EMT Volunteer Hours?

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premedphobic

premedphobic

medico futuro
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Hey all-

I had a question regarding volunteering hours. After perusing SDN I know that volunteer experience is more or less a must for getting into a medical school. My question for you all is... do those 100-200hour (or more... or less) need to be in an actual hospital setting.

I ask this question because currently I am enrolled in the EMT-B (basic level) certification class. My school has an on-campus ambulance squad, for which, I volunteer 20 hours each week.

I'm pretty much just curious about whether those hours would be factored into the "volunteer hours" or would they just be a nice addition to my entire portfolio. I'm pretty sure I will end up volunteering in the E.D. at some point either way.
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if they ask you how many hours you volunteered in a hospital, dont include the hours as a volunteer emt.

if they just ask for total volunteer hours, include it.

you have a bad case of premeditis
 
Many people on here down play the value of the experience you can get as an EMT-B. I have gotten into several schools without much additional clinical time beyond working as an EMT. With that said, I volunteered atleast 20 hours a week and worked as a professional EMT-B at the same time. So it is possibly to use it as clinical experience.

However, after doing some time in the ER I do wish that I had time to do more volunteering in the hospital. I really enjoyed it, and it was VERY different from working on the ambulance. As a result, I would probably try to do both if it is at all possible.

Good luck :luck:
 
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to be perfectly honest, and this is my personal opinion, of course, but every hour spent working as an EMT is a detriment to your future medical career.

they just teach you the wrong way to think about things (ie. don't think at all ever) and you don't get any idea what A DOCTOR does.

If you want to be a paramedic or a fireman, great, also if its the only way you can make money, go for it. But I just see too many premeds get hooked on the EMT thing and think they're halfway to being a doctor because they get to see some action and talk in code.

its just a frat.

sorry for the offense to anyone, I'm sure plenty of adcoms think otherwise, so do what you think is best.
 
pennybridge said:
to be perfectly honest, and this is my personal opinion, of course, but every hour spent working as an EMT is a detriment to your future medical career.

they just teach you the wrong way to think about things (ie. don't think at all ever) and you don't get any idea what A DOCTOR does.
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Short of actually BEING A DOCTOR, nothing you do will really give you a good idea of what BEING A DOCTOR is going to be like. Shadowing a doctor won't give you a good idea (since you won't get the 3am page after a 18 hour shift). Do what you can.
 
TheProwler said:
Do what you can.
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basically what I was trying to say, but working on a rig you literally never interact with a doctor. if you shadow a doctor you can at least ask "hey, what's it like to be a doctor"

come on, you get what I was saying.

observation is second best to "learn by doing" and you have to be around doctors to observe doctors. it's simple logic really.
 
pennybridge said:
basically what I was trying to say, but working on a rig you literally never interact with a doctor. if you shadow a doctor you can at least ask "hey, what's it like to be a doctor"

come on, you get what I was saying.

observation is second best to "learn by doing" and you have to be around doctors to observe doctors. it's simple logic really.
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Um, I'm pretty sure that most ambulances bring their patients to hospitals, and I *think* there are doctors at hospitals. Asking a doctor what it's like to be a doctor is only a bit more helpful than explaining "red" to a blind man. I'd recommend having hands-on clinical experience as well as shadowing (I was an EMT-B for probably 1000 hours, and I shadowed 5 doctors on one or more occasions each).
 
TheProwler said:
Um, I'm pretty sure that most ambulances bring their patients to hospitals, and I *think* there are doctors at hospitals. Asking a doctor what it's like to be a doctor is only a bit more helpful than explaining "red" to a blind man. I'd recommend having hands-on clinical experience as well as shadowing (I was an EMT-B for probably 1000 hours, and I shadowed 5 doctors on one or more occasions each).
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I dunno dude, I spent more than 80 hours training as an EMT and I sure never stepped foot in a hospital or saw a doctor.

We take them to our special land of EMTs and treat them ourselves.

Err actually we don't treat them. We just.. look after them. "No medicine practiced here" is our motto.
 
TheProwler said:
Um, I'm pretty sure that most ambulances bring their patients to hospitals, and I *think* there are doctors at hospitals. Asking a doctor what it's like to be a doctor is only a bit more helpful than explaining "red" to a blind man. I'd recommend having hands-on clinical experience as well as shadowing (I was an EMT-B for probably 1000 hours, and I shadowed 5 doctors on one or more occasions each).
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yeah no s*** you were an EMT. Clearly I knew saying what I did would piss off some adamant EMT-B but it's just my opinion. There's a pretty big difference between pre-hospital care and hospital care, one involves doctors and one doesn't, and when you're making your decision (or reinforcing your decision, or validating your decision) to become A DOCTOR it just makes more intuitive sense to spend most of your free time working besides DOCTORS not paramedics or other emts.

and you misquoted me anyway. I didn't say volunteering in a hospital or shadowing gives you an idea of what it is like "to be a doctor" I said it gives you an idea of what a doctor does. there's a difference. but by all means, defend the way you chose to spend your time, I wouldn't expect anyone not to.
 
