is not necessarily good for studying and maintaining a high GPA. If you really need money some hospitals (like the one I work for) offer call pay, which can add a lot to a check ($6.75 while on call and regular ($14-16) or overtime pay ($21-32) if actually called into work).

 

[bigDinLV]

Just wanted to add that it may depend on the area you live in. In southern california where I live, a paramedic working for AMR (big ambulance company) starts off around $13 an hour. EDT's at my hospital make $14 an hour starting ($16 if they work evenings). The paramedics I know make most of their money working overtime, which is not necessarily good for studying and maintaining a high GPA. If you really need money some hospitals (like the one I work for) offer call pay, which can add a lot to a check ($6.75 while on call and regular ($14-16) or overtime pay ($21-32) if actually called into work).

$13 per hour to start in SoCal? That sucks!! 12 years ago I started around $11 in Iowa and went up to about $18 when I left.

 

[MSmentor018]

Actually, many of the courses required to get into med school are often 100 level.. Bio, physics, and chem are usually acceptable at the 101 and 102 level, as long as they aren't the "intro" classes. In my chem 101 and 102 I was in the same class as chem majors. Bio was something like 105 and 106. Physics was something like that too.

Organic chem was a 200 level class.

They do require you to work up to some 300 level classes. For instance my biochem, genetics, neurophysiology and biopsychology were all at that level.

If you wanted to get a BSN it just doesn't make much sense that you couldn't replace the intro to chem with a Chem I and II etc. That was my point in my last post.

I thought you were saying to use a BSN undergrad credits for pre med. the college I went to had a distinct diff between the chemistries. chem 100 was for the "non science types, incld nursing" (I know a BSN is a science in nursing) and chem 101-102 was for the science majors. I must admit the nursing one was a little easier. if you took chem 101 and applied it to a BSN.....yeah that'd work.

 

[blackadder]

yo op,

i'm going to go out on a limb here and assume you don't have any experience since you're asking this question...

if you hypothetically had offers at both places (FYI getting a tech job with 0 experience will be tough), i would say you should still take the EMT job. here's why: if you wanna be a doc in the future, the most valuable thing you can learn from patients now is how to take a history and simply interact with them (not that you'll be an expert necessarily, but you'll gain some comfort/proficiency with this). pretty much everything else you'll learn/do on an ambulance (or as an ED tech) will be of little value later on.

however, if you do indeed have EMT experience i would say take the ED tech job and run with it. after working for about five years in the field i hesitantly decided to move inside to the ED...it rocks. i draw bloods, do ekgs, splint, assist during codes, get to play with some trauma (rarely the serious stuff though)...since you deal with way more serious patients in the ED you do way more procedural stuff during a given shift than you would in the field as a EMT IMHO. the trade off is that you're only very rarely taking histories (never officially) in the ED nor do you usually have as much time to chat with patients--a negative IMHO for an aspiring doc with no medical experience.

to reiterate:

1) if you have no experience but wanna be a doc...take the EMT gig.
2) if you do have experience...take the ED tech gig.
3) the most valuable thing you'll learn from either of these positions, regardless of what field, setting, planet, etc. of medicine you decide to go into will be the ability to talk, extract pertinent information, and perhaps build a rapport with the patients you interact with.

good luck man.

 

[rHinO1]

$13 per hour to start in SoCal? That sucks!! 12 years ago I started around $11 in Iowa and went up to about $18 when I left.

The situation for emt's here pretty much sucks. We don't have any EMT-I positions either. It's either emt-b or paramedic. All of the better paying medic jobs are with the various fire departments around town, which are VERY competitive to get.