EMT vs Study Time for MCAT

[macpappy]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Ok, here is my question. I have some medical experience about 10 years ago. I was a Certified Nurses Assistant for about 3 years. I live in a small community and would like to be a volunteer EMT for this community. My problem is that I am taking 2 classes this fall (Organic Chemistry and Physics) both NIGHT CLASSES, so I will be ready for the April 05 MCAT. The EMT class is 3 NIGHTS a week. I need to do well on the MCAT to be competitive so I need the classes and time to study but I feel I could use some more volunteer/medical experience. Is my CNA enough or do I really need to sit through 120 hours of EMT class and become an EMT. Le't discuss....

 

[FutureDocDO]

I don't think it's worth it to get licensed as an EMT, in your case. If I were you I'd concentrate on classes and the MCAT. Plus, as a volunteer you cannot do much hands-on anyway because it's against the law. Unless you want to work as an EMT for experience purposes, I wouldn't do it.

 

[macpappy]

our town is really small so they call it "volunteer" in that the pay for an EMT is hardly anything (the pay is just to help offset some of the costs). The EMT would be hands on which would be good medical experience. However, I don't want to waste my time if studying for the MCAT would be more helpful.

My other volunteer experiences are:

Baseball coach
Red Cross-blood drive (couple of months)
Shadowing 2 DO's for the past 6 months
Emergency Room volunteer (couple of months)

I don't know if I am way short on volunteer experience / medical hands on experience. Any thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks for the response FutureDocDO

 

[Forensic Chick]

Something that I have realized during the interview process is that clinical experience is very important. I earned my EMT certificate while completing my senior year of college, finishing up the last two quarters of organic chemistry and studying for the April MCAT. The EMT course is by no means difficult (if you can tackle o-chem - you can do anything!) - but the fact is that you need to put in the whole 120 hours to get the certificate. With the pre-med knowledge of the human body and some common sense, you will have no problem passing the EMT course with flying colors. Something I did while trying to juggle everything was to bring my MCAT study books/cards with me to my EMT course and studied there. The only time that I couldn't study was during the practical exercises -- so I actually gained a great amount of dedicated study time during class. From having my EMT cert, I have been able to work as an EMT in an emergency room (decent living - making a lot more than EMT's who work on a rig) - volunteer in the community, as well as gain important contacts and experience.

In short, it can be done and it worth it in the end! You're not taking the MCAT for 10 months, so you'll have plenty of time to study!

 

[FutureDocDO]

If your GPA is relatively high so that it could potentially balance out your relatively average or low MCAT score, if need to, then it's up to you. But, if it's not then my advice is not to. It's like double major with a minor to show off to the ADCOM while your GPA suffers. It's not worth it.

 

[Vince]

As a Paramedic and former EMT school instructor I have some words of advice. Evaluate your whole resume and experiences and find out what's missing that you might want on an application for medical school. I went to EMT school out of high school and then paramedic school while taking classes at junior college, on my way to my Bachelor's Degree. I worked for about 7 years, volunteering a great deal, as a FF/Paramedic before medical school. My experiences probably got me in medical school, but I had other extracurriculars. I also was enjoying volunteering on the ambulance and fire department. I didn't initially do it because I wanted to get into medical school. I realized I wanted to go to medical school BECAUSE of my volunteer experiences. It sounds like you have some pretty good volunteer experiences in the medical field, and there are plenty of options to volunteer outside of becoming an EMT. If you feel as though you want to have had that experience of being an EMT out in the field before medical school(maybe b/c its something you've always wanted to do), then I say do it. If you are just going to EMT school to pad your med school application, then I think you should do something else that you are passionate about. This is especially true if you are applying to DO schools because the admissions committees seem to like "life experiences." Although 10 months is plenty of time to take your night classes, get your EMT, then study for the MCAT, its not going to make that much of a deal I think in the grand scheme of things. You should aim for a very high score on the MCAT b/c that, and GPA, are unfortunately big screeners, and if you do well, then the committees will look further and see the other stuff you have done. I would make sure you invest as much time and energy(as reasonable) into the MCAT.

If your GPA is a bit lower, whether science or in general, I would suggest taking upper level science classes that will improve your GPA and help your fund of knowledge for medical school. This was advice from one of my pre-med advisors when I was applying and wanted to boost my GPA. After going through the first two years of medical school, there are a few classes beyond the basic pre-reqs that I think are helpful to have prior to starting medical school. So you could consider taking these in your spare time instead of EMT school to better help you in the long term as well as your application. They might even help on the MCAT!! 😉

I put them in order of most IMP to least IMP: (I am listing some you might not need in case others are reading and in the same boat, i.e. you likely won't need Anatomy)
1. Human Anatomy or Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy
2. Microbiology
3. Biochemistry
4. Immunology
5. Genetics
6. maybe a Medical Ethics class
7. Other upper level science classes, possibly graduate level

Also, once you get in medical school there is little time for big learning experiences outside of medicine, so maybe learn how to do something you've always wanted to do that takes a time commitment that you can give right now, like maybe getting your pilot's license or learning to scuba dive or surf....whatever....because its hard to make the time to do these things when you have all the other medical school responsibilities to tend to. I know...a run-on sentence......with that, Good Luck!

Vince, MSIV
WesternU/COMP Class 2005

 

[Green912]

While I am pro EMS training, you'll have your hands full taking O-chem & physics at the same time. And without question adding points to your MCAT score is far more important then the EMT certification, especially since you have a CNA certification. I'm sure you have plenty of patient contact experience so far, enough to write into a personal statement & talk about during an interview. Maybe look for another EMT course after your April MCAT.

 

[doc4sure]

You've got a pretty good sprinkling of volunteer work already. Put your effort into nailing the MCAT and keeping your GPA up. After you've done that and learned to give a knockout interview you may still have time to do some related work that doesn't involve all the prep time the EMT does.
Oh yah, get letters from those DO's you shadowed 👍

 

[evescadeceus]

You have enough volunteer experience for DO candidacy. You will have your hands completely full with ochem and physics together at night during one quarter/semester. I did biochem and physics this way, and ended up retaking biochem...which I'm glad I did - I feel far more fluent in the material after the second round. You will also need a tremendous amount of discipline to study thoroughly and completely for the MCAT after coming off a difficult quarter/semester of night classes. As a nontrad applicant, you will be expected to have a higher than average MCAT by most DO programs. Your grades and scores are what matter at this point in the app process - the volunteer experience is already sufficient.

 

[simtech]

A good compromise might be Emergency Medical Responder (EMR). You already have the medical background to do the job, but EMR would give you the piece of paper you need for a lot less hours. (At least that is how it works in MS, I'm not sure if this is true in all states)

I think the only catch is that you are not licensed to transport patients. Its been a while since I took the class.

Just something to consider.