Though you may not get a lot of "doctor" time running on an ambulance there are plenty of things that you see that gives you exposure to clinical stuff in general. I know the first time I lost a 7 month old it was not an easy day, but at least I have experienced that now and will know sorta what to expect when i come across it down the road. Just my 2 cents.
 
ugh. yes, one can experience death and illness in lots of places, some positions are more "high traffic" than others, but you can experience people getting sick and dying at, say, a really bad restaurant.

yes these things are important to experience because they're a part of medicine. but they're also part of being a nurse, and being an emt, and being a paramedic, and being a soldier, and being a parent, etc etc etc.

if you want to make a good argument that you want to become a doctor, it helps to have some working knowledge of what a doctor does.

otherwise your answer to "why not just stay an emt, or become a paramedic" goes something like "uhh, i hear doctors get paid more?"
 
pennybridge said:
yeah no s*** you were an EMT. Clearly I knew saying what I did would piss off some adamant EMT-B but it's just my opinion. There's a pretty big difference between pre-hospital care and hospital care, one involves doctors and one doesn't, and when you're making your decision (or reinforcing your decision, or validating your decision) to become A DOCTOR it just makes more intuitive sense to spend most of your free time working besides DOCTORS not paramedics or other emts.

and you misquoted me anyway. I didn't say volunteering in a hospital or shadowing gives you an idea of what it is like "to be a doctor" I said it gives you an idea of what a doctor does. there's a difference. but by all means, defend the way you chose to spend your time, I wouldn't expect anyone not to.
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We also have mandatory hours in the ER, not on the ambulance, right next to techs, nurses, and doctors.

Some of us even use our EMT training to get a job working with/around doctors. For instance, I was an ICU tech. Many others are ER techs. We spend a lot of time with and around doctors and we get real hands-on experience, which I'd imagine is more useful than physician shadowing.

Just my opinion.
 
EMT-B's spend I think four?? hours in the hospital (ER).

EMT-I's spend considerably more hours in the ER... doing such things as accumulating enough needle sticks and what not.

Penny,

I find it very naive for you to talk about being an EMT in such a condescending manner. You are 100% correct that being an EMT is not the same as being a doctor, but I still reserve my judgement to have aspirations to become one. I started this thread to find out some information not really an attack/ personal opinion about EMTs. With that said, I do respect your opinion, and have no problems with it.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in.
 
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yeah I know it comes off as harsh, and definitely not productive and off topic. I apologize for that. I don't think premeds who do the emt thing shouldn't be allowed to become doctors, clearly the job itself is badass and you get to see cool stuff, I just know waaaay too many EMTs who think they're already halfway to being a doctor because they ride around on an ambulance and speak in 10code.

But it still begs the question be asked: how do you know you want to be a doctor? clearly if you do anything "doctor" related in addition to EMT you're covered, and as I said earlier, probably the majority of ADCOMS disagree with me, it's just my opinion.


and in CA all EMT-Bs have to do one 12 hour shift either in an ER or on a rig to complete their cert. 98% never again see the inside of an ER (unless on the business end, of course 😉 )
 
I agree with you when you say many EMTs do consider themselves "1/2 way to becomming a doctor". Certainly that is a bold and false statement most of the time.

For me, EMTing has been a positive experience. I feel as if it can be looked as positive step in the right direction. I have been introduced to the medical world- the hospital, the terminology, and yes the infamous 10code.

I don't think EMTing is the reason I want to be a doctor, for I have my reasons and rationale to answer that question. Its just a good way to get out there, learn a lot about pre-hospital care, and affect MANY peoples' lives. I'm glad I have the opportunity to do just that.

I can't wait to have the opportunity to compare the ER to the ambulance. It should be interesting.
 
