Firefighter academy for a pre-med?

[BambiJD]

Hey, guys and girls. Right now I'm in the process of enrolling for the firefighter academy that starts this fall and it runs until May of 2014. This summer I'm getting my EMT-B. I sure would love to have this job combo while I'm in college, you know instead of having a minium wage job. I am going to be 22 years old this year and I'm still considered a college freshman. I was going for engineering, but I decided it is not the best for me (GPA wise) so I'm going to start doing business prerequisites.

I don't know if should go ahead with the academy even though I would love to be a firefighter. If I do the academy I would have to give it my fullest attention, I cant' tanke any other course, but firefighter courses. Thus, it will hold me back in my studies and I would end up getting my bachelor's probably when I'm 26 or 27 years old. I guess you could say I want to hopefully get into medical school as young as I can be, due to how long the residency is.

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[prado]

Do you want to be a firefighter or doctor? This is akin to those that go to paramedic school with the intent of going to medical school after, don't do it. Go straight into medical school and save yourself the time and extra, unnecessary stress. Get your EMT-B and use it to get an EMT job or similar (check to see how the hiring market is first). Don't go to firefighter academy if you have no intention of becoming a firefighter

 

[Propylene]

I have to agree. It's a pretty big time sink for something you won't use much after graduating. For what it's worth, I worked as an EMT-B in college for nearly three years and even though it didn't pay well it was a great experience.

 

[EnergyDrink]

Hey, guys and girls. Right now I'm in the process of enrolling for the firefighter academy that starts this fall and it runs until May of 2014. This summer I'm getting my EMT-B. I sure would love to have this job combo while I'm in college, you know instead of having a minium wage job. I am going to be 22 years old this year and I'm still considered a college freshman. I was going for engineering, but I decided it is not the best for me (GPA wise) so I'm going to start doing business prerequisites.

I don't know if should go ahead with the academy even though I would love to be a firefighter. If I do the academy I would have to give it my fullest attention, I cant' tanke any other course, but firefighter courses. Thus, it will hold me back in my studies and I would end up getting my bachelor's probably when I'm 26 or 27 years old. I guess you could say I want to hopefully get into medical school as young as I can be, due to how long the residency is.

If you can't cut it "GPA wise" for engineering, you won't be able to for medical school either, especially not in 5-6 years as things get more competitive. Focus on that before anything else.

As a firefighter/EMT, your plan is not worth it if you want to become a physician. While I value my own commitment in the emergency services, I did it because I wanted to, not because I wanted to get into medical school.

 

[BambiJD]

I think everybody keeps forgetting the part I mentioned, "I would love to become a firefighter. while I'm in college." I think it is an awesome job. I am Not doing it because I think it is going to help me get in. It may help a little to show something other than just volunteering. What I meant is, will this just be a bad idea since I'm in my '20s and it will hold me back on my regular studies?

 

[prado]

I think everybody keeps forgetting the part I mentioned, "I would love to become a firefighter. while I'm in college." I think it is an awesome job. I am Not doing it because I think it is going to help me get in. It may help a little to show something other than just volunteering. What I meant is, will this just be a bad idea since I'm in my '20s and it will hold me back on my regular studies?

That's like saying "I think I'll join the police academy and become a police officer while I get my B.A., then I'll quit and go to med school"...what? A firefighter is an entirely different profession. You don't just become a firefighter like it's some kind of 4hr/week volunteer gig. It's going to take a lot of work, dedication, and a lot of resources to actually land a job. You're going to end up ruining your gpa and sacrificing the rest of your college experience. Why would you want to do that? At the end of the day, you might not even have the option of going to medical school anymore, and instead you'll just remain a firefighter for the rest of your life. Are you okay with that?

 

[BambiJD]

I have to agree. It's a pretty big time sink for something you won't use much after graduating. For what it's worth, I worked as an EMT-B in college for nearly three years and even though it didn't pay well it was a great experience.

Oh I know it doesn't pay much. It's like 30k a year salary. When you did this did you have time to go to school full-time and live on your own?

 

[BambiJD]

If you can't cut it "GPA wise" for engineering, you won't be able to for medical school either, especially not in 5-6 years as things get more competitive. Focus on that before anything else.

As a firefighter/EMT, your plan is not worth it if you want to become a physician. While I value my own commitment in the emergency services, I did it because I wanted to, not because I wanted to get into medical school.

