is anyone an EMT or paramedic to prepare for PA?

[timbo85]

I am considering being an EMT or paramedic to get some clinical experience before becoming a physician assistant. Anyone else doing this?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[beanbean]

Hey Timbo!

I have been an EMT for 18 years (volunteer) and am now in my first year of med school.

I have know a few people who made the move from EMS to PA school. It can be a great way to get good, hands-on patient care experience.

Good luck!

 

[EMT036]

I too know people who have been EMT's/Paramedics in preparation for PA school. If I am not mistaken, PA schools require a couple thousand hours of patient contact time for admission. EMS would be a fun/interesting way to fufill that requirement.

 

[niko327]

First of all I have to admit that being a paramedic in PA school has made life a whole heck of a lot easier for me, but my reasons for being a medic were economic and not originally meant as a preparation for pa school. If you want to go to pa school becoming an emt or emt-i might be a good route to go for the clinical experience. Going to paramedic school is a much longer commitment. I find that once one graduates, they really want to get out there and work thus this usually tends to distract people from their original goals of med/pa school for an average of 3-4 years (according to my own experiences). PA adcoms usually clump together emt, emt-i and paramedics into the broad classification of EMS experience anyway so despite going the extra mile to become a medic you may find yourself clumped in with the general EMS experience group. It's pretty sad that alot of adcoms have no idea what the responsibility and training of medics are, let alone know the differences between each certification level. These were just a few reflections from my own personal experiences, what you decide needs to be right for you.

 

[deleted6669]

I did the paramedic to em pa route and wouldn't have done it any other way. as a medic in pa school you are head and shoulders above the rest of the pack in knowledge base and experience making the program much easier.

 

[timbo85]

does emt prepare you for other things besides emergency med?

 

[aramis1250]

does emt prepare you for other things besides emergency med?

It will depend on where you work as an EMT/EMT-I/Paramedic. Some places you can choose to work in an ER (which, of course, is mostly emergency medicine), some places you can work in EMS as a primary response ambulance, and in some places you can work on an interfacility ambulance.

If you can work interfacility, you will deal with all kinds of patients, from people being transported for specialty surgery and rehab, to transports for radiation oncology, and for transports between cities and even states.

Where I work, I have the chance to do both primary EMS response as well as interfacility, which is great exposure. I always try to take the time to understand what my interfacility patient was admitted for, above and beyond merely why I am transporting them; this gives me exposure to disease and injury processes as well as preparation for what I might encounter while transporting them.

If you choose to work as an EMT, of whatever sort, I recommend trying to do both primary and interfacility work, if you can. You will get valuable patient contacts, and will have excellent chances to network as well.

 

[MedicFL]

It will depend on where you work as an EMT/EMT-I/Paramedic. Some places you can choose to work in an ER (which, of course, is mostly emergency medicine), some places you can work in EMS as a primary response ambulance, and in some places you can work on an interfacility ambulance.

If you can work interfacility, you will deal with all kinds of patients, from people being transported for specialty surgery and rehab, to transports for radiation oncology, and for transports between cities and even states.

Where I work, I have the chance to do both primary EMS response as well as interfacility, which is great exposure. I always try to take the time to understand what my interfacility patient was admitted for, above and beyond merely why I am transporting them; this gives me exposure to disease and injury processes as well as preparation for what I might encounter while transporting them.

If you choose to work as an EMT, of whatever sort, I recommend trying to do both primary and interfacility work, if you can. You will get valuable patient contacts, and will have excellent chances to network as well.

Let the the thread die it was almost 5 years old..

 

[aramis1250]

Let the the thread die it was almost 5 years old..

LOL I hadn't even looked at the last post date ... I just came across this thread as a top Google hit and joined, thinking it was active. But, even if it is five years old, is the topic somehow irrelevant just because nobody bothered to answer the last question? Additionally, who, exactly, do you think you are to tell anyone else what to or not to answer? Seriously, is your life that meaningless that you have to sit on a five-year-old thread, waiting to see if anyone posts to it, and then berate them for posting to it?

 

[MedicFL]

LOL I hadn't even looked at the last post date ... I just came across this thread as a top Google hit and joined, thinking it was active. But, even if it is five years old, is the topic somehow irrelevant just because nobody bothered to answer the last question? Additionally, who, exactly, do you think you are to tell anyone else what to or not to answer? Seriously, is your life that meaningless that you have to sit on a five-year-old thread, waiting to see if anyone posts to it, and then berate them for posting to it?

Since you posted it pops the thread up at the top of the forum..... It was a joke anyways you need to lighten up a bit......

 

[docB]

Let's keep this civil. Resurrection of old threads can be a little annoying to established members. Maybe a new, updated thread would be better received? In any case name calling is not appropriate.