books / suggestions.

[tamaith]

so dust devil, your thing is sink or swim ? or am i misunderstanding you? if you can get something free then why pay? if you could get free gas would you pay for it? someone who is serious doesnt' rush into things. well for me at least if im serious i don't like to rush in i want to absorb all the info as much info as possible. a serious investor doesn't just pick the stock, he/ she studies the company in and out listen to conference calls, etc. so you are saying don't take a free class that will help me or give me some backround of how medicine works and so forth just pay for the class without the backround and hopefully pass. and as long as i am dedicated i should be fine. am i missing something? im sure there were students who were dedicated in school who didn't make it. but wish that they had some backround prior to taking the class. im not saying it will save me but it can't hurt. why not work bls for a year understand everthing there is to know about bls before taken the next step. instead of doing bls half arse ...

[mobey]

if you can get something free then why pay? if you could get free gas would you pay for it?

why not work bls for a year understand everthing there is to know about bls before taken the next step. instead of doing bls half arse ...

OK I highlighted 2 points of yours I would like to respond to.

Point 1: Simple, I am taking a 6 credit college A&P that costs over $1500, that is now that I have completed my introduction to A&P that cost me $650. You are talking about doing a free course online??? Which of us will come out better prepared for Medic school?

Gas was a pretty poor analogy, but I will respond with: I know my gas will get me where I'm going!

Point 2: (Your BLS way of thinking) I have said this a million times, and I will never stop! HOW DAMN LONG DOES IT TAKE YOU TO MASTER A BP AND RESP COUNT??

Seriously... I had ALL my BLS $hit mastered during my practicum and clinicals..... really people, can't you come up with a better excuse than "I still don't know how to do my job" to justify attempting to care for anyone at such a low level of care?

BTW: In my province BLS includes 8 meds, IV's, 3 lead monitoring, non-visualized airways, on top of all the crap you claim takes at least a year to "Master"

Look I know I seem hostile but the point is this: Working BLS, although does give you some patient contact, does not give you the right kind of contact. Without starting paramedic school and obtaining some in-depth medical education, I don't know if you can ever understand what I mean. The way you view your patients is different, the way you assess, the way you interview, everything.

If you attend a good emt-b school, they will supply enough clinical experience for you to master the "basic" skills you need to enter the EMS field.

[Dustdevil]

so dust devil, your thing is sink or swim ? or am i misunderstanding you?

While I am coincidentally a big proponent of the sink-or-swim philosophy, I don't see anywhere in my previous post that I insinuated anything like that. You asked how best to prepare for medic school, and I told you by getting the prerequisite education. What does that have to do with "sink or swim"?

if you can get something free then why pay? if you could get free gas would you pay for it?

That argument only applies if you are getting the same thing. You are not. If you can sit through the semester of microbiology, and get credit for free, hey... go for it! I wholly encourage that! But that should not be confused with thinking you have gotten an education by reading some books or a free website. They are NOT the same thing.

If you want to browse a microbiology or psychology or algebra website to see if it interests you before taking the class, hey, why not? But honestly, I can't see anyone getting excited about any of those subjects from reading, lol. It's hard enough to maintain interest in them while in a full blown, interactive class with lab. And no, it in no way takes the place of real education.

why not work bls for a year understand everthing there is to know about bls before taken the next step. instead of doing bls half arse ...

First of all, I am seriously disappointed in this forum. I can't believe I had to come back out of retirement to answer this question. You should have gotten several answers to this question within an hour of posting it. I suppose that, like me, they're just so sick and tired of this idiotic notion persisting in EMS, and being passed on by idiots to unsuspecting n00bs like yourself, that it hardly seems worth answering anymore. Especially when there are no less than two hundred topics on this forum asking the very same question. Funny how everyone thinks they are the first to ever ask a question here, but I digress.

Working a little "BLS" (whatever that is where you are) an indeed give you a little exposure and help you decide if the lifestyle of long shifts and low pay is what you want to do for the rest of your life. And for that reason, it can serve a purpose for you. But that's it. Period. It is extremely rare -- even in those very few systems where a basic EMT gets any real experience -- that it would give you any kind of advantage as a paramedic student. In fact, more times than not, EMT experience hurts your professional paramedic development.