I have to disagree with you. Some people excel in engineering and go to medical school. Others don't so they choose another path and excel in medical school.

 

[BambiJD]

That's like saying "I think I'll join the police academy and become a police officer while I get my B.A., then I'll quit and go to med school"...what? A firefighter is an entirely different profession. You don't just become a firefighter like it's some kind of 4hr/week volunteer gig. It's going to take a lot of work, dedication, and a lot of resources to actually land a job. You're going to end up ruining your gpa and sacrificing the rest of your college experience. Why would you want to do that? At the end of the day, you might not even have the option of going to medical school anymore, and instead you'll just remain a firefighter for the rest of your life. Are you okay with that?

I feel you dude, but is doable. Firefighter schedule in my area is 48 hours on then the rest of the week off. Or lets say Monday and Wednesdays you will work 24 hrs and have the rest of the days off. Houston just open a ton of firefighter positions this year. I know firefighter who is doing chemical engineering right now and has no problem.

 

[prado]

^

Why are you even asking this question if you've already made up your mind?

 

[mcloaf]

I feel you dude, but is doable. Firefighter schedule in my area is 48 hours on then the rest of the week off. Or lets say Monday and Wednesdays you will work 24 hrs and have the rest of the days off. Houston just open a ton of firefighter positions this year. I know firefighter who is doing chemical engineering right now and has no problem.

Lol, I certainly can't see how a 48 on schedule could affect school...

Seriously, it's not a great idea if you're worried about keeping a strong GPA, but you obviously don't care what we tell you. Not sure why you made the thread.

 

[BambiJD]

^

Why are you even asking this question if you've already made up your mind?

I haven't made a final decision, but thanks for the feedback. 😉

 

[Planes2Doc]

I would definitely tread carefully here, especially beyond the obvious reasons of time constraints and devoting a few years to a profession you have no desire to do for the rest of your life.

Firefighting, unlike an EMT or even volunteer firefighter is a career-track. I haven't heard of anyone say that they aspire to be a CNA, phlebotomist, or scribe for the rest of their lives, but as for firefighters, yes. People make long careers out of it.

Considering the EC arms race that takes place in the medical school admissions process and the length that pre-meds will go to in order to "beef up" their ECs, it might seem like a good idea. But it's not. If it were such a good idea, I think you would see a crisis in the nursing field, because every single pre-med will end up taking up a BSN track, become an RN, and use that as a "killer EC" because it's just that much more superior to being a CNA or EMT. But if you look on the career changer boards, you see current nurses who become pre-med face an uphill battle, not an easy walk in the park because they have a "killer EC" under their belt. I think the same thing goes for physician assistants, anesthesiology assistants (in states where they are licensed), paramedics, and hell probably even pharmacists, chiropractors, dentists, Chinese medicine people, and others...

If you decide to invest so much time into something that is an actual career-track (not a field littered with pre-meds that probably only needs a high school diploma, if even that), I'm sure that you will be grilled by the ADCOMs. If these career-track paths were actually viewed as "killer ECs," then every pre-med would end up becoming a nurse, PA, paramedic, or what have you in order to boost their application. But that's not happening, and in fact, the genuine career changers definitely face an uphill battle.

Sure pre-meds might end up doing an entry-level clinical job to boost their app, but devoting time to pursuing an entirely different career-track is a whole different story. Not only are you wasting precious years of your life that you'll never get back, but you'll probably end up fighting an uphill battle later on.

 

[BambiJD]

I would definitely tread carefully here, especially beyond the obvious reasons of time constraints and devoting a few years to a profession you have no desire to do for the rest of your life.

Firefighting, unlike an EMT or even volunteer firefighter is a career-track. I haven't heard of anyone say that they aspire to be a CNA, phlebotomist, or scribe for the rest of their lives, but as for firefighters, yes. People make long careers out of it.

Considering the EC arms race that takes place in the medical school admissions process and the length that pre-meds will go to in order to "beef up" their ECs, it might seem like a good idea. But it's not. If it were such a good idea, I think you would see a crisis in the nursing field, because every single pre-med will end up taking up a BSN track, become an RN, and use that as a "killer EC" because it's just that much more superior to being a CNA or EMT. But if you look on the career changer boards, you see current nurses who become pre-med face an uphill battle, not an easy walk in the park because they have a "killer EC" under their belt. I think the same thing goes for physician assistants, anesthesiology assistants (in states where they are licensed), paramedics, and hell probably even pharmacists, chiropractors, dentists, Chinese medicine people, and others...

