NREMT-P: To Renew or Not?

[hikermoose]

Hello everyone, long time lurker, first time poster here. I had a question that I have been searching for and can't find an answer to. Without going into tons of detail, I am a 32 year old Firefighter/Paramedic who has just enrolled in the local university as a Pre-Med. I need to start almost from the beginning of undergrad, but my intent is to attend medical school. I haven't decided on DO or MD yet.

So on to my question. I have been a paramedic for 4 years. I never had any intention to move states or leave my department (I have been with them for 12 years.) so I let my National Registry lapse. I obviously still have my state license and that allows me to continue to work as a paramedic. Looking back, I wish I hadn't let it go because it is not the easiest to get back. I have worked it out and it will be in the $700-$800 range to pay for the refresher course and the hotel/travel to take the practical and written tests. Should I spend the time and money to re-acquire my National Registry? Do adcoms even care that I have it in addition to my state license? If it makes a difference, I will be getting my critical care paramedic certification regardless in the near future.

Thanks for any help you guys can offer!

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[seanm028]

I can't imagine any AdCom will really care — paramedic is paramedic. If you aren't planning on getting licensed in a different state, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[hikermoose]

I can't imagine any AdCom will really care — paramedic is paramedic. If you aren't planning on getting licensed in a different state, I wouldn't worry about it.

Thanks for your reply! That is what I was thinking, but didn't know.

Anyone else care to weigh in?

 

[alpinism]

Just keep your state license active.

Most adcoms don't even know the difference between an EMT-B and EMT-P and could care even less when it comes to admissions.

 

[Medic741]

I would give anything to have renewed. Being in med school is really rough -- you spend all day studying and don't have any autonomy (which makes sense) and hardly any patient contact. Being able to pick up a shift every week or every other week may help stay grounded in why you're here in med school and keep you juiced on what kind of medicine you really enjoy. I dunno, but being able to pick up a flycar every now and then would make this whole ****ty 2 years so much better & more enjoyable, and being able to stay plugged into an EMS community would bring in a whole other layer of support on this journey.

Renew if you're doing it for you, but no one else will really care. @hikermoose

 

[hikermoose]

Thanks for the tips, everyone!

@Medic741 I will be keeping my state license. I will keep working through pre-med and as long as I can. I just didn't know if any adcoms cared about National Registry vs State License only. Thanks for your advice!