I get the feeling we have a troll in our presence. :laugh:
 
pennybridge said:
ugh. yes, one can experience death and illness in lots of places, some positions are more "high traffic" than others, but you can experience people getting sick and dying at, say, a really bad restaurant.

yes these things are important to experience because they're a part of medicine. but they're also part of being a nurse, and being an emt, and being a paramedic, and being a soldier, and being a parent, etc etc etc.

if you want to make a good argument that you want to become a doctor, it helps to have some working knowledge of what a doctor does.

otherwise your answer to "why not just stay an emt, or become a paramedic" goes something like "uhh, i hear doctors get paid more?"
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Actually, it really depends on what kind of doctor you plan on becoming. I'm sure you are aware that EMS is a continuum and encompasses prehospital professionals as well as the trauma surgeon. Many of the patient assessment and treatment algorithms that EMT's and Paramedics follow are essentially identical to what you how physicians would proceed. LOC/mental status, ABC, obtaining hx is the same no matter what environment you are practicing in. As a prehospital professional, you do a patient assessment, look at all of your available patient data, make decisions, and perform necessary interventions, the same as you would in a hospital (with obvious limitations, of course). You know, medicine is medicine, whether you are doing it outside of a hospital, or inside of one. We all know that EMT's are not doctors. EMT's have limited ability to assess and treat the patient. There's so much more to being a doctor, obviously: fully managing the patient, differential diagnosis, running labs and studies, rx, etc. That's why you need to shadow a physician to get the full picture, but to say that being an EMT gives you no insight about being a doctor is bogus. I would never trade my EMT experience for anything else. I learned so much about patient care during that time.
 
And just another thought... I think being an EMT allows you to identify/ improve some skills that good doctors possess. Such skills could be... working under stress, patient to patient conversational skills, the ability to absorb and process information quickly, good motor skills, and so on. I know that people can learn a broad variety of these skills in many different fields, however when someone's life is on the line it brings it to another level.
 
premedphobic said:
And just another thought... I think being an EMT allows you to identify/ improve some skills that good doctors possess. Such skills could be... working under stress, patient to patient conversational skills, the ability to absorb and process information quickly, good motor skills, and so on. I know that people can learn a broad variety of these skills in many different fields, however when someone's life is on the line it brings it to another level.
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I agree, there's so much more to patient care that isn't even medicine. Also, don't forget the a lot of doctors don't even remember their BLS skills.
 
spicedmanna said:
I agree, there's so much more to patient care that isn't even medicine. Also, don't forget the a lot of doctors don't even remember their BLS skills.
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at least at my hospital they have to get bls cpr re certified every two years...
 
pennybridge said:
at least at my hospital they have to get bls cpr re certified every two years...
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My mom works in the MICU. Last week she came across 3 intern nurses and 1 resident doctor standing in the room of a patient who wasn't breathing.

What were they doing? Standing there. Did they know he wasn't breathing? Yes.

You'd figure they'd know that the BVM sitting there would come in useful in that situation, but it appears that it didn't dawn on them.
 
armybound said:
My mom works in the MICU. Last week she came across 3 intern nurses and 1 resident doctor standing in the room of a patient who wasn't breathing.

What were they doing? Standing there. Did they know he wasn't breathing? Yes.

You'd figure they'd know that the BVM sitting there would come in useful in that situation, but it appears that it didn't dawn on them.
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clearly stupid people exist in all walks of life.
 
Volunteer hours can be wherever you want them to be.You can be volunteering as a mentor and it still counts. The problem is you also need clinical experience. Most people just cover both bases at the same time by volunteering in a clinical setting.

Volunteering in a truck does count as clinical experience. It's advisable to supplement it with some other experience. I just finished my EMT-B class (waiting on the NREMT results as we speak). I'll be trying to volunteer in an ER or small clinic and doing some shadowing for my clinical experience and some of my volunteer time.

I'd love to do the truck thing, but you have to be a paramedic to do so here and I don't want to drive 30 minutes out of town to a place where I would be able to ride a truck.

I don't know what penny's problem with EMTs is, but the rant was long-winded and unnecessary. So some EMTs are jackasses. Same can be said for pre-meds, engineers, business majors, and just about any and all people in general.

Detrimental to ones medical career? EMTs learn what to do outside of a hospital and I doubt much of what they learn is all that different from what a Doctor would do OUTSIDE OF A HOSPITAL. Inside of a hospital, there is no EMT thought process; There is no EMT education to get in the way of your Medical education. They are different fields with different goals. It's like arguing that engineers make crappy Doctors because they only know how to design and analyze things, not fix them.

And the lest you become conflicted thing? That's just a bad joke. Preferring to be an EMT in an ambulance rather than an EMT in the ER might conflict with ones interest in being a Doctor? I guess history majors must be conflicted about wanting to be a Doctor as opposed to Biology majors...
 
