Tell me about Paramedics and EMT

[PreMedPrincess]

Hey guys,

First of all, what is the difference between a paramedic and an emergency medical technician? Is one paid more than the other? more responsibility? what kind of pay is it?

My friend reccommended I do this a job for med-school apps. she said it looked really good. I was thinking of doing that or personal training...

what do you guys think? which of those three will help me get into med-school?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Cegar]

Hey Princess,

Google is your friend. It's even built right into the forums.

Also, wikipedia.

Also, articles on the main page. There's one about this very subject.

Also, save African babies instead.

 

[aster]

EMT requires a lot of hours in training/education, like 20 hours or something crazy like that per week. I think the consensus here is that you should only do those things if and only if you truly enjoy them, not just to impress adcoms since it won't pay off as much as you would think. All those 20 or so hours that you waste can be better spent shadowing or volunteering at a hospital so you can trade in that EMT time for a lot more impressive & meaningful work.

 

[Ella Shepherd]

The Difference Between an EMT and a Paramedic

 

[SaveThisLabRat]

You couldn't simply look this up?

Anyway, I'll also add don't just do it for med school application purposes. You will be slightly miserable.

 

[HumidBeing]

Moving to the Pre-Hospital (EMS) Forum.

 

[Siggy]

Hey guys,

First of all, what is the difference between a paramedic and an emergency medical technician? Is one paid more than the other? more responsibility? what kind of pay is it?

While it varies depending on state, in general EMT-B (entry level) is a minimum of 110 hours (NHTSA standard) with most courses running in the 120-150 hour range. In general, courses last anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months regardless of total hour length. If you are seriously pre-med, you will probably be fighting the urge to sleep through class. Simply put, it's mostly an advanced first aid class with very little to virtually no scientific background. Treatments at this level are essentially non-invasive treatments such as patient positioning, oxygen, suctioning, using an AED, splinting, bandaging. Honestly a boy scout can do over half of the treatments that a Basic can do. Pay varies between zero (volunteer) and seriously above minimum wage (I want to say that I've heard that Boston EMS starts off in the $17/hr range), again depending on the area.

EMT-Paramedic is about a 1000 hour course lasting around 9 months. Some schools require pre-reqs such as A/P while others don't. Some require time as a basic, others don't. Virtually all do require a current EMT-B certification though. EMT-Ps do the more advanced treatments such as cardiac monitoring, intubation, medication administration. As with basics, pay varies from area to area from free (volunteer) to higher pay ranges.

 

[MedicFL]

Most medic programs are over 1000 hours. Mine was 1500 hours and I have heard of others going higher than that. Medic usally one full year almost full time, between class time and clinicals. Please don't get into the field just to bolster you app.. And I have had seversal "PreMed students fail out of my EMT class. If you do take EMT class please dont go into it with that attitude. It is pretty easy class, but it will still require some effort on your part..