If you decide to invest so much time into something that is an actual career-track (not a field littered with pre-meds that probably only needs a high school diploma, if even that), I'm sure that you will be grilled by the ADCOMs. If these career-track paths were actually viewed as "killer ECs," then every pre-med would end up becoming a nurse, PA, paramedic, or what have you in order to boost their application. But that's not happening, and in fact, the genuine career changers definitely face an uphill battle.

Sure pre-meds might end up doing an entry-level clinical job to boost their app, but devoting time to pursuing an entirely different career-track is a whole different story. Not only are you wasting precious years of your life that you'll never get back, but you'll probably end up fighting an uphill battle later on.

Thanks bud. I really like your answer. You made great points instead of bashing. I have a question I will PM you.

 

[alpinism]

Hey, guys and girls. Right now I'm in the process of enrolling for the firefighter academy that starts this fall and it runs until May of 2014. This summer I'm getting my EMT-B. I sure would love to have this job combo while I'm in college, you know instead of having a minium wage job. I am going to be 22 years old this year and I'm still considered a college freshman. I was going for engineering, but I decided it is not the best for me (GPA wise) so I'm going to start doing business prerequisites.

I don't know if should go ahead with the academy even though I would love to be a firefighter. If I do the academy I would have to give it my fullest attention, I cant' tanke any other course, but firefighter courses. Thus, it will hold me back in my studies and I would end up getting my bachelor's probably when I'm 26 or 27 years old. I guess you could say I want to hopefully get into medical school as young as I can be, due to how long the residency is.

If you're interested in firefighting that's great. You can go to med school w/ any degree or major including fire science (mine). There are many depts. that have great schedules as well that will allow you to work full-time while aslo taking classes (sometimes over 12 credit hrs. a semester). However, I would not reccomend doing this right out of the fire academy b/c you need time to get settled in and become comfortable with the lifestyle. Finish your probie year first.


A few things to keep in mind:

1. The good schedules (48hrs/week) don't usually include any additional training or continuting education classes that also need to be done. Its never just goning to be 48hrs a week. This is especially true for those just starting out (probies).
2. You will be up many nights going on calls (fires, MVAs, Hazmats, etc..) it messes up your sleep schedule and you'll need to sleep and recover the next day. Another reason why it not just 48hrs/week. If you're at a slow station, maybe you can get a decent nights sleep most of the time, but then you'll just be bored and never see any action, so what's the point?
3. Fire depts don't want to hire someone who just wants a job for a few years during college. It takes a lot of time and money to train a good firefighter and the education process never really ends even after the fire academy (kinda like being a doctor). You have to keep current on all your certifications and you're expected to get new ones and move up in the ranks the longer you stay with the dept. Being a paid city firefighter is a career position. More rural part-time and volunteer gigs would be more doable though.
4. Honestly, If you're really interested in becoming a physician, you prob won't be satisfied by being a firefighter. 90% of the job is boring manual labor that is not exciting nor intellectually challenging. The VAST majority of calls are false alarms, tiny brush/trash fires, minor MVAs, or BS non-emergency medical calls that come in at the worst times such as during dinner or at 3am. You wont be saving anyone's life every shift or every week or even every month. Even the busiest stations are lucky to have a save once or twice a year. Most of your time will be spent doing training, paperwork, fire inspections, cleaning the station, washing the trucks, cleaning and fixing tools/hose, as well as cooking meals. Its NOT like on TV at all.

If you want to get into med school and finish residency as young as possibe, just focus on being a pre-med.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[BambiJD]

If you're interested in firefighting that's great. You can go to med school w/ any degree or major including fire science (mine). There are many depts. that have great schedules as well that will allow you to work full-time while aslo taking classes (sometimes over 12 credit hrs. a semester). However, I would not reccomend doing this right out of the fire academy b/c you need time to get settled in and become comfortable with the lifestyle. Finish your probie year first.


