EMT vs. CNA vs. ER Tech

[Kochanie]

Which one should I do? I probably could easily get a job as a CNA (lots of openings/"foot in the door" at certain hospitals) or as an ER tech (less openings).

Both CNA and ER require the same certificate (CNA)...

That being said, I'm lost for time... If I wake up at 6AM on weekends, I might be able to get the schooling done in time for summer...

EMT has less schooling opportunities in my area (Chicago... big area... not a lot of opportunities?!).

Which one is the most rewarding (patient interaction?)

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[VisceralFlame]

I went the EMT route and ended up working as a Patient Care Tech in the ER. It was great for patient interaction. The license also enabled me to volunteer at a low-income clinic, taking histories and vital signs of patients. Some of the material I learned has been helpful in med school too (especially taking blood pressure etc), so I would recommend it

 

[Dreamstoo]

At least in my area though, to get a paid EMT job is very tough. If this is for a gap year, it would be a lot easier to volunteer as an EMT. Then again this may depend on where you live. I think personally, either one is very rewarding in terms of patient interaction.

So all in all, I think I would chose the job I can get my hands on easier and closer to your residential area. At this point, if you can land either one of these jobs at a hospital it would be great exposure.

 

[Kochanie]

Do you guys know if it's okay to apply for said jobs before actually getting my certification done? I found some CNA jobs that allow for "flexible/when-needed" CNA's.

 

[Dreamstoo]

Do you guys know if it's okay to apply for said jobs before actually getting my certification done? I found some CNA jobs that allow for "flexible/when-needed" CNA's.

Why not contact them and ask them if that's the case? I think it truly relies on the area.

 

[Pose]

Of the choices, I'd strongly recommend the ED Tech route if possible. To do this, I first had to get my EMT certification, but this varies by location. It's a good job because of the interaction with patients (and difficult patients), helps you learn to multitask and work under pressure, observe physicians, work on an interprofessional healthcare team, etc.

 

[Mad Jack]

ER tech jobs are really awesome. Around here they are MUCH easier to get with an EMT-B, as the level of clinical skills you learn in EMT training is a step above that of CNA training, allowing you to better assess patients that are emergently ill. We only take CNAs with years of experience.

A good tech job will also provide you with a well-rounded set of skills. Here, we would regularly do EKGs, phlebotomy, vitals, blood draws, CPR, basic splinting, wound irrigation, helping with procedure prep, and more. CNA usually locks you in to basic tasks, and usually you get stuck with one patient population. EMT work is great, but it can be hard to find a good paid position.

 

[Mad Jack]

Just a concern I had: If you work as an ED tech, wouldn't you also have to do "dirty work" (ex. cleaning patients, dressing them, etc)? That's what's turning me off from it at this point.

You do, but you get over it really fast. You'll have to do the same stuff (and far more often) as a CNA. In the ED, everyone is acutely there- most of them don't want to use a bedpan, and try to hold out on having bowel movements. On the floor it's an everyday occurence.

As an EMT, you'll see gross stuff, but in a different way. You'll get spat on, bled on, etc. All medical jobs are gross, but I promise, you get used to it very quickly.

 

[Kochanie]

At this point, I honestly don't really mind either. I'm just wondering if I can even do it. Between summer school, current classes, research, volunteering at two places, and tutoring (and besides the fact that it takes me 3x as long to do homework), is this even an option for me/SHOULD it be an option?

 

[Kochanie]

You do, but you get over it really fast. You'll have to do the same stuff (and far more often) as a CNA. In the ED, everyone is acutely there- most of them don't want to use a bedpan, and try to hold out on having bowel movements. On the floor it's an everyday occurence.

As an EMT, you'll see gross stuff, but in a different way. You'll get spat on, bled on, etc. All medical jobs are gross, but I promise, you get used to it very quickly.

EMT sounds most interesting to me, but isn't it harder to find a job?

 

[Mad Jack]

EMT sounds most interesting to me, but isn't it harder to find a job?

In most areas. IMO ED tech>EMT>CNA but the ease of finding a position with no experience is CNA>EMT>ED tech.

 

[DGCT00]

I have been an EMT for over six years now and have worked for five different EMS agencies. I can tell you that if you can get a job in a 911 system (i.e. not on a non-emergency transfer ambulance) there is nothing more rewarding -- you have much more autonomy since you're often the only one on scene, and you get to see people right when their problem hits. There are car accidents, fights, falls, massive heart attacks, drunks, psych patients, fires, and much much more. With that said, a lot of people will give you a lot of bullcrap too. You'll do headaches, leg pains, fevers, nausea, and abdominal pain more often than any of those other things. In my eyes, it's worth dealing with the nonsense to play with the fun stuff.

