Cheshire

Many of the old vets here wll tell you to get college education first ;-) It would seem that basic training is much easier than paramedic, so if the studies kick your butt there, but you still ENJOY the subject matter, you might want to consider an AS program when taking full medic school... to help get the anatomical and chem studies included. There are plenty of textbooks out there on necessary subject matter, so pick up some used copies off Ebay and plan on doing a LOT of reading. Thing is, often the assumption is made (for full paramedic school) that you've already had your basic sciences in high school (physics, bio, chem). Without that ground floor at a minimum, you may be in for some pain if you go for the advanced level of EMT.

That's the concern then. My boyfriend is only NOW getting his "real" driver's license, so he has no verifiable driving history dating back that far (though obviously, it's going to be clean when he starts out). If the insurance companies themselves won't accept him, is it even possible to get hired as an EMT? Or get the required ambulance time while in medic school, if THEIR insurance forbids him behind the wheel? I can understand the restrictions - not complaining about them - but if this will be an issue then we may have to rethink this as an educational/career opportunity until down the road.

Bad ambulance driving seems to be a common complaint from the vets on the other forums here. But near as I can tell, the driving course/licensing is only a weekend course. Is that really just to orient the student, and the real training is supposed to be on the job (or in Medic school, perhaps?) Is there another specialized type of driver's license required? In PA we have Commercial class licenses - seems like this is what would be needed as well, in addition to the actual licensing for ambulances. And finally - what do you recommend if the student in question is new to driving IN GENERAL? Aka, someone from a congested metro area where subways/trains were all too common and got their regular old automobile driving was "optional"?

If you're coming from out of state, tuition at state schools is pretty much just as expensive as privately taught anyway. A year at a university is going to run you 15k-30k on average, regardless of the curriculum. Jefferson U charges around 11k for the Medic course, and 1k for EMT-B - considerably more than the county0run schools. But it's reliable (the courses aren't tied to a registration minimum) and you probably get much better clinical experience, due to it being a hospital. The tough part isn't the tuition, it seems to be that the grads just don't make enough to easily pay back the loans. The Yale course looks pretty serious. Is it common for Paramedics to work with cadavers? I thought that was normally only found in advanced pre-med ...? Great idea, but doesn't seem feasible for most schools. And they also require a year's experience- Emergency experience, too, not just transfers! I think I am starting to get the picture now, vis a vis many folk here disagreeing on whether EMT-B's should even be on the scene of a serious accident. Anyway, thanks for the link. I know trying to find schools in Philly was like herding cats. There was no organized place to get this information - though there was PLENTY of erroneous and outdated information online. Googling does not work, and leads to sites that list nonexistent classes. Even the schools offering it can't keep their own websites updated. And the Pennsylvania EMS website looks like it was created by a housewife in her spare time. Of course I can't expect much from state-run websites here, considering just last week they tried to send me 90 miles away to the "closest" auto registration locale - turns out there was one a half mile away, but the DMV website thinks Philadelphia does not have ANY auto tag offices!

Hmm. It seems like the real problem was being placed in a position as a Basic where you were required or expected to perform work that you were not qualified for at the time. I.e., if you were on a team with more experienced paramedics, wouldn't they have been liable for the majority of the work? Perhaps this is the "ideal scenario" that the schools that require experience as an EMT-B first are envisioning - sort of a "mentoring" of Basics not unlike they get when under a preceptor. But the "reality", from what I seem to be reading around here, is that it's much more unpredictable/unreliable...? (ie, a truck of Basics getting sent to a scene where they are helpless)

Thanks for all the advice, Tamaith and Christopher. My boyfriend is actually looking at New Haven and Boston as well for the Paramedic training (and yes, I know he would have to re-take the state exams to get recertified). I wasn't aware of the Yale program yet - so I will have to look up its requirements. As his dad works there, it would provide some added financial convenience. ;-) As for Boston, we simply know folks who live there. Their system looks hard to break into though, and I noticed that Bostom EMS just had a recruitment drive in December... might be a while before it reopens. However, we *need* to be in a sufficiently urban setting or I won't be able to find work in my OWN profession (IT).

Oh dear, I did not intend to get this thread turned into another flame way of experience vs education priorities! Honestly from the folks I've talked to who work at the various schools around here, and from looking at existing job openings for EMT-B's, it looks like you're not going to get any serious experience anyway when you're still green. I didn't see any evidence that you could get hired for ALS or 911 work as an "basic" anyway. But what you DO need coming out of medic school is SOME real work experience (and the clinicals count for zip). The transfer work or volunteering does count, even though it's not nearly as useful. So in the best case scenario - for someone with the luxury of not having to work an unrelated job to make ends meet while in Paramedic school - seems to be getting in that part time work experience while both in school and between the 2 levels of EMT (as there is almost always either a gap due to scheduling or as required by the school itself). That way you're not graduating with ONLY the education (and any relevant clinical time), but you've not wasted too much time between getting certified and medic training.

There seems to be a LOT of disagreement on whether to start Paramedic school right after EMT basic or not. Both sides have their valid points, though. I'd suppose the quality of the education gotten at the institutions would be an important factor, too. I found out here in Montgomery County (where most of the Philly suburbs lie), the local EMS school (which used to be associated with the FD) absolutely will NOT let students in without at least a year's worth of EMT-B experience. Yet the hospital downtown that teaches Paramedics (Jefferson Hospital, in Philadelphia Cty), has no such restrictions. Go figure.