A few things to keep in mind:

1. The good schedules (48hrs/week) don't usually include any additional training or continuting education classes that also need to be done. Its never just goning to be 48hrs a week. This is especially true for those just starting out (probies).
2. You will be up many nights going on calls (fires, MVAs, Hazmats, etc..) it messes up your sleep schedule and you'll need to sleep and recover the next day. Another reason why it not just 48hrs/week. If you're at a slow station, maybe you can get a decent nights sleep most of the time, but then you'll just be bored and never see any action, so what's the point?
3. Fire depts don't want to hire someone who just wants a job for a few years during college. It takes a lot of time and money to train a good firefighter and the education process never really ends even after the fire academy (kinda like being a doctor). You have to keep current on all your certifications and you're expected to get new ones and move up in the ranks the longer you stay with the dept. Being a paid city firefighter is a career position. More rural part-time and volunteer gigs would be more doable though.
4. Honestly, If you're really interested in becoming a physician, you prob won't be satisfied by being a firefighter. 90% of the job is boring manual labor that is not exciting nor intellectually challenging. The VAST majority of calls are false alarms, tiny brush/trash fires, minor MVAs, or BS non-emergency medical calls that come in at the worst times such as during dinner or at 3am. You wont be saving anyone's life every shift or every week or even every month. Even the busiest stations are lucky to have a save once or twice a year. Most of your time will be spent doing training, paperwork, fire inspections, cleaning the station, washing the trucks, cleaning and fixing tools/hose, as well as cooking meals. Its NOT like on TV at all.

If you want to get into med school and finish residency as young as possibe, just focus on being a pre-med.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks, broham. I appreciate your advice.

 

[xffan624]

I would definitely tread carefully here, especially beyond the obvious reasons of time constraints and devoting a few years to a profession you have no desire to do for the rest of your life.

Firefighting, unlike an EMT or even volunteer firefighter is a career-track. I haven't heard of anyone say that they aspire to be a CNA, phlebotomist, or scribe for the rest of their lives, but as for firefighters, yes. People make long careers out of it.

Considering the EC arms race that takes place in the medical school admissions process and the length that pre-meds will go to in order to "beef up" their ECs, it might seem like a good idea. But it's not. If it were such a good idea, I think you would see a crisis in the nursing field, because every single pre-med will end up taking up a BSN track, become an RN, and use that as a "killer EC" because it's just that much more superior to being a CNA or EMT. But if you look on the career changer boards, you see current nurses who become pre-med face an uphill battle, not an easy walk in the park because they have a "killer EC" under their belt. I think the same thing goes for physician assistants, anesthesiology assistants (in states where they are licensed), paramedics, and hell probably even pharmacists, chiropractors, dentists, Chinese medicine people, and others...

If you decide to invest so much time into something that is an actual career-track (not a field littered with pre-meds that probably only needs a high school diploma, if even that), I'm sure that you will be grilled by the ADCOMs. If these career-track paths were actually viewed as "killer ECs," then every pre-med would end up becoming a nurse, PA, paramedic, or what have you in order to boost their application. But that's not happening, and in fact, the genuine career changers definitely face an uphill battle.

Sure pre-meds might end up doing an entry-level clinical job to boost their app, but devoting time to pursuing an entirely different career-track is a whole different story. Not only are you wasting precious years of your life that you'll never get back, but you'll probably end up fighting an uphill battle later on.

I think there might military exception clause to this. I got an MS, fully intending to try for medical school after, but honestly couldn't really do more school, plus my MCAT had expired so I would need to take it again. Also, I was tired of living like a student and being poor.

I got a lab job with the Army as a contractor and then decided to go in as an officer. My MS got me the position which was actually somewhat competitive (it's mostly public health/environmental health, but I work with lots medical folks) and I've done it for 5 years. Around year 3 I thought about going to medical school and started the process. I could have stayed in the position for all 20 years and retired, but I chose not too, because I still felt medical school was possible and it was worth it.

A couple benefits to me so that I don't really think it was wasted time...

• Student loan repayment (UG and grad)
• 5 years of a decent salary and living comfortably (I have a 2008 new car that is completely paid off and nice furniture)
• Maturity and leadership development
• Great experiences and opportunity to travel
• Gave me a leg up on my application this time (my uGPA was not super strong)
• A nice nest egg to start school with.
• and best one ... the VA benefits which includes the GI Bill (full tuition for 4 years at a state school where I'm a resident + living expenses with no additional obligation to the military)

OP, if you think you can get some benefits from this that will not seem as if you wasted your time in graduating later, then go for it. Life is not a destination, it's a journey, and the journey doesn't begin as soon as you begin medical school it's already going on right now. If this experience will enrich your journey, then it's a good choice, IMO

 

[Planes2Doc]

I think there might military exception clause to this. I got an MS, fully intending to try for medical school after, but honestly couldn't really do more school, plus my MCAT had expired so I would need to take it again. Also, I was tired of living like a student and being poor.

