MT vs. RRT vs. EMT-P

[DoctorS_]

I have two questions:

1. Which of the three would you prefer doing? Why?

2. What do you see as the pros and cons for each?

I am a high school student looking for areas to major in. I know I want to be in the health care field, and I have already done some preliminary research on each of the three professions.

And just in case some people don't know,
MT = Medical Technologist
RRT = Registered Respiratory Therapist
EMT-P = Paramedic

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[csmmedic]

Hi spikyflip,

I am a current paramedic in california who is back in college for medical school pre-reqs. I work professionally with RRTs and RNs at for critical care transport and also interact wiht many other professionals in the ER (ED).

I love my job. I am happy to go into work everyday, and work in a great system where I am a first in 911 paramedic and the fire departments in my county are there only to assist me on medical calls. However, the pay is not that great, and the Paramedic profession is at a crossroads in regards to education. Only one state I know of actually requires paramedics to obtain a college degree (Washington). A lot of us are pushing for improved education as a way of advancing our profession and earning a better salary. Also, depending on where you are in the United States, it may be very difficult to obtain a job as a paramedic without working for a Fire department and being a firefighter as well.

RRTs are registered respiratory therapists. These folks have a college education and advanced their credential beyond the minimum required to practice (CRT). They have better earning potential than paramedics and get to work in high acuity environments like the NICU, ICU, and ER.

If you tell me where you live I may be able to help you out a little better.

 

[DoctorS_]

Thanks for your reply, csmmedic.

To answer your question, I'm located on the opposite side of the country: New Jersey.

 

[pulmonaryAce]

I'm currently an RRT working in New England...I've only been practicing for roughly a year, but I love the "idea" of respiratory therapy.

Depending on where you work, you might end up having some pretty interesting patients, doing some pretty cool things like bronchoscopies, intubations, codes, transports, swanz and other hemodynamics, inserting A-lines, pluero-vac's, trach stuff, etc. But, then again, you might end up like a few of my friends who are running around floors pushing neb treatments.

I chose a hospital where I work 1 full week in the ICU, then an alternating week in Labor & Delivery as a part of neonatal assessment at births, and emergent care during c-sections.

Luckily, when I work L&D there is a lot of downtime. Probably, 10 hours of down time a night, which allows me to study for my Pre-Med....

Overall, it's a great field, but half the time the floor RN's have no clue what you're responsibilities are, so you might as well be the janitor wandering the halls at night... A well paid Janitor who waits for **** to hit the fan. ( I started at $25/hr)