Paramedic

[davidmd]

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Hi, I'm sorta new here so I don't know if this is the correct place to post.

but,
I'm thinking of working as a part time paramedic during my undergrad...
I mean its probably rigourous work getting your licence and working part time especailly with school and everything, right?

Anyone who has done this have any tips or advice?
😀

 

[shaggybill]

I take it you dont already have an EMT-P license? If not, I don't think you'll be able to do undergrad and paramedic classes at the same time. You just won't have enough time in the day to get everything done. Here in the states, you have to become an EMT-Basic first, which is about a 3 month (120 hour) class. After that, you move on to EMT-P, which is an additional 600 hours. EMT-B wasn't too bad, but for a paramedic, you will be required to put in some serious study time. It's not easy. Doing that on top of your regular med school pre-req's will be tough. If you really want to work as a paramedic while in school, you should probably take a year or two and become one before starting undergrad.

 

[Captain Fantastic]

After that, you move on to EMT-P, which is an additional 600 hours. EMT-B wasn't too bad, but for a paramedic, you will be required to put in some serious study time. It's not easy.

My medic class had 400 hours of classroom instruction, 334 hours clinical rotations (ICU, L&D, Psych, etc.), 448 hours of field internship (on the ambulance, 5 stages working up from third crew member to team leader with EMT-B partner). You had to already have your EMT-B to be accepted into the medic program. It was a part-time program and took about 18 months to complete.

It can be done during college, but scheduling courses around the medic program can be tricky. If you're looking on it as a medical school application boost, it's no silver bullet and takes a long time to complete the program so it will impact how much time you have for other ECs (volunteering, etc.) Plus by the end of the program you haven't actually worked as a medic yet -- you've just been in medic school.

 

[ArkansasRanger]

Hi, I'm sorta new here so I don't know if this is the correct place to post.

but,
I'm thinking of working as a part time paramedic during my undergrad...
I mean its probably rigourous work getting your licence and working part time especailly with school and everything, right?

Anyone who has done this have any tips or advice?
😀

I went to paramedic school at night while working towards my B.S. in another area by day. That entailed being enrolled full-time at two different schools, and I never told either school about the other.

Paramedic school was definitely a doable task. I didn't think it was that complicated, and it was far more interesting than EMT-B. The hard part was trying to squeeze in all the clinical hours of which there were around 600 required by my program. I probably did around 450 and did well enough that I was signed off on them. Medic school was a great way to get some clinical exposure. I told a lot of the attending physicians that I was interested in premed and having been young premed themselves at one time some took me under their wing and I got a good deal of shadowing and broader exposure that way.

Sadly, I will say that paramedic school is probably the reason I quit the premed deal. Probably seven years or so ago I was having so much fun with paramedic school that I elected not to complete the premed prereqs since all of the required labs were in the afternoon and doing those and driving an hour to medic school would've been in conflict. It's a good part-time job, and I utilized that for two years when I was a teacher and while I was a newbie at the sheriff's office.

 

[davidmd]

Thank you for all the help...

The program is quite similar here too, First we get the EMR and then EMT-PCP to become a paramedic.

but yah i have been hearing a lot of the same things: that it would be very difficult to fit in school and paramedic work.

I wasn't looking to do it to boost my application, it just seems like a pretty sweet thing to do. I did a few ambulance ride alongs and got really inspired..

If one did decide to be a paramedic, then it would probably be smartest to just take a year off to finish the paramedic course like u mentioned... but thats not very appealing to me..

 

[mic2377]

Good to see you want to do it b/c you like riding in the ambulance. However, I would caution you to do some more ride time before you make up your mind about going further w/EMS.

There is no argument about it - making it to EMT-P is an immense time dedication. It takes ALOT of class/clinical time, and generally all of the time is schedule as 12 hr shifts, which tends to be tough to fit into your college schedule.

Also, if you seek to do it as a career, also remember that just because you have an EMT-P certification, a functioning and employable EMT-P you are NOT. The really successful paramedics are those who work full-time in the field besides going to their class, and they will excel compared to those with minimal or no EMS experience.

Don't underestimate the difficulty of the class. My class started w/24 people, and 6 people failed out before the end of the class portion. Of those, 8 people are actually going to get their state certification. Most of my classmates were pre-med university students, and they obviously couldn't cut.

If you love it, do it! That is the end-all question.

 

[gonj]

Sounds like fun. If there were a part time program around here, I'd do it in a heart beat.

 

[TexasPhysician]

While EMT is definitely a great field, I do not think it is worth the time and effort if your near-future goal is medical school. I know a few people who did the EMT route and it only extended the amount of time it took to get to medical school.

Overall, it is TONS of hours of training for 1 line on your CV. If you plan on getting a degree and EMT at the same time, how long will it take before you can actually hold a job as an EMT? Are you willing to spend a few years working as an EMT afterward so that it served a purpose?

With all that it takes, med schools will probably still expect volunteer experiences, leadership experiences, high MCAT, good gpa in all classwork, etc.

Again, it is a respectable field, but IMO it is not an effective way to reach medical school in a timely fashion.

 

[Florida Cracker]

I'm currently an EMT-B and I would say that if you are thinking about Paramedic, do EMT first, work a bit and see how much you like it. I went to EMT school while finishing up my Master's last year and working at the same time. It wasn't super hard, but it was very time consuming. Going on ride alongs and clinicals will really make your weekends go away.

Another thing to think about is the job market. I got my certification in July of 2008 and was finally offered an EMT job here in AZ this month. I did not actually get the EMT job, because their need for workers was actually less than they expected, so I got bumped down to non-emergent transport. The job market used to be great all over the country for EMTs, but now that the city fire departments aren't hiring, more EMTs are staying on with the private ambo companies. Plus, there aren't any part time spots out here. It's 50+ hours or nothing right now, which kind of sucks.

I thought about Paramedic school, but decided to spend that time on my classes so that I can get into a better med school.

 

[mic2377]

I must comment that there is a HUGE difference between EMT-B and EMT-P when it comes to job market. It is simply impossible to get a job as an EMT-B, unless you are willing to do convalescent transport. Convalescent transport stinks. It is like the CNA of the EMS world. I can also second the sentiment that it is very difficult to find part-time work, unless you have connections in the EMS world.

When it comes to actually finding a job, the quickest way to do so is to 1) have 6+ months experience, and 2) have an ALS certification. Paramedics are in very short supply, and every county I know is short on medics. There are simply not enough!

As for leadership experience, I can't think of a better one than being an ALS provider. When you show up on scene, it is up to you to take control of the patient and the scene immediately. You have to manage your EMT partner, the first responders, and any bystanders, in addition to making clinical decisions on the fly.

Another factor is volunteering. As EMS it is relatively easy to find a place to volunteer. You get to serve the community, and have fun at the same time. I would rather volunteer doing that, than some of the other crap that premeds do. Yuck.

 

[Compass]

EMT-P is the equivalent of half a major.
EMT-B is the equivalent of half a minor.

Don't forget that after the license, you have to DO STUFF. I've been riding for... almost 2 years now, and I'll have 3 under my belt when I get into medical school this cycle. (Think positive is being used in the previous sentence)

The pay is terrible when you're a volunteer, but it's a great experience.

As far as working, we only have a few private ambulance companies. If you want to work for the county, you have to go career and go through cadet classes.