That stinks that you don't have somewhere closer where you can ride a truck. I volunteer with Virginia Beach, major area, and it's great. The whole system is volunteer. Everyone has all sorts of jobs, many Navy actually. I would never trade the experience, and actually hope to continue during med school.
You may get little exposure with the docs and lots of experiences with bad stuff (plenty you won't regularly run into in a restaurant), but also how to interact with patients. Ok, so your med school has a standardized patient program, guarantee it's a bit different in the field. But hey, it's all in what you want to do...
 
pennybridge said:
if you want to make a good argument that you want to become a doctor, it helps to have some working knowledge of what a doctor does.

otherwise your answer to "why not just stay an emt, or become a paramedic" goes something like "uhh, i hear doctors get paid more?"
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Give me a break. I could honestly get a good enough idea of why I'd want to be a doctor rather than an EMT just by watching Grey's Anatomy. Durrr, they get paid more. 🙄 I've never met an EMT who removed a gall bladder in the field, and I'm pretty most of them know who it is that would remove a gall bladder.
 
TheProwler said:
Give me a break. I could honestly get a good enough idea of why I'd want to be a doctor rather than an EMT just by watching Grey's Anatomy. Durrr, they get paid more. 🙄 I've never met an EMT who removed a gall bladder in the field, and I'm pretty most of them know who it is that would remove a gall bladder.
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so you want to be a doctor because you heard they remove gall bladders?
 
TheProwler said:
somebody failed the national registry....
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somebody never signed up for emt class in the first place.

i'd rather spend my time hanging out with doctors than riding around in an ambulance with some GED full time emt who wants to someday be a fireman.

if you love being an emt so much, why don't you just stay one?
 
pennybridge said:
if you love being an emt so much, why don't you just stay one?
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Because my license expired, and I already owe $40,000 to the feds for med school.

That's like asking Lebron James why he entered the NBA if he loved high school basketball so much.
 
TheProwler said:
Because my license expired, and I already owe $40,000 to the feds for med school.

That's like asking Lebron James why he entered the NBA if he loved high school basketball so much.
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except lebron played basketball in high school, you didn't learn medicine while you were an emt.

edit// not even touching on your posting in the pre-allo threads while you're in med school, save give hope to emts who want a life after ambulances..
 
pennybridge said:
except lebron played basketball in high school, you didn't learn medicine while you were an emt.

edit// not even touching on your posting in the pre-allo threads while you're in med school, save give hope to emts who want a life after ambulances..
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06.gif



You wouldn't know, "somebody never signed up for emt class in the first place."
 
Well looks like I opened up a can of worms😱
 
pennybridge said:
to be perfectly honest, and this is my personal opinion, of course, but every hour spent working as an EMT is a detriment to your future medical career.

they just teach you the wrong way to think about things (ie. don't think at all ever) and you don't get any idea what A DOCTOR does.

If you want to be a paramedic or a fireman, great, also if its the only way you can make money, go for it. But I just see too many premeds get hooked on the EMT thing and think they're halfway to being a doctor because they get to see some action and talk in code.

its just a frat.

sorry for the offense to anyone, I'm sure plenty of adcoms think otherwise, so do what you think is best.
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I wouldn't say it's detrimental. It's a good way to find out if you can't (as in an absolutely no way in hell) handle the stress.
But I agree it's not the same as how a doctor cares for a patient.
You still need to shadow.
As an EMT, it is funny to see a med student start asking an expired patient questions before looking at them first (in all fairness, it was a joke the attending played on him).
 
Wackie said:
As an EMT, it is funny to see a med student start asking an expired patient questions before looking at them first (in all fairness, it was a joke the attending played on him).
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holy **** that's twisted. i mean, props to the attending, but damn. :laugh:
 
Digressing back to the OP's original question, your EMT volunteer hours would probably be considered healthcare related volunteering. On the AMCAS application when you enter work/activity you select from a drop down menu for a basic description of your work/activity. I don't remember the exact wording but the choices are something like:

Clinical/healthcare related volunteering
Clinical/healthcare related employment
Non-healthcare related volunteering
Non-healthcare related employment
Research/lab

There are other options, but I can't remember them and I know there is some kind of military choice also. Anyway, these choices are just for a basic description because you get about a paragraph or two to describe the experience in your own words. This lets you spin the experience however you see fit.

And there is no formula for number of "volunteer" or "clinical" hours to get into Med school. Just do something that interests you and this will carry over into applications and interviews. Your best bet is to have some healthcare related experience and some other experience. This will show you have some kind of grasp on the wide world of healthcare but also shows you are well rounded and have other interests. Some of my volunteer work is with a Greyhound adoption organization. I am not trying to get into vet school and it has nothing to do with getting into med school, but it is something I am interested in and it has a positive impact on society. That is what really matters when you consider your "volunteer" hours.
 
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