HI, Anyone have any advice for becoming an EMT? Is it worth it? Does look good to med schools and does it count as clinical experience? Anyone have any experiences they can share?
thanks!
thanks!
moto_za said:HI, Anyone have any advice for becoming an EMT? Is it worth it? Does look good to med schools and does it count as clinical experience? Anyone have any experiences they can share?
thanks!
moto_za said:Does look good to med schools and does it count as clinical experience?
ramstam said:That's true about getting stuff paid for. For me not my EMT, but they put me through the fire academy and some haz mat class. I will not have problems putting my hands on people or taking bp's in a noisy room. So it may make the first clinicals in year three easier.
I also have not interviewed yet, so I don't know if it will help...I hope it will
LizzyM said:It counts as clinical experience but some the adcom members at one school seem to think that it is so common these days that it is not impressive but it is adequate.
OSUdoc08 said:Oh mighty adcom member Lizzy, please tell us.
What IS impressive?
LizzyM said:We are so jaded it is hard to impress us with any particular clinical activity. A lifetime of service around the globe might be impressive but is hard to get unless your parents are missionaries.
Leadership (organizing the efforts of many people), Fulbright scholarships (et al) & research publications are still unusual enough to be impressive at schools that train academic physicians.
OSUdoc08 said:Who would you rather have as your family practitioner? A guy who served his community as a volunteer paramedic for 7 years and brought countless people from the brink of death to a fulfilling life or a guy who never met his next door neighbors because he slept in a lab that tested rats while writing research papers?
I'll take the paramedic EVERY TIME.
Some medical schools have the wrong priorities. Fortunately, when applying for residency, your clinical performance is MORE IMPORTANT than your "nerd factor."
Believe it or not, a VAST MAJORITY of applicants do not want to be academic physicians. You should consider recruiting accordingly.
OSUdoc08 said:Who would you rather have as your family practitioner? A guy who served his community as a volunteer paramedic for 7 years and brought countless people from the brink of death to a fulfilling life or a guy who never met his next door neighbors because he slept in a lab that tested rats while writing research papers?
I'll take the paramedic EVERY TIME.
Some medical schools have the wrong priorities. Fortunately, when applying for residency, your clinical performance is MORE IMPORTANT than your "nerd factor."
Believe it or not, a VAST MAJORITY of applicants do not want to be academic physicians. You should consider recruiting accordingly.
remarkal3le said:I agree except the point of going to medical school is to learn how to become a physician so it really doesn't matter too much how much you can do before medical school. Being an EMT is very different from being a physician. Perhaps since you are a paramedic it is a different story, you can push more drugs and don't have to call medical control for every little thing. Thus it doesn't matter too much if you do have more experience before medical school because everyone will be on the same boat leaving medical school.
Anyway, I think what LizzyM was saying is that being an EMT is becoming more common so it loses the effect. Sort of like how everyone is on Dean's list or in honor's societies, still something nice you've done but not very unique. While you may have more experience with patients, adcoms are trying to find those unique individuals. Good research and publications as an undergrad is pretty uncommon since most undergrads get stuck with scut.
OSUdoc08 said:You would hope so, but this is not always the case. Depending on the school, waiting in line for procedures behind interns and residents may leave some graduates with less experience than someone who has been a paramedic during the same time period.
remarkal3le said:Well EMT-Bs will not have that advantage. The amount of anatomy and knowledge a basic is required to know is laughably minimal to a doctor. I know as I basically breezed through my EMT-B course but am still able to practice my BLS skills very well. If my AP biology taught me as much anatomy as the EMT course, the 1st and 2nd year of a medical student would definately be more extensive. Basically by 3rd year, having that license won't make you more competent than any regular 3rd year.
The one true advantage a basic would have would be bedside manner and dealing with rowdy patients. But again, that is something that can probably be picked up pretty quickly doing rotations.
Trust me, I wish being a basic gave me that much of an advantage. I almost considered CC school because it would allow me to do more and my squad offers the course for free. The time commitment was just too much for my already strained social life. You probably have a great advantage being a paramedic but not many undergrads have time to put in that year to a year and a half to go to medic schooling.
Sorry to the OP for getting off topic. I'll stop with this one.
ShyRem said:Let us not forget that for many, EMT=EMTB, and EMT is *not* the same as paramedic. We all know that a paramedic is an EMTP, but to the general public (i.e. anyone NOT in EMS) they don't necessarily know that. Heck, many adcoms (and non-ER docs) don't even know what a paramedic does!!! Personally, I find that appalling.
OSUdoc08 said:Who would you rather have as your family practitioner? A guy who served his community as a volunteer paramedic for 7 years and brought countless people from the brink of death to a fulfilling life or a guy who never met his next door neighbors because he slept in a lab that tested rats while writing research papers?
