Soon to be an Indianapolis EMT

[tgransbury]

What's up? My name is Ted, Im 22, and Im currently in training to be an EMT-B in Indianapolis, IN. Im about 4 weeks into it and just scheduled my first round of clinicals and ride-alongs... Im very excited to be a new part of this community and hope to get to know you guys and gals pretty well along the way. Trust me when I say I'll ask for and appreciate every bit of help offered. Im a quick book learner and a patient student although until I get a decent base of info to be comfortable Ill be taking it slow. So far I think my biggest area of concern is just going to be finding my place in the ambulance and ER as a Basic. Ill be in the scenarios section for the most part, but getting to know all of the acronyms is going to keep me busy for a bit. Ive got to learn the routines, the 'default' treatments to certain signs and symptoms, etc... but I suppose that will only come with time and experience, eh?

Good luck, Have fun, be safe! Ill see you on the streets!

Ted

[firedoc5]

Welcome. Don't hesitate to ask questions and read the posts of just about anyone here. You'll figure it out.

[Dustdevil]

Ive got to learn the routines, the 'default' treatments to certain signs and symptoms, etc... but I suppose

that will only come with time and experience, eh?

More importantly, they come with education. All the experience in the world is pointless if you don't have the education to know what you are looking for, how to find it, and what to do with it when you find it. EMT school doesn't even scratch the surface of that. I hope you know that EMT school is a cruel joke on EMS that barely even begins to scratch the surface of what you need to take care of sick and injured human beings during the most vulnerable moment of their lives. If you're serious about being a competent provider, you will be in college taking Anatomy & Physiology, Psychology, Sociology, Microbiology, and other courses of education that shape your professional development.

Best of luck!

[brentoli]

Ted,

Where are you taking your class at?

[tgransbury]

Its being taught by Hendricks Regional Health but we're being taught at the Plainfield FD.

Dustdevil: I understand that nothing can replace a college education and as soon as I know what kind of schedule Ill be looking at here in the near future I can plan around it to the extent that Ill have a new job and either medical school or medical based classes as soon as possible. Im wanting to go the path of EMT > Paramedic > RN > ER Doc, still researching and getting the nitty gritty down on what all is involved, prerequisites, etc... Hopefully to help myself along Ill be going for my ACLS, PEPP, AMLS, and PHTLS certs within the next few months.

Im not ignorant but Im definately a greenhorn when it comes to this stuff, so lemme know what you think, or what could help out more in the meantime, if school is whats going to do it then rest assured Ive got that coming up soon after the state practical for EMT-B

[brentoli]

Don't stair step.

If you want to be an MD, go straight to college, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

Seriously.

Your taking a year of your life out for Paramedic, taking 4 years for an RN, then 8 more years for a MD at least. Most kids who start the med school track at 18, are near or over 30 by the time they are on their own. If you want to be a paramedic, do it, and learn to do it well. Community puts on a good, but strenous program from what I have heard. If you want to be an RN, enroll in IUPUI or Ivy Tech now and get started. Do that first, then if you decide you want to be a EMT-P, go back to that. Trust me, this is coming from a economical stand point as well as an educational.

[Dustdevil]

Completely agree with Brentoli. Stair-stepping is a really bad idea. If one thing leads you to the next, that's one thing. But if you know where you want to be, you need to go straight there. I can tell you that, right now, your chances of ever getting to med school through this plan are zero. It's just too easy to get comfortable halfway up the ladder and stop climbing.

It is unfortunate that our crap-arse EMS system in the US -- with all it's steps -- gives people the seriously mistaken perception that medicine is just a series of progressively deeper first aid courses. It is not. See your future. Be your future. Otherwise, you're just another one of the ubiquitous EMTs who spend their career blowharding about how they're going to be a doctor someday. It's a running joke in EMS. Don't be that joke.

[tgransbury]

I prefer to tell the jokes, not live em. -- Thanks for the insight, I looked into it a little bit more and you're right, Dusty, Ill need a bare minimum of general biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics to be more than an EMS taxi driver. Ive got a little bit of financial freedom through my dad's veteran disability benefits at 124 credit hours covered, but other than that Im looking for a job that allows for in the field training and a reliable paycheck (hence EMT school) while in Med school.

Im already enrolled at IUPUI Ive just got to get the schedule in the works, I still have 8wks before schedules are finalized for students. If its possible to avoid the stairstepping Im all for it but it seemed to be the best way to get infield experience to know what the EMS side of operations goes through.

Whatever the path, I will do it well. Just need to get it into focus. Lots of options, lots of routes, they all sound good to me. Im happy with going paramedic and gaining experience through that route, but Im also happy going straight into college and focusing on the MD portion, the goals remain the same. Im still thinking that going Paramedic while in school would be a good idea, both from the educational and financial aspects. Although it may end up just wearing me down being in a near constant medical setting I suppose. Input on that particular route?

[Dustdevil]

Im still thinking that going Paramedic while in school would be a good idea, both from the educational and financial aspects. Although it may end up just wearing me down being in a near constant medical setting I suppose. Input on that particular route?

By even thinking that way, you are disrespecting yourself and our profession.

You disrespect our profession, because you dismiss it is nothing better than a stepping stone to something else. You disrespect yourself because you assume that you need something more than every other medical student in order to become a good physician. Neither of these are good assumptions.

It'll take you two to three times as long to finish your pre-med requirements while trying to work as a medic as it would if you just put your mind to med school and did it. Why would you want to waste that time? It just doesn't make a lick of sense. Of course, that's only AFTER you've spent a couple of years becoming a medic, during which time you are pretty much unable to take your pre-med courses. Then you've spent several years taking those courses, while not being able to focus completely on them because of your paramedic obsession. You therefore don't do as well on the MCAT as you would have. And, of course, then you finally leave for med school, taking an experienced medic with you, contributing to the instability of the EMS workforce, which is a major contributor to low wages in EMS. It's just a bad idea all the way around, both for you and the profession. It's an immature, "I wanna do everything!" approach that serves no one. Focus. Best of luck.

[tgransbury]

I do not think that by bettering myself as an EMT and providing a better quality of care to the patients I encounter is disrespectful. Please check your PMs.