There is only ONE way to intelligently and effectively prepare for education of any kind, and that is education. No amount of ambulance driving or bandaging and splinting is going to make the slightest difference in the quality of paramedic you become. And it certainly isn't going to help you understand haematology, acid-base balance, microbiology, cardiology, or any of he other things that make you a paramedic. You either have the head for those things, or you don't. And no amount of time as an EMT will tell you whether you do or not.

If you wanna be an EMT, be an EMT. Just don't be doing it under the mistaken assumption that it will help you become a better medic, because it will not. And quite often it will hurt you. Good luck.

[Eydawn]

While many people cannot master subjects by self-teaching from adequate, approved materials, many people can. I know many people who have taken science courses where the lectures were posted online, and who only went to class when they came across a lecture they didn't really understand just from reading it (and the text). Guess what? Some of those folks had the highest grades in the class. While there is something to be said for having the dedication to sit through several classes and their lectures, there is also much to be said for being a self-motivated active learner... which you must be to understand material from an online course.

Tamaith, Ruff posted that thread, I'll see if I can find it for you. No harm in studying on your own until life presents you with the opportunity to enroll in classes that get you credit!

Wendy

CO EMT-B

[Dustdevil]

Tamaith, Ruff posted that thread, I'll see if I can find it for you. No harm in studying on your own until life presents you with the opportunity to enroll in classes that get you credit!

I bookmarked it. Here ya go...

http://oedb.org/library/beginning-online-l...es-in-the-world

[mobey]

First of all, I am seriously disappointed in this forum. I can't believe I had to come back out of retirement to answer this question. You should have gotten several answers to this question within an hour of posting it. I suppose that, like me, they're just so sick and tired of this idiotic notion persisting in EMS, and being passed on by idiots to unsuspecting n00bs like yourself, that it hardly seems worth answering anymore.

Well Dust I think that is part of it, it must also be noted that the same crap on this forum is being dealt with daily by those of us still in the rat race!

Plus.... It's the weekend :wink:

[tamaith]

thank you everyone for their honest opinions. bls stands for basic life support. and im in phila, pa. sorry maybe i misunderstood you with the whole sink or swim thing. and another thing i wanted to make clear is that by no means am i trying to compare an online class / book with the actual class that you pay for. i was just going to try the online thing for a brief intro. i know they are not the same thing. and for textbook i meant a text book that paramedic classes use for instance my emt b class used a book by brady 10 th ed in my opinion that was a good textbook i would suggest someone interrested in becoming a emt to look over it. so what i am trying to say is that are there textbook(s) for paramedic school that i can purchase to look over. or is it set up different then emt class ( which i m sure it is) and no i don't think there are any pre req for entering medic school in pennslyvania but maybe im wrong thats what i like about this site ppl helping others . thank you

[brentoli]

Just because there is no pre-reqs, doesn't mean you shouldn't take them.

If I started a Medic course, I would require at the very least English, Math, Chemistry, Biology, at the 102 level. Also history/civics classes. I also wouldn't accept anyone with EMT-B, not because they are EMT's but because the fresher the fish, the better!

Oh, I would put you through some Sophmore level journalism courses as well.

[snakemedic]

Well, quite honestly I think some of you think too highly of yourselves on this form. I dare not speak like that about dust because I've often read his posts and he is bang on 99% of the time, but guys, stop eating our young, some of you live and die being called a medic, it's a damn job, a career but it isn't who you are. As for the person asking the original question, find the way that works best for you and where you are in life right now. The books I would recommend are :lippincott professional guide to pathophysiology, springhouse professional guide to diseases, tintinalli emergency medicine just the facts, lippincott pharmacology, lippincotts medical physiology principles for clinical medicine, jones and bartlett 12 lead ecg the art of interpretation. On top of those find a good nursing book on medical math and practice practice practice. Qcards are great to keep with you for medications and quick notes that you can review on the fly at work or home. Bring a little book with you and write down questions you have and then look them up on the internet or emt city or books. Ask your patients about the disease processes they have, how it affects them etc. Apart from that if you are looking for more and a good place to start without buying books, email me at snakemedic18stn@yahoo.ca and I will send you all kinds of stuff to get you off and running and build you up rather than throwing you to the wolves.

my humble opinion

snake

[Dustdevil]

Just because there is no pre-reqs, doesn't mean you shouldn't take them.

