how tough is the EMT-B course?

[UCDavisdude]

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how tough is it? i was thinking bout doing it, but im also currently taking micro and studying for mcats and volunteering at ucd medical center(12am to 4am shift btw). for those of you that have taken the course, how time consuming is it(out of class). lots of studying??

 

[russiandoc]

You'll be fine. I would say its equivalent to any 3 credit liberal arts course. The material needs to be read over only once , not like some science classes. I took the class with 18 credits and work. Did fine.

 

[doctorFred]

not much studying outside of class if you attend. i think the specific requirements differ from state to state; @ the penn state course that i took to certify (and later taught), the class met three times a week (two 4 hour lectures and a 4 hour lab.) you couldn't really miss much class since state requirements dictate the number of hours you must be in attendance in order to obtain your certification.

so, to sum up, in my case it was 12 hours a week for a standard four month semester, with very little out-of-class studying time.

 

[UCDavisdude]

oh wow, thats great news, im pretty excited about it, ima try to start working in june as soon as i finish the course., hopefully, it wont be too tough to find a job.

 

[tacrum43]

how tough is it? i was thinking bout doing it, but im also currently taking micro and studying for mcats and volunteering at ucd medical center(12am to 4am shift btw). for those of you that have taken the course, how time consuming is it(out of class). lots of studying??

If you have taken any anatomy class, it's not hard at all. I found the most difficult part was learning how to take a patient history. Also taking a BP. It's kind of fun to practice with the equipment though, and it was very hands-on. I'm certified in CA by the way, which I'm assuming is what you will be too, although the requirements do vary a little from county to county.

edit: We also got to practice using the jaws of life to cut up a junk yard car. That was really cool. 🙂

 

[polojoe12]

Cake work. The only problem I had was the order in which to ask questions. Which really wasnt too much of a problem at all.

just remember SAMPLE and OPQRST

 

[pamd]

how tough is it? i was thinking bout doing it, but im also currently taking micro and studying for mcats and volunteering at ucd medical center(12am to 4am shift btw). for those of you that have taken the course, how time consuming is it(out of class). lots of studying??

The following web address is a midterm (with answers) given by an actual emt-b course. I have never taken this course before, but if these are the types of questions that can be found on the national exam, then it should be very easy. Anybody with basic A&P and common sense can get these questions right without even taking the course.

http://www.code1training.com/Exams/midterm_072005.html

 

[UCDavisdude]

The following web address is a midterm (with answers) given by an actual emt-b course. I have never taken this course before, but if these are the types of questions that can be found on the national exam, then it should be very easy. Anybody with basic A&P and common sense can get these questions right without even taking the course.

http://www.code1training.com/Exams/midterm_072005.html

oh wow, thanks

 

[DropkickMurphy]

The NREMT exam is not difficult although the dumber people who take the class (and there are a LOT of them, who like many premeds get into EMS for the "prestige" or to use it as a stepping stone) will whine incessantly about how hard it is.

 

[45408]

I did pretty well, but don't write it off. It's time consuming (you can't miss class), and there's little margin for error in the practicals. It's not hard to learn or anything, but you need to pay attention.

 

[nimotsu]

It was more common sense than actually knowing anything.. but the state exam can be tricky depending on what state you reside.

 

[thirdunity]

To be fair:

I felt like I had to really work my butt off and still didn't get what I wanted. I did very well on the academic part (straight As) but have an "incomplete" in the class, and have to retake four of my skills tests because I failed them - I had gotten all of these skills *perfectly* before the tests. However, at points during testing, my mind went blank and I totally forgot things that were the most obvious, doofus things one should think of. Or I was too nervous and messed up things that were manual skills.

Take everyone else's word that it's easy, and relax. The thing that will kill you the most is nerves. I am going to try to get something from my doctor to calm me down before testing. And no coffee that day.

The class was four units, but the workload/amount of time in class, is more like about six units' worth.

I suspect that my class had a heavier workload and stricter requirements than other EMS programs. I was allowed a max of two absences; in my case, I had to take a week off to do my phlebotomy externship, so I am really lucky that I didn't have to call in sick to the class at any point after that.
My class (at Los Medanos College) required lots and LOTS of handwritten homework.
Also, you were not allowed to get a C. Anything below B was a fail. To be fair though, LMC is considered the best program in the county, and AMR hires people right out of LMC's program.

One misgiving I have is that the groups weren't supervised *enough* in my opinion; it wasn't always easy to get a group to work with me, they'd stand around talking about their guy stuff/girl stuff. It broke up into cliques pretty fast. Since I am 32 and was the oldest one in class, and most of them were between 18 and 21, I didn't get into any of the cliques. This shouldn't matter, but it meant I didn't get to work with people as often as I would have liked to. However, it'll be easier for me next semester because I'll be getting tutoring, rather than working with the groups.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

That's funny that it's the "best in the country" and I've been an instructor over several years in four states and I've never even heard of the program. Just because AMR will hire straight out of it doesn't mean anything- most AMR locations are hard up for staff and will talk to any person with a pulse and a cert regardless of their actual qualification.

 

[doctorFred]

i've also taught on and off for a few years and have never heard of LMC. in fact, i think the majority of people our age (18-30) take their EMT class in whatever local collegiate setting is accessible to them, and since the curriculum is (with some small variations) standardized, the "quality" of the program shouldn't be too much of an issue. although i have heard of some smaller courses that really make a joke of the process.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Oh, wait, sorry for my earlier post. I misread that. It says "county" not "country". Oops.

But my statement about AMR still stands.

 

[ShyRem]

Many places hire "right out of a program" because that's where you get new folks. Old ones burn out, move on, move out. Want an EMT? Go to a program and hire one. The new EMTs are hungry for work.

Also, I've been in the field for 15 years and have never heard of LMC.

Really, the EMTB program isn't hard. Honestly. And the criteria for passing is VERY straight forward. No hidden agendas, no hidden tricks they don't tell you, no hidden grading they won't tell you. Just relax. Really.

 

[GoJoeyMojo]

how tough is it? i was thinking bout doing it, but im also currently taking micro and studying for mcats and volunteering at ucd medical center(12am to 4am shift btw). for those of you that have taken the course, how time consuming is it(out of class). lots of studying??

I took it with a full college courseload. I agree that if you thoroughly read ach chapter once (they're pretty quick reads), the class is easy. At my school the only people who had difficulty either didn't read the book and just listened to lecture or had serious academic shortcomings that would've prevented them from doing well in any class.

 

[45408]

It was more common sense than actually knowing anything.. but the state exam can be tricky depending on what state you reside.

I'd say that's the best way to put it - some of the exams can be awfully tricky, i.e., which is the "best" thing to do first. Well, you'd be doing everything on that list in a span of 10 seconds, so it's hard to decide which is really the *best* one.