jenniemt

I hate... "could care less" If you COULD care less that implies that you do in fact care. Should it not be "couldn't care less"?????

Keep in mind I was born and raised in Texas... 36% Dixie. You are definitely a Yankee.

I have done two clinicals (two 12 hour shifts) with Tulsa EMSA and loved it. Maybe it's just because I was a new student but I thought it was great fun to hang out in an ambulance all day, parked at quik trip waiting for calls. They rotate you around every so often so you aren't stuck in one place the whole shift either. I hope to move back to Tulsa after medic school so I can work for EMSA. I lived there for a couple years while going to TU and really miss it. As far as pay, I'm not sure how it compares to other places, but when I was there in 2003 a basic with no experience started at $18-21k/yr. I'm sure that has changed since then but I got that infor off their website so it's probably still there. I know I'm not much help..

Dude. I resemble that remark!!! It matches my TX EMS license plates! *goes back to wacker-land*

I just want to add that the Brady A&P for Emergency Care is what my paramedic class is using for A&P. As a part of our medic school program, we have a 10 week A&P course before we even think about anything EMS. Our final is next Wednesday and I have to say I've learned a lot that I truly feel will help me when we dive into patho and pharm later next week. That A&P book is great. If you just want to get a little information without thoroughly confusing yourself, read the emergency care applications at the end of each chapter. There is a little A&P review in each one and it shows you how it applies to EMS. The book is progressive so when you read chapter one and then move on through the end, the book will refer you back to earlier chapters to review some important concepts (example: in the urinary system chapter it often tells you to go back and read previous chapters that dealt with acid-base balance). I read the first two chapters before class started but I don't really feel I got anything out of that. As far as anatomy by itself or both together, the first chapter of the Brady book addresses that. To learn physiology you really need to know anatomy. Anatomy by itself you can do (but in my opinion it's far too boring without physiology thrown in with it...). Soooooo it's up to you really. Not much help, am I? Jenn

My instructor told us that almost all, if not all, of our EMT CEs will be taken care of through the medic class. I just don't know how to document it or anything. Does NR (and dust, does TX..) send you a form to put all the hours on? Pardon my newb-ness.

the FD I did my EMT ride outs with uses the autopulse. Recently they have had two saves (as in, pt walked out of hospital) using the AutoPulse (and the EZ-IO). One of the pts was a 44 y/o female. I'm not sure about the other. Those are just two that have happened recently (past month or two) that I have heard about in class. I did read in JEMS a few months back that there were some issues with it but I'd have to find the article in order to say what. Sounds good to me, but I'm just a student...

Your school probably needs to rethink their schedule. It's good you get so many experience hours but maybe they should spread the didactic portion over the entire year. I'm not saying my school has it perfect but this is what we are doing: First 2 months are strictly A&P Next two months (approx) are intro to advanced practices, pharmacology, IVs, and advanced airway Then we have our first hospital rotations (not sure of how many hours) which are just for IVs and intubations Overlapping with that clinical starts cardiology which includes ACLS That's honestly all I have "memorized" and my schedule is not handy, but the rest of the 15 months continues like that. We do a 6-8 week module or two then have a clinical that starts and overlaps with the next module. We get no ambulance rides until the final couple months. Then we have 240 hours ride outs. Our final module seems to be a review, putting it all together kind of thing and it will take place around the time of the ambulance internship. The way our didactic portion is spread out, but with clinicals spaced out among the modules, there is not really the rush you describe. We are doing one chapter per night for A&P, two chapters when we meet on Saturdays. My class meets on a B shift schedule so every 3rd day. During A&P we go 4 hours a night unless it falls on a Saturday then it's a full 8 hour day. When we start the paramedic part of the class it will be 5 hours on weeknights. The only days we are never in class are Sundays. It seems to be working quite well so far. We do a chapter then test on it the next class night. We will have a comprehensive final at the end of the A&P module. You have to score 75% or higher on the final and 80% or higher for your overall average in order to move on to the next module. Again, I'm not saying that is the exact right way to do it, but I would totally balk at a program that makes you learn everything in such a short time span. Being a paramedic isn't all about skills. You have to actually know the book stuff too. I don't see any reason that "experience" would help you in medic school. The textbooks are not written about real life, but the textbook world. It seems to me that having all that experience as an EMT might hurt you. Supporting information will follow over the next 15 months as I watch the experienced EMTs flunk out of my class. One of them is already failing. Stay tuned...

