EMT to EM

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Ben Hur was a great movie.
 
to the OP:

I have a feeling you are asking if there are any EMTs or paramedics that later become "ER docs." This is true, and probablya higher proportion than any other medical specialty. I know there are several ex paramedics here on SDN that post frequently, and I myself was not only an ED orderly but also an EMT-B.

Q
 
If you go to Slovenia, that is former Yugoslav republic maby your dream can come true.
 
DrQuinn said:
Do you like gladiator movies? Ever seen a grown man naked?
Click to expand...

You can make a broach... a hat... a pterodactyl...
... and I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue... :laugh:


But I digress,
Your paramedic skills, ACLS physiology and pharm knowledge, and background of autonomy will work well for you, but don't expect to cruise through school nor clinical training... it's a very different beastie. I, personally, would not have done it any differently (NREMT-P for 10 yrs), though. So good luck!
 
ronaldo23 said:
common? any1 hur?
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No. EMTs and Medics never go on to med school. Dr. Bledsoe and Dr Markenson do not exist.

Im actually curious to know what specialties Medics go into BESIDES Emergency Medicine, and why, and if they are all happy with their decision.
I know some that are in the fields of... Anesthesia (X2), Neurosurg, Pathology, Surgery. I never asked if they were happy with their decisions, but they all seem to be very much so.
 
howelljolly said:
No. EMTs and Medics never go on to med school. Dr. Bledsoe and Dr Markenson do not exist.

Im actually curious to know what specialties Medics go into BESIDES Emergency Medicine, and why, and if they are all happy with their decision.
I know some that are in the fields of... Anesthesia (X2), Neurosurg, Pathology, Surgery. I never asked if they were happy with their decisions, but they all seem to be very much so.
Click to expand...
Of the medics-turned-doctors I know, none of them went into EM.
 
leviathan said:
Of the medics-turned-doctors I know, none of them went into EM.
Click to expand...


Between the residents and attendings in our program - we have 8 former EMTs. I personally know at least 15 more.......
 
I was an EMT-B before med school, and ended up choosing anesthesia over EM. EM was a close second though, with ortho a distant third.
 
I'm a former EMT (actually still have an active license that I will be able to keep until 2012...) But I am probably going into surgery, either general or neurosurgery.

I have had thoughts of ortho trauma & occasionally think about EM, but I don't think I could be out of the OR.
 
While starting as a rather uninspired post, this has progressed into an interesting topic.

What I am curious about is how many people who actually worked in the field as a real job for more than a year or two are going into EM? I do not mean to offend anyone, but taking an EMT class at your local community college and holding the cert for a year or two is very different from actually working the rigs for a significant period of time. I myself had absolutely no intention of becoming a physician when I embarked on my EMS career back in 1991, I will graduate from medical school this coming June. It was actually my experiences as a paramedic that inspired me to seek furthering training and gave me the confidence that I could be a physician. My paramedic experience did not really help me the first year of med school, but when I entered clinical clerkships my 3rd year, it gave me a huge advantage. My EMS career was very rewarding to me in so many ways and I would recommend the field to anyone who is starting out with an interest in medicine.

I am planning on a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in pulmonary & critical care medicine. I did also consider anesthesia for quite a while, but after my EMS career EM was the last field I was interested in entering. And that brings me to my question, to those of you who had real EMS street time, either BLS or ALS, what fields are you going into to?

Good luck to everyone in their future careers, whatever they may be.
 
I was an EMT-B for a year, then a paramedic for 3 before going into medical school. I am in Emergency Medicine now, but seriously considered surgery. From most of the old medics that I have rotated with, it seems the three choices that are the most popular are EM, general surgery, and anesthesia. Also, it seems about 50-75% of the medics that I know that worked the streets for a while did go into EM. The EMTs that I know that got the certificate at the local community college and only street experieice is during their clinicals seem to go into IM or the subspecialties. just my 2 cents....
 
I had been a paramedic for 14 years when I entered medical school. I worked in most aspects of EMS including much street time, administration and education. I never came close to thinking about medical school for most of that time.

I'm a third year EM resident and never considered anything other than EM seriously.

Take care,
Jeff
 
Im split between IM/PCCM, and EM... I can definitely see myself doing either one, but nothing other than those. Commitment is a funny thing. I think I should decide on one of them fairly soon, and work towards it with all I got.....I'm not sure that I can get into one of the EM/IM/CCM programs....
Does anyone that had thought that being a medic was the best job ever, and is now in a non-EM field wish they had gone for EM?
Or, does anyone who still works the streets as a medic, and on the wards as an MD feel frustrated as a medic? Or does working as a medic still rock?
 
Paramedic for 8 years. 2 were in part time in college, 6 were full time. Now I'm a pgy1 in EM. Never really considered anything but EM. If I was younger and didn't have a family, I would have done Ortho or Trauma.

For me, medicine was entirely an accident; my roomate in college, who was trying to get into medical school, was walking out the door one night:
"Hey bud, where you going?"
"I'm taking an EMT course"
"What the *&%@ is an EMT?"
"You know, the guys on an ambulance"
"Kickass, I want to go"
 
I was an NREMT-P for 10 years. It was my best job ever and I loved every day of it until busted my wrist. I ended up going to an international medical school, a decision that precluded me from getting EM for my first residency. I ended up prematching in a rural FP program with an EM/Acute Care track but realized that I wanted to be board certified in EM - not just an FP working in EM. Now I am a PGY-III in FP and I'm applying for a second residency in EM so I can be double boarded in EM and FP. I have 3 interview offers so far (all at my top choices) and I am very psyched to have a chance to finally do what I've always wanted (rural EM and EMS admin and education). It's been rough being in a residency that I'm less than excited about, but the training has been good - especially for a future career in rural EM.

To quote the aging but timeless Rolling Stones: You can't always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes you'll find you get what you need.

Good luck to all this year and never give up!

RC
 
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