Experience VS Paramedic

[fakingpatience]

I think the answer depends a lot on your self, and how long you take to get comfortable with your skills. Personally, I will have been an EMT for 2 years before I start medic school in the fall. By comfortable I don't just mean knowing your skills, I mean being confident in yourself that you can handle a call and be in charge of everyone else on scene.

I found a great volunteer place to start out with where I volunteered doing actual shifts (vs on call) w/ great people who were very experienced in EMS. I then moved and got a paid job at a different company. In both places I worked with medics, so in addition to using my BLS skills (both running BLS calls and assists on ALS calls) I got to see ALS calls being run, and ask questions of my partners afterwards. This exposure to ALS has helped me learn a lot more then what I simply learned in basic school, and is giving me a good foot up for medic school (I hope!). Also, when I started as an EMT, I was very nervous on calls and interacting with patients, now that is second nature, and one less thing I will need to worry about figuring out how to do when I am figuring out how to be a medic.

As someone (I think Dwane?) said, if you are going to be an EMT first, it is important to look at the place you plan on getting the experience to make sure it is the kind of base you will be wanting to build upon.

[mobey]

OK, since your clearly not going too show us you're boobs, I'll answer your question.

The problem with going straight to medic school is the educational system is not set up for it. Let me explain.

When you leave EMT school, you are expected to be `barely competent``. It is expected that you will be heading out to the world to gain experience and get comfortable with the following skills:

History taking

Touching people

Talking too people

Dealing with vomit/blood/urine/feces

"out of the box" (or what we call "critical") thinking

Because these skills are expected to be obtained through experience (not on your practicum as there is not enough time). They are an unwritten prerequisite for Paramedic school.

That is the real problem, Paramedic schools are not designed to facilitate basic human interaction skills, those are expected to be there when you start.

So my REAL answer is, it is individual based. If you have worked customer service or interacted with the public on a personal level in the past then you may already have those skills. So my suggestion would be to go start school.

However, if you are like 90% of the students I have gotten lately, and have locked yourself in the basement for the last 10 yrs playing videogames and depriving yourself of public interaction, then chances are you have no human interaction skills and need to get out there to develop them. Paramedic practicum is not the place to develop those as your preceptor will fail you, and working as a medic is also a poor time too find out you are uncomfortable being in "personal" space.

But whatever you choose don't ever let anyone convince you that you need to master EMT skills prior to entering Medic school. You only have to master life skills.

[Just Plain Ruff]

I know of no one out there in the ems arena who could go all the way through school without working unless they had a really good scholarship or a bunch of student loans.

Kind of hard to get a student loan if you are not going to a accredited university or trade school. The loans you might get from a non-accredited screwell of higher learning would most likely be high interest in the line of credit cards.

So what is someone supposed to do if their program is not associated with a university or 2 year school. Associates degree or bachelors.

So my opinion is that it is not bad to work as an EMT during your paramedic schooling. I did it and I turned out pretty darn well.

If you have the financial means to not have to work so be it but I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that no one knows many of those types of people.

Just don't get complacent in your learning, don't consider yourself a paramedic while you are in school. Do not practice outside of your scope no matter how much you trust your partner. Your patient will know the difference. Could get you kicked out of school and worse.

I know of a lot of medics who did a lot of advanced skills with their partners while in medic school and some of them got in big trouble. I have a couple of examples but I will share only one if asked as I believe it is the one call that defines who I am.

But in all reality, do what you have to do to support the family and better yourself. Sure as hell that no-one else will do it for you. Not your friends, not your mother and certainly not the government.

Do it for yourself. Make a competent decision and stick with it. ASk the right questions and make the best informed decision y ou can.

[fakingpatience]

OK, since your clearly not going too show us you're boobs, I'll answer your question.

The problem with going straight to medic school is the educational system is not set up for it. Let me explain.

When you leave EMT school, you are expected to be `barely competent``. It is expected that you will be heading out to the world to gain experience and get comfortable with the following skills:

History taking

Touching people

Talking too people

Dealing with vomit/blood/urine/feces

"out of the box" (or what we call "critical") thinking

Because these skills are expected to be obtained through experience (not on your practicum as there is not enough time). They are an unwritten prerequisite for Paramedic school.

That is the real problem, Paramedic schools are not designed to facilitate basic human interaction skills, those are expected to be there when you start.

So my REAL answer is, it is individual based. If you have worked customer service or interacted with the public on a personal level in the past then you may already have those skills. So my suggestion would be to go start school.