I also finished EMT school in December and am now a little over a month into paramedic school. As I've said a hundred times before it's simply the best option around here. I have NO problems in school and have the highest grade in my class. I study a lot and while I may spaz out at first when I'm working as a medic, I won't be alone. EMS is not an individual "sport" and it's not like when I get a job as a medic I will be thrown out there to sink or swim. That is why services have orientation and let newbies ride as 3rd rides for a period of time. You do NOT need to know how to talk to patients, etc etc to get through medic school, plain and simple. Whether that learning comes before or after school is irrelevant in my opinion. No, EMS education in the states is not ideal but it's what we have right now. Until the powers that be (whomever that is...) sees it your way, it won't change. Good luck to all my fellow medic students, we will go through this together!

Having a good hospital rotation is made great or crappy depending on who you get for a preceptor. The best preceptor I had in my hospital rotations during EMT school was an EMT who was working as an ER tech. My real preceptor left without telling me so I just glued myself to the tech. He taught me a lot, including placement of 12 lead EKGs and then let me do it on a real patient. It was awesome! When one of my preceptors scored me he said "I gave you fours because there is always something else to learn." I'd rather have 4s down the line than 5s because I know I'm not perfect. I'd rather my preceptors be honest and really show me where I need to improve rather than just picking 5s. My best preceptor ever actually gave me one 3 because I am very shy and he was the only one who really picked up on that and took the time to talk to me about it. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be in medic school right now. Having the right preceptor really does make or break your clinicals. You NEED to complain because the school can discuss the problem with the hospital clinical coordinator. Do you want your experience to be replicated with another student? That's my two cents, and then some...

I notice that a lot of people on this site seem to be medic students and many of us are just starting out so we are sort of experiencing this together. The purpose of this thread is to find out who the other medic students are and where in the program they are. I'll go first... I started my medic class in January of this year. We are doing A&P until April then we will begin the paramedic curriculum with intro to adv practices, adv airway, pharmacology, and IVs. First clinicals start in late May, just doing IVs in day surgery and intubations in the OR. Currently we are in the cardiovascular section of A&P. My class will last a total of 15 months and will include 240 hours of ambulance ride outs and 480 hours (may not be exact number...) in various hospital rotations. Next! edit to add: This goes for Canadian ALS students as well, or whatever other country you may be from.

I don't have my book list handy but we are using: Brady A&P For Emergency Care Brady Essentials of Paramedic Care, 2nd ed (publishes March 8, 06) PEPP, 2nd ed BTLS There are a lot more but I can't remember them off the top of my head. I'll have to get my book list then edit this post later.

true. I could get a job running 911 if I went to the fire academy. Right. That will happen when airplanes swim and fish fly.

THANK YOU! That is the point I have been trying to make for a long time now. If I lived anywhere else I'd probably want to get some experience first, but alas I am stuck in TX and am in medic school after finishing my EMT class last semester.

As a 22 yo medic student I won't really comment on the age thing. I wonder if I'm too young sometimes... What made me laugh was the fact that she said she "owns her own apartment". Last I checked that was renting. I wonder how she goes to high school, medic school, and works enough to support herself? I work 20 or so hours a week and go to medic school for about 8 hours a week and as many of you have seen (literally on the web cam) I am almost always studying. Whatever floats her boat though, I guess.

