EMT-P in College?

[Blue128K]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I am going to college this coming fall and I really wanted to take a paramedic class while I am there. It starts in a month or so and goes for a little over a year so I'd be in the class all during this college year. It is 2 nites a week and 1 sat a month. My question is whether or not anybody has done this and how it worked out. I am worried about it interfereing with school but I'd really like to have it. Any help would be appriciated. 🙂

 

[TheRussian]

You might be able to get away with attending the paramedic class while in college, but I think you will have a pretty good time during your ER time that you need to do in order to get certified as EMT-P, at least that's how it works in MA.

Are you planning on going to med school after college, if so then there is probably no point in taking the paramedic class since you'll learn most of that in med school. I assume you are a basic right now, and your time could be better spent by volunteering or working for a private company as a basic. If you don't plan on med school then never mind this paragraph.

 

[Sweet Tea]

I have several friends who did, or tried to do this, and they had varying success. It was really, really hard for most of them to swing the time commitments of their undergrad courseload along with the time commitments of EMT-P. Unless you're taking a light load or aren't terribly concerned about having your grades drop, I say wait until after you graduate. The EMT-P program takes a lot more time than you think it will... you actually have to study for that class (unlike the EMT-B class), and you have extra commitments like ER or ride-along time that you have to fulfill (at least in NC). Also in NC, you have to have a certain number and certain types of calls before you can get your certification, and that takes longer for some people than for others.

Most of my friends who tried to do this ended up dropping out of the EMT-P program and just kept working as a Basic. The ones who did stick with the program had MAJOR damage to their grades and they all said it just wasn't worth it. If you want to get into med school, your best bet is to focus on undergrad and keeping those grades up, and supplementing the grades with EMT-B experience. If you're looking to expand your interests in EMS and Rescue, I suggest getting involved with your local Technical Rescue Team. I didn't have time to get my Paramedic certification, but I did have a couple free weekends to devote to training for my Swiftwater Rescue and Hazardous Materials Certification, and I was working on my High Angle certification before school got in the way. Good stuff.

 

[tarheel04]

I took an EMT-P class while in undergrad and did not have a problem, even though I took difficult classes. My class was 2 nights a week and 1 or 2 sat. a month depending on what material you are studying. It is very hard to balance the time required to maintain good grades in undergrad while also learning the material for the medic class, however if you are good, you can do it. Like the previous post said, there are significant clinical hours that must be done once the class is over and finding time to do those can be as hard as finding time to study. However, in NC there are not certain types of calls you must run, but there are certain skills you must complete during the internship and ER clinical.

If I had to do it over again I probably would not have taken the class even though i enjoyed learning the material due to the lack of free time you are left with while enrolled in the course (that was the only drawback, no bad grades, etc.). If this doesn't bother you, take the class and have fun learning the material, but if you begin to have problems with studying for undergrad classes, don't take the EMT-P class.

Also will you be a freshman in college?

 

[hanselthemedic]

I cut my university coarseload to part-time during paramedic training. Doing that, along with spending most of my weekends and breaks doing clinicals made it tolerable. I would advise against taking a class like o-chem or p-chem during the training though. Paramedic training is time intensive and it's important not to blow it off and to learn most of the material very well.

 

[Wahooali]

I had quite a few friends who did or attempted to do the paramedic program while in college. Like mentioned before, with all of the hours on top of the "scheduled class hours" (clinical time, ride-alongs, studying, practicing...) they all ended up either dropping to part-time student, or took time off from college to finish up the program. And all the people I know who did that, loved rescue so much and were so passionate about it that they didn't mind taking the time off because it became their number one priority. Make sure you want to do it for the right reasons, and I would definitely recommend talking with some Paramedics about the level of committment it takes before making a final decision.

One more thing though...you said that you will be starting college this Fall. I personally would not advise trying to take this on your first year in college. You never know how college is going to be, the usual workload itself could be harder or easier than you expect, your transition from high school could also be harder or easier than you expect, but you never know until you get there. And it could really hinder your first year experience if you are in class or studying all the time. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Blue128K]

Yeah These were pretty much my thoughts too. I want it real bad but I don't think I'd be able to do it (at least without some other sacrifices). If I would have thought about this earlier I might have taken a year off to do it before starting college or something. Oh well too late now. Although Pitt (Where I am going next year) does offer an undergraduate degree in emergency medicine where at the end you end up being certified as an EMT-P but this is mostly for those who want to end up in management in an EMS agency. Did anyone do any program like this? I don't know how med schools would look at it and whether or not it would be a good idea. I'll probably start a separate post for this.

Anyways....Thanks for everyones help.

 

[Krazed_Medic]

Just keep in mind that the EMT-P course requires a lot of time to accomplish. You are gonna have the class time along with clinical time on top of your undergrad classes. I think that it is very feasible to do, but you just aren't gonna have much down time. 😎