I got a lab job with the Army as a contractor and then decided to go in as an officer. My MS got me the position which was actually somewhat competitive (it's mostly public health/environmental health, but I work with lots medical folks) and I've done it for 5 years. Around year 3 I thought about going to medical school and started the process. I could have stayed in the position for all 20 years and retired, but I chose not too, because I still felt medical school was possible and it was worth it.

A couple benefits to me so that I don't really think it was wasted time...

• Student loan repayment (UG and grad)
• 5 years of a decent salary and living comfortably (I have a 2008 new car that is completely paid off and nice furniture)
• Maturity and leadership development
• Great experiences and opportunity to travel
• Gave me a leg up on my application this time (my uGPA was not super strong)
• A nice nest egg to start school with.
• and best one ... the VA benefits which includes the GI Bill (full tuition for 4 years at a state school where I'm a resident + living expenses with no additional obligation to the military)

OP, if you think you can get some benefits from this that will not seem as if you wasted your time in graduating later, then go for it. Life is not a destination, it's a journey, and the journey doesn't begin as soon as you begin medical school it's already going on right now. If this experience will enrich your journey, then it's a good choice, IMO

I think the army is definitely an exception. I know people who have enlisted and then re-entered the civilian world with great opportunities. One of my former classmates is a former army medic who served in Iraq. His accomplishments are very admirable. 🙂

Based on your story, when you decided that you didn't want to do anymore schooling, was this the end of your medical school ambitions at the time? If so, then this is completely different from the OP's situation. I was actually a pre-med for about a semester initially, and then dropped it because I freaked out. I came back years later as a non-trad because I knew that I wanted to be a physician. I think there are some non-trads like that. But the majority of people who were once pre-med drop it quickly and never pursue anything in the medical field ever again.

I realize that you are saying that people should have a meaningful journey, but in the case of medical school admissions, it's not necessarily a meaningful one, but instead a carefully calculated facade of a journey. You'll see that people on SDN, and typically pre-meds in general, revolve their whole lives around things that ADCOMs want to see, pretending that these things are meaningful to them. It's really quite sad actually, which is why I'm so against ECs in general.

So even though you might do incredibly meaningful things as a nurse, you'll see that nurses that go pre-med face an uphill battle. Yet, ADCOMs have no problems with people pretty much wasting a year or more of their lives pretending to do things that they are passionate about that are ultimately irrelevant to what physicians do. An equivalent to this in the airline industry would be if people who want to become pilots would first need to work as baggage handlers or flight attendants. Neither of these jobs have anything to do with a pilot, and if I proposed this idea to pilots, they would look at me as if I were crazy.

So in the OP's case, I would suggest that they should apply entirely as a non-traditional applicant if they passionately want to be a fire fighter. I just can't see ADCOMs looking too kindly on this, especially seeing how they frown upon people like former nurses applying to medical school. Plus another huge added benefit of going the non-traditional route is that you can skip out on all the ECs you honestly don't want to do during undergrad. That was a huge perk to being a non-trad for me. The OP must consider that even a traditional applicant, matriculating at about 22 years old, will spend years of hard work and live in poverty to achieve that goal. If it sucks at 22 years old, imagine how much it would suck starting medical school a few years later. I know how much it sucks because I did it.

The OP should probably look into volunteer firefighting. Obviously in this case, the OP wants to become a physician. This isn't like your typical non-traditional applicant that stumbled upon the idea of becoming a doctor many years later. So why take the detour in this case, especially if it can harm you? If the OP still chooses to do it, then by all means pursue the non-traditional approach. Do not do any typical "pre-med" activities or classes in undergrad, it'll save a lot of stress and actually strengthen the application in the end, but at the cost of a few years.

 

[BambiJD]

I think there might military exception clause to this. I got an MS, fully intending to try for medical school after, but honestly couldn't really do more school, plus my MCAT had expired so I would need to take it again. Also, I was tired of living like a student and being poor.