However, if you are like 90% of the students I have gotten lately, and have locked yourself in the basement for the last 10 yrs playing videogames and depriving yourself of public interaction, then chances are you have no human interaction skills and need to get out there to develop them. Paramedic practicum is not the place to develop those as your preceptor will fail you, and working as a medic is also a poor time too find out you are uncomfortable being in "personal" space.

But whatever you choose don't ever let anyone convince you that you need to master EMT skills prior to entering Medic school. You only have to master life skills.

Exactly! This is pretty much what I was attempting to say, but much more eloquent

In my experience, "practicum" time in basic school is a joke, only meant to show you what a day in EMS can be like, not actually teach you anything or provide an opportunity to utilize what you are learning in school.

[MetalMedic]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I guess the question I am getting at is does anyone wish they had changed the decision they made as far as training/experience?

-MetalMedic

[tcripp]

Not a chance. I'd do experience before school again in a heart beat.

[JakeEMTP]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I guess the question I am getting at is does anyone wish they had changed the decision they made as far as training/experience?

-MetalMedic

Not I. I was a EMT-B for about as long as it takes to drink a coffee before enrolling in a paramedic course. Two years after that I had a AAS in EMS and wouldn't have changed it for anything. Mobey I think, alluded to the fact that the ability to make decisions, or the mental capacity to do so, is paramount in being a paramedic. The clinical portion of your paramedic classes will far outweigh any experience you could gain by working as a basic. If your going to be a medic, then do that. Don't buy into the theory (or myth) that you need to work as a basic first, it's bull.

If you can afford to, get your degree. If you can't do that and have to work as a EMT-B whilst going to school, go the p/t route and work on your degree after acquiring your paramedic credential. I have several friends that have taken the bridge programme to their degree.

In the end, we can all tell you what we would or did do. The only thing that matters is, what would/will you do?

Good luck!!

Jim

[ash_emt]

Alright I have to give my opinion on this one. I think people need to get experience as an EMT before they go to paramedic... Most calls are 90% BLS skills and medics seem to often forget that. Ive noticed that most medics that go straight for medic tend to rely mostly on their ALS skills only. Perfect example is a code we ran a few weeks back. The paramedic started yelling that he has CHF and his heart must be filled with fluid and we needed to fly him and blah blah blah.... I start yelling back that hes diabetic and his sugar needed to be checked... well I had a basic take over compressions and against the medics wishes I checked the sugar and guess what.... the reading just said LOW... well we pushed d50... shocked him... and oh look got a heartbeat... it took a basic and an enhanced to tell the medic what was wrong because he only has 6 months experience as a medic and never was a basic.... so just saying... bls before als

[mobey]

Alright I have to give my opinion on this one. I think people need to get experience as an EMT before they go to paramedic... Most calls are 90% BLS skills and medics seem to often forget that. Ive noticed that most medics that go straight for medic tend to rely mostly on their ALS skills only. Perfect example is a code we ran a few weeks back. The paramedic started yelling that he has CHF and his heart must be filled with fluid and we needed to fly him and blah blah blah.... I start yelling back that hes diabetic and his sugar needed to be checked... well I had a basic take over compressions and against the medics wishes I checked the sugar and guess what.... the reading just said LOW... well we pushed d50... shocked him... and oh look got a heartbeat... it took a basic and an enhanced to tell the medic what was wrong because he only has 6 months experience as a medic and never was a basic.... so just saying... bls before als

Oh ash..... You are going to have a rough start here.

First off based on the scenario you presented, I can only assume you have no idea what CHF is, nor do you have basic english skills.

Your first hand anecdotal nonsense post means absolutly nothing!

I would just love you to tell me if this was a witnessed arrest?

Was the pt IDDM?

Was this morning, or evening?

Was anyone with the pt when they coded?

Gawd... so many things wrong with your thinking....

1) BGL &/or D50 are NOT BLS

2) Just because there was a low reading on the pt post cardiac arrest, does not mean that was the only underlying problem!

3) Paramedics do practice BLS, we just don't stop there. So to narrow minded individuals like you it looks like we aren't doing it at all.

Take you're example. The Paramedic decided hypoglycemia was not the cause of the cardiac arrest, and instead continued down the H's & T's. Just who the hell are you to judge his critical thinking?

Do you really believe your amp of D50 saved this person's life?? Give me a break!

How much Epi was pushed? How about anti-arrythmics? Proper airway established?

Give your head a shake... You have alot to learn.

You have one of the poorest attitudes I have seen here in a loooong time, I only hope you will drop the arrogance and see the error in your thinking so you can grow into a true pre-hospital professional.

[tcripp]

3) Paramedics do practice BLS, we just don't stop there. So, to narrow minded individuals like you, it looks like we aren't doing it at all.

Thank you.