It specifically states in our handbook, and it was told to us on the first night of class, that students and instructors can't meet outside of class. It's fine for us students to get together, do whatever, but instructors can't join us. If we see them in Walmart, it's ok to say hello, but when we go out to eat on lunch break, the instructors can't go with us. I think that's an overly strict rule, but it's probably in place to prevent things like student-teacher relationships that can go very bad. I feel funny typing that since I am the only female in my class and all our instructors are male...but ew! Heebie Jeebies just thinking about it lol. They're my instructors and are there to teach me what I need to know to be a paramedic.

I was lucky enough to get to see and feel PVCs on a pt during my first hospital clinical rotation. It was by accident that I got to feel it though. I asked my preceptor how he found the pt's pedal pulse so quickly (the pt asked about circulation in his legs for some reason). My preceptor had me try to find it and I did. Short story even shorter, I got to feel the PVCs while watching the monitor count them, and of course seeing them on there. It was cool! It was really the only good thing at that whole clinical.

I must be really lucky that my part time job (20-25 hours a week) offers full benefits. It's expensive compared to what full time employees pay but better than nothing. If you don't HAVE to work to pay bills, don't. Concentrate on school and work later.

I would say yes it can be done IF you had at least one day off per week. Sundays are my critical day off where I am guaranteed to have neither work nor school. I am so fortunate that my job recognizes school comes first for me and they are willing to bend their mandatory saturday rule for me. If your job is not willing to work with your school schedule at all, I wouldn't recommend working there. Find another job and make sure they know from day 1 (interview or sooner) that you have school and what your schedule is. If you can do it, more power to you. But I would never accept a job that required me to give up all chances for a day off. Some people are workaholics and can do it, but not me. Only you know yourself. Have you ever worked while in school before? It's quite the shock to your body the first time you try. It took me most of last semester to figure out how to do it (sometimes that meant I was studying while at work. I had and still have a desk job that allows me to do that though. ER tech is not conducive to that, obviously). Good luck, Jenn

gunshot to the left eye by a drunk driver careless driver by the mirror Kira (wtf??) red light runner another drunk driver and by some scary star trek thing That's all on the first page. I have too common of a name lol.

Glad I read this thread now. I had been wondering what the Neo-Synephrine was for. Plano FD carries it but I never bothered to ask my preceptors why. Good thread dust!

Guilty, more than once. My 8th grade history teacher and the student teacher in my junior year of high school. Oh he was just hot lol. The person below me has an unhealthy addiction to video games.

The ones I did clinicals on say "Smoke Detectors Save Lives" or something like that on the side.

Oh dust I really think you'd like my school. None of our fulltime instructors are FFs. I'll PM you a link to our website so you can see our uniform that is required at each and every class.

I'm with Rezq304. I start medic school in January and I can't wait because I can't wait to learn the whys and whens of the advanced skills. I know how to intubate and start IVs and I've done it on manikins (whoopdy-do!!) but now I get to learn when to do it and why I'm doing it and how it benefits the pt, not just "this is how you do it". I read JEMS, EMS mag, and of course this site. If there is something else you experienced medics would suggest I read in addition to or in place of any of those, please let me know. I studied for my EMT class far more than I ever did for any other class I've ever taken. I'm already counting on seeing my friends in medic school more often than my family because of how much studying we will be doing. I agree that the books put everything so simply. It's up to the instructors to elaborate. Example: on my EMT final there were a bunch of questions where we had to determine what type of shock (if any) the pt described was in. After the test I was looking in my book to verify some of the answers I had picked and nothing even close to that complex was in my book. So last night I was looking at a paramedic textbook at a bookstore, and even it didn't go into the detail our exam did. Can we blame the publishers for just putting in the basics and relying on instructors to teach the real meat and potatoes? I don't know. Oh, and no I'm not even an EMT yet. We don't have to be until we start the paramedic curriculum, which comes after a few months of A&P. I hope to test this month or next month though. I read that article on JEMS the other day and thought it was great. I was never late or missed a class, always wore my uniform (required), and was always ready to learn.