Finding a 911 job as a basic can be a challenge for sure. With that said, having that certification will allow you to be hired as an ER tech if you so desire. You'll learn much more in the ER than you will in the street and you won't have to deal with politics of EMS. It can be hard to break into the EMS social world, so know that if you decide to go the prehospital route. Another downside is that as a basic in the field, your skills are limited and you must often rely on paramedics.

Don't be a CNA. Just don't. CNAs are a dime-a-dozen and can't participate in nearly as much medical care.

Also remember there are seasonal positions as an EMT (camps, amusement parks, etc.) if you can't get hired on a truck.

PM me if you have any more questions.

 

[HopefulReapp]

I have been an EMT for over six years now and have worked for five different EMS agencies. I can tell you that if you can get a job in a 911 system (i.e. not on a non-emergency transfer ambulance) there is nothing more rewarding -- you have much more autonomy since you're often the only one on scene, and you get to see people right when their problem hits. There are car accidents, fights, falls, massive heart attacks, drunks, psych patients, fires, and much much more. With that said, a lot of people will give you a lot of bullcrap too. You'll do headaches, leg pains, fevers, nausea, and abdominal pain more often than any of those other things. In my eyes, it's worth dealing with the nonsense to play with the fun stuff.

Finding a 911 job as a basic can be a challenge for sure. With that said, having that certification will allow you to be hired as an ER tech if you so desire. You'll learn much more in the ER than you will in the street and you won't have to deal with politics of EMS. It can be hard to break into the EMS social world, so know that if you decide to go the prehospital route. Another downside is that as a basic in the field, your skills are limited and you must often rely on paramedics.

Don't be a CNA. Just don't. CNAs are a dime-a-dozen and can't participate in nearly as much medical care.

Also remember there are seasonal positions as an EMT (camps, amusement parks, etc.) if you can't get hired on a truck.

PM me if you have any more questions.

I don't think the goal of pre-med clinical experience is to provide a lot of medical care, but rather to expose you to the realities of medicine. The training we receive in medical school and residency drowns out anything you learn as an EMT.

OP, I would go with the ER tech/CNA/PCA position. I would go with CNA/PCA>ER Tech because you see more of an inpatient population which will be your entire world for rotations basically. You'll quickly decide if IM is for you or not. The ED is a great experience, but it is really unlike anything else in the hospital. You basically get acuity rather than long-term care. In modern healthcare I would say that this is a very small part of what physicians deal with, as opposed to the majority of treating symptoms and keeping patient morale up.

Depending on what floor you end up on, the majority of your work will be doing vitals, butt wiping, and having patients complain to you about not having their pain medication. You will however learn to work well in teams (fellow CNAs, nurses, med students, residents, physicians), put up with stress and managing time better (all 5 of your complete care patients were just incontinent and your q4 vitals and blood sugars are coming up in 10 mins, oh and your coworker just went on break), and again see what medicine is really like.

I worked as an EMT for three years and had no idea how hospitals or medicine actually function until my current job... But I guess this is just my opinion.

 

[Nasrudin]

In most areas. IMO ED tech>EMT>CNA but the ease of finding a position with no experience is CNA>EMT>ED tech.

This is a perfect assessment that I think would hold true for most markets--some of them anomalous, however. The only thing I would add that as a premed you're looking for good LOR's. As awesome as EMT work is in the EMS system because of its independence you also have to note the operative word. You're not working directly with physicians. Making emergency department work more useful in admissions. I do think people who work in EMS have a unique and irreplaceable perspective of health care that they can then take with them wherever they go. It would help every physician who looks at the EMS report on how a patient was found and what happened to them to have this unique experience. Some fields more than others, but for anyone who picks up the chart to get at the real story.

CNA and nursing home work is the fruitpickers work or health care. I respect it the same way I respect someone having done roofing or masonry or any type of hardcore schlepping. You know the person can get down and dirty in taking care of people. But good luck being remembered for it or being noticed enough to get an LOR out of it.

It can useful to keep in mind, at a certain point in your count of monte Cristo-like planning, that researching and publishing with the famous Dr.whathiznutz is orders of magnitude more impressive to the persnickety types who sit on committees at the gates.

 

[LA1004]

I work as a CNA at a nursing home. While it isn't as 'glamorous' as being an EMT the training I received was very cheap and the license quick to obtain (training plus licensing took about 35 days).

The benefit of being a CNA is having a better appreciation for your own elders (as most CNA's work with the geriatrics population) and realizing there is more to medicine than simply prescribing medication and performing surgeries. You learn compassion, patience, get used to gross bodily fluids, and learn how to comfort people who lost so much (spouse, mobility, pets, independence, etc). While I think being an EMT facilitates interacting with doctors and makes for more interesting experiences, there are certain things you learn about people that can only be obtained as a CNA.