If I started a Medic course, I would require at the very least English, Math, Chemistry, Biology, at the 102 level. Also history/civics classes. I also wouldn't accept anyone with EMT-B, not because they are EMT's but because the fresher the fish, the better!

Plus 5.

The books I would recommend are :lippincott professional guide to pathophysiology, springhouse professional guide to diseases, tintinalli emergency medicine just the facts, lippincott pharmacology, lippincotts medical physiology principles for clinical medicine, jones and bartlett 12 lead ecg the art of interpretation. On top of those find a good nursing book on medical math and practice practice practice.

Another great post. See, the common misconception among EMTs is that paramedic is simply a progression of EMT. It is not. It is not just more first aid training added on top of what you have. It's not first aid at all. It's medicine. And you don't learn medicine from a book, or from emulating monkey skills. It is (or should be, if the school is worth a damn) a completely different style of learning from EMT monkey training. It first requires establishing a solid foundation of scientific knowledge about the human body (a LOT more than just memorising some bones and organs. SERIOUS physiology.) and about the biological, chemical, psychological, and social functions that make it tick. Only after you have a basic understanding of the human being and his function, can you even think about beginning to learn, understand, and practise the therapeutic modalities necessary to diagnose and treat his maladies.

The above books are a way to get a glimpse into what is needed. Really, the only two books I recommend for potential medic students are the Anatomy & Physiology colouring book. Great way to get a big head start on learning that. It should be required activity for all medic students, even if they have A&P credit. Second, a medical terminology programmed textbook. One of those "fill in the blanks" workbooks that teaches you medical terminology. You NEED to have that done and well memorised before you enter paramedic school. Especially MY school, because you're going to be tested on both med term and A&P before you are accepted in. I don't care how long you've been driving a volunteer ambulance in Hooterville. If you don't know med term and A&P, I ain't got time to teach you. And if you didn't learn it yourself, then you aren't really serious about being a professional medic anyhow, so good riddance.

There are really only two serious choices for all-in-one paramedic textbooks. One by Brady (Dr. Bledsoe) and one by Mosby. But the better schools don't use either, instead using a collection of separate texts covering the different aspects of EMS practice. All-in-one texts are for firemonkeys, not professionals. But I don't recommend that you blow over a hundred dollars on ANY paramedic text just to check it out. It would be a complete and total waste of your time and money. You will NOT get a "head start" or "leg up" by reading it. Not a chance. It doesn't work that way, no matter how smart you are. And trying to learn anything out of sequence and out of context is a big mistake that can hurt you when it comes time to learn it for real.

That's the same reason trying to cram in EMTB experience is harmful. Do you know how much time is wasted in paramedic classes arguing with idiot students who think they already know it all just because they worked a couple years in EMS? Way too much. And it hurts the whole class. And those students frequently cannot be convinced that they are wrong because, after all, their idiot partner could not possibly have been wrong. Then the lab and skills instructors and field preceptors have to waste even more time breaking all the bad habits that you picked up in a year of running nursing home transfers. And every moment lost to that nonsense is educational time and information that you will never get back. No, it is not recommended, and it is not worth a damn thing. Trying to make medics out of "experienced" EMTs is like trying to raise someone else's teenager. He's already spoiled, and it is much harder to teach them anything because of their previous experience. Give me the blank slate every time. Statistically, they make better medics.

So, as previously mentioned, if you need convincing that EMS is what you really want to do, and you haven't watched enough television to figure out what it's all about, then sure... getting a job and trying it out can be helpful to you in deciding if long arse shifts and minimum wage is really what you want to go to school for two years to do. But that's just "exposure". There is absolutely no value in the "experience" you get there, and it will not help you be a better medic.