Working as an EMT left me wanting to be a paramedic - I just got accepted. I want the leadership experience of commanding the scene and making medical decisions solo. I just think it's an awesome skill.
Hi BlackbeltDoctor. Welcome. I've been in your shoes, so hopefully I can help you out. I've been a medic for 12 years, and I was the lead instructor in a paramedic program for 5 years before I cut way back on my teaching to go back to school. I'm leaving EMS after 20 years to start medical school in August.
Congratulations on your acceptance to paramedic school. You should certainly take the acceptance if you really want to be a paramedic. There's a lot to learn through medic school and working as a paramedic, and it's certainly helped me with a lot. I've seen a lot of interesting medicine, interacted with medical professionals of all kinds, and met and cared for a VERY diverse and interesting set of patients over the years. I expect that I'll be miles ahead of some of my medical school classmates on many things (though I also expect to struggle with things that many of my classmates will excel at). My personal statement was all about the confidence I gained from being a paramedic. When I finished undergrad, I was scared of everything and almost never opened my mouth; last weekend, I sassed the trauma team when they interrupted my report. It's a great job, and more and more becoming a viable career path, even for those who aren't interested in becoming a firefighter or moving on to other areas of healthcare. However...
I hate being an EMT because I want to have the knowledge and training to run the calls
If you are frustrated by the EMT level of knowledge, you won't be happy as a paramedic for very long. To most EMTs, it seems like the paramedics know and can do a lot, but once you've worked as a paramedic for awhile, if you have any perspective or self-awareness at all, you soon realize that you don't really know much of anything as a paramedic, and can't do anything that's not explicitly written in your protocols, which you have very little power to change yourself. (Yup, wrote about this in my personal statement too!)
condensed COURSES that are 45 credits in 6 months
I don't know where in the country you are (and I'm assuming you're in the US), but paramedic school is usually longer than 6 months. The shortest program in my area is more than a year, 12 credits per semester. I would have concerns about the quality of a shorter program. (Though I can see how it might work, it would be tough to learn everything in such a short period of time, especially since accreditation requires that didactic and hospital clinicals be completed before a required number of field hours.) Even if your program
is 6 months start to finish, you still have to study for and take didactic and practical exams for either your state or the NREMT, plus allow time for bureaucratic nonsense for licensing. Most services then require another test to make sure you know your protocols, and a field precepting period of variable length (and if they don't, again, I would have concerns about that service). If your goal is be accepted to medical school in two years, you would have very little actual practice time as an independent paramedic, which is where the real value of attending paramedic school lies for those pursuing medical school. It was my paramedic
career, the experiences it let me to, and my self-awareness about it that made my application stand out.
I also was hoping my paramedic classes which are held at a community college will help boost my GPA (I'll crush it) and look favorable to admissions committees.
I think someone already pointed out that interviewers and admissions committees (much like the general public) have NO IDEA what the difference is between an EMT and a paramedic. I had to explain this OVER and OVER at my interviews, sometimes more than once an interview. Likewise, they will not be impressed by the fact that you have been to paramedic school by itself. If you do "crush it", it should help your science GPA for AACOMAS (which classifies it as "other science") but not AMCAS, and might help your overall GPA depending on how many credits it is and how many you already have. But no matter how intense your paramedic program is, admissions committees won't see it as good preparation for medical school or any particular indication that you'll do well at their school. Also, as a former instructor of a community college paramedic program, I would caution that may be far more difficult to earn an A in a paramedic class than you are expecting. Yes, even at a community college, and especially if you are also continuing to work as an EMT and are working on medical school applications at the same time. I just went back through my grade books and I counted on one hand the number of As that were earned by my students in 5 years. I myself never earned higher than a B+ in any of my medic school courses; it actually
killed my postbacc GPA. Paramedic school is an odd beast: a mix of both highly specific and very broad clinical knowledge, along with practical application in labs and clinicals, all at the same time. Struggling even a little in any one area can tank your grade enough to make you ineligible for an A, even though you'll likely still pass and would still be a quality paramedic. Neither previous success in academia nor prior work in healthcare or EMS is a very good predictor of how well students do in paramedic school. If you are looking to boost your GPA, your time and money is likely better spent on a postbacc or SMP, and you can continue gaining experience with patients as an EMT.
I hope there's some useful information for you here. Good luck with everything! Feel free to PM or ask here if there's anything else I can help with.