But keep in mind you don't want to do something just for the heck of it. Do what you feel you would enjoy the most that relates to medicine, be it CNA, Medical Assisting, EMT, or straight volunteer work. That is what matters most when discussing things during an interview.

 

[Nasrudin]

I work as a CNA at a nursing home. While it isn't as 'glamorous' as being an EMT the training I received was very cheap and the license quick to obtain (training plus licensing took about 35 days).

The benefit of being a CNA is having a better appreciation for your own elders (as most CNA's work with the geriatrics population) and realizing there is more to medicine than simply prescribing medication and performing surgeries. You learn compassion, patience, get used to gross bodily fluids, and learn how to comfort people who lost so much (spouse, mobility, pets, independence, etc). While I think being an EMT facilitates interacting with doctors and makes for more interesting experiences, there are certain things you learn about people that can only be obtained as a CNA.

But keep in mind you don't want to do something just for the heck of it. Do what you feel you would enjoy the most that relates to medicine, be it CNA, Medical Assisting, EMT, or straight volunteer work. That is what matters most when discussing things during an interview.

Look. I wish it were true you'd get the respect you deserve for doing the heartfelt work when all else says tune out, keep it movin, schlep it through till your lunch break, nobody cares or wants to know about the thousand fields of grey between here and death for the dying. Or that you were there amongst them. As they slipped slowly into darkness without so much as a passing regard.

But here's the thing about the culture of making doctors. Nobody cares about the real ****. They might say they do because they know what to say and what to do when it's showtime and the savior spotlight is bright. And there's something snazzy in it for them on a trip to somewhere facebookable. But they don't. Not when it matters. When the show's over and the lights are off.

If they cared about dirty hands why is it never their's that are dirty?

 

[Nasrudin]

Maybe it's a different sort that runs the DO admissions game. Maybe you get more for along the lines your saying. But upwards in the prestige scale in the MD world that I'm familiar with, the less they care about having your hands soiled. Unless your personals appease their sense of liberal guilt. Then it can be tokenized in their social economy. But just plain old stank on you is not only unimpressive it's uncomfortable for them.

I don't have the expectation of the DO bosses being that much different.

 

[LA1004]

If they cared about dirty hands why is it never their's that are dirty?

A simple answer is because they have CNA's at their disposal. They went through years of training while many willing people got a one-months worth education to do these 'menial' tasks and spend hours with the same group of patients. Let each do what their scope of practices allow.

A better answer to your question is that this decision (become a CNA vs. EMT vs. something else ) matters more to you than to them. This is a process for you to discover your passion in medicine. If you found it as an EMT, great. If you found it elsewhere, just as great. In the end what will really matter is your own growth to become a physician.

Many pre-meds fall in the trap of doing something just because it looks good on the application, "I must do research because that's what adcoms want", then they go to a lab and wash dishes for a year without really learning anything. That year would've been better spent doing something meaningful that really shows your passion for the profession.

 

[Nasrudin]

Right. I don't think we disagree about intrinsic vs extrinsic reward systems. My position is maintaining your own intrinsic motivation while thinking strategically about the realities of this profession.

I am of the stout opinion that you can discover your passion for pole volting or poker playing or whatever. But that garnering support for your application and getting the job done is spent at an exhorbitant price doing things that nobody cares about.

I'm not one to stand in the way of people's passion for changing adult diapers. I'm just saying don't carry a cross over it. But perhaps because for me, menial work comprised decades rather than a passion discovery mission, before I obtained my current position as a graduating medical student.

 

[LA1004]

Right. I don't think we disagree about intrinsic vs extrinsic reward systems. My position is maintaining your own intrinsic motivation while thinking strategically about the realities of this profession.

I am of the stout opinion that you can discover your passion for pole volting or poker playing or whatever. But that garnering support for your application and getting the job done is spent at an exhorbitant price doing things that nobody cares about.

I'm not one to stand in the way of people's passion for changing adult diapers. I'm just saying don't carry a cross over it. But perhaps because for me, menial work comprised decades rather than a passion discovery mission, before I obtained my current position as a graduating medical student.

Got it, that makes more sense now. I don't think I would enjoy working as a CNA till the end of my life, but for the moment it is the right thing at this point in my life. It pays the bills and made me more aware of a particular population that is usually forgotten.

 

[Stephanopolous]

Since you have a lot on your schedule already I would look into getting a tech job since the experience is best for the amount of training.

For the poster who talked about getting your hands dirty- when you become a doctor you'll be getting them very dirty at times: think manual fecal disimpaction or working with your nurses and team to clean up someone who is covered in their own feces. I'd consider this if the thought of having to clean a patient up makes you cringe.