I got a lab job with the Army as a contractor and then decided to go in as an officer. My MS got me the position which was actually somewhat competitive (it's mostly public health/environmental health, but I work with lots medical folks) and I've done it for 5 years. Around year 3 I thought about going to medical school and started the process. I could have stayed in the position for all 20 years and retired, but I chose not too, because I still felt medical school was possible and it was worth it.

A couple benefits to me so that I don't really think it was wasted time...

• Student loan repayment (UG and grad)
• 5 years of a decent salary and living comfortably (I have a 2008 new car that is completely paid off and nice furniture)
• Maturity and leadership development
• Great experiences and opportunity to travel
• Gave me a leg up on my application this time (my uGPA was not super strong)
• A nice nest egg to start school with.
• and best one ... the VA benefits which includes the GI Bill (full tuition for 4 years at a state school where I'm a resident + living expenses with no additional obligation to the military)

OP, if you think you can get some benefits from this that will not seem as if you wasted your time in graduating later, then go for it. Life is not a destination, it's a journey, and the journey doesn't begin as soon as you begin medical school it's already going on right now. If this experience will enrich your journey, then it's a good choice, IMO

Gracias. But I was going to join the military once when I was 18, but I rather do the school thing better.

 

[xffan624]

I think the army is definitely an exception. I know people who have enlisted and then re-entered the civilian world with great opportunities. One of my former classmates is a former army medic who served in Iraq. His accomplishments are very admirable. 🙂

Based on your story, when you decided that you didn't want to do anymore schooling, was this the end of your medical school ambitions at the time? If so, then this is completely different from the OP's situation. I was actually a pre-med for about a semester initially, and then dropped it because I freaked out. I came back years later as a non-trad because I knew that I wanted to be a physician. I think there are some non-trads like that. But the majority of people who were once pre-med drop it quickly and never pursue anything in the medical field ever again.

\.

Just to clarify. I did intend to try for medical school again( I had applied halfheartedly with a good MCAT post UG and surprise, surprise hadn't even got one II), but at that time I felt I needed a break from school. I had been in school continuously since kindergarten for 17 years.

Law of inertia could have kept me in the military and ultimately retiring with that career, but my original intention did kind of creep back in my mind and I made the decision while I was deployed that it was time to try again. I liked the job, but I also didn't feel like it was really challenging me intellectually.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is I don't see any harm in trying out another job/career before jumping into medical school. If OP is only doing it to look good on his application, then that's probably not a good idea as it will waste a couple years, but only have minimal benefit for his application.

If he wants to gain that experience and he feels it will benefit him than I say go for it. A few years delay in starting medical school is not a horrible thing by itself, but only if the OP is actually doing something he feels is worthwhile.

Nurses, PA's, etc. and other established medical careers are a separate consideration and not completely applicable to OP's situation.

 

[Propylene]

Oh I know it doesn't pay much. It's like 30k a year salary. When you did this did you have time to go to school full-time and live on your own?

Sorry for the late reply. Yes my job let me pretty much choose my hours so I was lucky enough to be able to schedule around school and work 20-30 hours a week, or less when during the demanding weeks of school. I made enough to pay my rent and live on my own.

It was difficult finding an EMT job but I really enjoyed many aspects of it. I learned to take care of people, take vitals, and had a few high adrenaline situations with patients.

There is also a lot of scutwork and transporting, but for me it was worth it. If anything seeing that small slice of the medical world made me more excited about med school and made me work harder in my classes.

If you want to take some time off and be a firefighter then I'd go for it; you have your whole life to go after medicine. But EMTing is a good exposure to EMS and might be able to give you some of the experiences you're looking for.

 

[BambiJD]

Sorry for the late reply. Yes my job let me pretty much choose my hours so I was lucky enough to be able to schedule around school and work 20-30 hours a week, or less when during the demanding weeks of school. I made enough to pay my rent and live on my own.

It was difficult finding an EMT job but I really enjoyed many aspects of it. I learned to take care of people, take vitals, and had a few high adrenaline situations with patients.

There is also a lot of scutwork and transporting, but for me it was worth it. If anything seeing that small slice of the medical world made me more excited about med school and made me work harder in my classes.

If you want to take some time off and be a firefighter then I'd go for it; you have your whole life to go after medicine. But EMTing is a good exposure to EMS and might be able to give you some of the experiences you're looking for.

Thanks for answering back. I won't be doing the firefighter academy anymore . I talked the program director/ my counselor and its better if I just do EMT only.