EMT vs Shadowing

[Blade28]

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See, now I am kind of surprised because I just started volunteering there and none of the doctors were that friendly and helpful (though I figured it was for legal reasons). I nearly fell asleep because my first day literally consisted of opening the door for two hours...

Where are you working? ER? Blue Zone? Red Zone? Somewhere else?

 

[housem]

Where are you working? ER? Blue Zone? Red Zone? Somewhere else?

I'm working in Medical ICU, 7J, right now. (Not sure what the blue or red zones are?)

 

[Blade28]

I'm working in Medical ICU, 7J, right now. (Not sure what the blue or red zones are?)

Ah, you're in the 7J ICU. Well things are a little different there - tougher for you to see procedures since they're usually done in sterile fashion in the rooms themselves (e.g. central line).

How long are you working there? Will you be working elsewhere in the hospital as well?

(The Red Zone and Blue Zone are both in the ER.)

 

[housem]

Ah, you're in the 7J ICU. Well things are a little different there - tougher for you to see procedures since they're usually done in sterile fashion in the rooms themselves (e.g. central line).

How long are you working there? Will you be working elsewhere in the hospital as well?

(The Red Zone and Blue Zone are both in the ER.)

Well so far I have only gone once but I am working there (at the hospital) at least until summer starts in May. I don't HAVE to work in 7J - that's just where I was assigned. I'm guessing you work in the ER? I could try switching there but that's one of the harder ones to get into. Do you work Saturday mornings by any chance?

 

[Blade28]

Well so far I have only gone once but I am working there (at the hospital) at least until summer starts in May. I don't HAVE to work in 7J - that's just where I was assigned. I'm guessing you work in the ER? I could try switching there but that's one of the harder ones to get into. Do you work Saturday mornings by any chance?

Well let me ask you - what are your goals? What are you trying to get out of this volunteering experience? What are you interested in?

 

[housem]

Well let me ask you - what are your goals? What are you trying to get out of this volunteering experience? What are you interested in?

My goals right now are just medical - I have preferences but not completely set on what field in medicine. I'm trying to get some clinical exposure i.e see what a hospital is like, how it functions, what doctors do etc etc.

 

[MichiganEMTInt]

Just do both. There is no limit to how much exposure to medicine you can get. There are things you'll learn shadowing that you will never learn as an EMT. On the other hand, there are things I've learned about medicine (by doing them myself) that I won't learn shadowing. Try a lot of things. Just make sure you get into EMS for the right reasons if you choose to. Example: I learned how to do a pretty good IV on my classmates in EMT-Intermediate class. Any physician that would let me practice slipping in a 16 gauge would be fired. On the other hand you can't learn about perfusion science on a BLS ambulance.

IMO the best way to start anywhere is volunteering, ED is best because of the high volume of patients and the wide range of exposure to different medical disciplines / diseases.

 

[housem]

My goals right now are just medical - I have preferences but not completely set on what field in medicine. I'm trying to get some clinical exposure i.e see what a hospital is like, how it functions, what doctors do etc etc.

Well actually that's not true - all my research has been in neuroscience and I am extremely interested in that. However, I want to get clinical exposure in any part of the hospital.

Also, anyone know a site or something where you can find an emt training course near you?