I'll take the paramedic EVERY TIME.
Some medical schools have the wrong priorities. Fortunately, when applying for residency, your clinical performance is MORE IMPORTANT than your "nerd factor."
Believe it or not, a VAST MAJORITY of applicants do not want to be academic physicians. You should consider recruiting accordingly.
OSUdoc08 said:As we have obviously seen in this thread!
On the ambulance, I consider an EMT and a Paramedic as a team, not as the "grand master" and his "servant."
With that being said, you share the SAME clinical experiences.
Zoom-Zoom said:Not usually. At least in LA, EMT's and P's have vastly different scopes of practice and it is uncommon as an EMT to even have a shift with a Paramedic. I still think EMT's get very good clinical exposure though.
moto_za said:HI, Anyone have any advice for becoming an EMT? Is it worth it? Does look good to med schools and does it count as clinical experience? Anyone have any experiences they can share?
thanks!
acrobat said:In Wisconsin we have EMT- IV technicians- a 3 credit add on course to the basic. But for tax reasons we're know called as of this year EMT- Intermediate technicians. Everyone thinks we're EMT-I's! and we're not we're EMT-I technicians. The EMT-I's are now being called EMT Intermediate advanced. Then of course there are EMT-P's.
LizzyM said:The top tier med schools are operating under the expectation that many of their graduates will be the next generation of academic physicians. Other schools have a mission to train primary care providers, etc. There are no "best" schools or "best" applicant, it depends on finding the "best" fit between school and applicant. The top research schools want to see people who are open to the possibility of research/teaching/clinical care in their careers and the belief is that research prior to matriculation to med school is better than no research in identifying people who will want to pursue academic medicine.
EMS training & experience used to be rare among the most competitive applicants and it impressed adcoms. Within 2-3 years, everyone seemed to be doing it such that it is no longer impressive. This is how the bar keeps getting raised. Sometimes it just seems crazy. Don't shoot the messenger.
If EMT is your passion, go for it and go as far as you can with it. Your passion will show in your PS and your interviews. But understand that is not a requirement, it is not the "best" experience for every pre-med, and it is not something that will automatically set you apart from the "pack".
Zoom-Zoom said:Not usually. At least in LA, EMT's and P's have vastly different scopes of practice and it is uncommon as an EMT to even have a shift with a Paramedic. I still think EMT's get very good clinical exposure though.
EMT2ER-DOC said:If more people are becoming EMTs then those of us who have been EMTs for longer than 6 months in our senior year of college should some how stand out. A person who has been an EMT for more than 5 years and has had several leadership position should stand out from other EMTs shouldn't they?
ramstam said:Something funny since many people seem to be EMT's. My first partner was a medic and she told me that EMT stood for empty my trash. The funny stuff that is discussed at three in the morning to distract from a bad call is almost worth being an emt in itself.
I think that having a more complete picture of the rescue/transport system will make me a better ER doc(although I hope for derm). So many times the nurses and docs in the ER get grumpy about the person not being packaged perfect. They don't realize that we try to scoop them up and go.
I also think it is good training to realize there are two types of emergencys.
Oh sh#t! and Bull sh#t.
Agent Splat said:Agreed. I would think Adcoms would be smart enough to evaluate the quality of the experience rather than just the fact that it existed. This is why its important to do EMS only if it's something you're pretty interested in, have the time for, and are willing to put the work in. THEN it's a great experience.
sharkchaser47 said:And you really can't compare learning how to do IVs and intubating in medical school, to learning at 3am from the medics in the kitchen of the firehouse!
sharkchaser47 said:I absolutely agree. I was an EMT for over 5 years in a very busy urban area. And in my time, I have responded to over 1500 calls... That kind of experience and practice in dealing with patients is invaluable. I know that when I start my rotations I won't have any problem talking to patients, getting histories and doing basic clinical skills.
And you really can't compare learning how to do IVs and intubating in medical school, to learning at 3am from the medics in the kitchen of the firehouse!
EMT2ER-DOC said:I agree. I have been an EMT for 15 years held Line Officer positions such as Sergeant, 1st Leiutant, and Crew Chief. I cannot see how this can be tossed off by adcoms.
I'm pretty sure that an adcom would be able to figure out if you just took the course (big deal) or actually worked as one. I was asked a number of specific questions about what exactly I did in the field, so I'm sure they were trying to figure out where I fit on that spectrum.EMT2ER-DOC said:If more people are becoming EMTs then those of us who have been EMTs for longer than 6 months in our senior year of college should some how stand out. A person who has been an EMT for more than 5 years and has had several leadership position should stand out from other EMTs shouldn't they?