Just Plain Ruff Posted November 3, 2011 Posted November 3, 2011 i also got my EMT while taking my BA classes. I found that EMT was my vacation style class if you know what I mean.
Kiwiology Posted November 3, 2011 Posted November 3, 2011 I found that EMT was my vacation style class if you know what I mean. What, you mean that you don't have to write 5,000 word essays, draw the complete anaphylaxis pathophysiologic cascade from first exposure on a blank piece of paper or y'know differentiate colloid osmotic pressure from net filtration pressure or nothin' like that? Shucks, and here I was doing them sorts of things like a sucker /taking the piss
Just Plain Ruff Posted November 3, 2011 Posted November 3, 2011 What, you mean that you don't have to write 5,000 word essays, draw the complete anaphylaxis pathophysiologic cascade from first exposure on a blank piece of paper or y'know differentiate colloid osmotic pressure from net filtration pressure or nothin' like that? Shucks, and here I was doing them sorts of things like a sucker /taking the piss No I had to do all that. that's why it was my vacation class because I was so AWESOME at it. My Criminal justice classes were the tough ones, especially when I had to commit a crime to get into the criminal justice system to write a first person essay on the in's and out's of the prison system. Now that was the tough class. (ha ha)
scollins1191 Posted November 8, 2011 Author Posted November 8, 2011 Thank you all for the advice it helped me a lot. I may not be able to take any other classes this semester just the EMT due to financial concerns, I am hoping i can figure something out to stay a full time student, if not I will be working full time either way I am going to have a full schedule. That being said, what exactly is a clinical, when do they start and how much time do they consume?
Kiwiology Posted November 8, 2011 Posted November 8, 2011 EMT clinicals are what, like 10 hours hospital and 10 hours ambulance total?
ERDoc Posted November 8, 2011 Posted November 8, 2011 If you can handle college classes you can handle any EMT class offered in the US. Kiwi, my EMT class only required 10 hours ER time, no ambulance time.
ali.n.348 Posted November 8, 2011 Posted November 8, 2011 I took EMT - B while i was in highschool and i know that now with my college load i would definatly suggest A+P either 1 or 2 , because you do get brief overviews of that in the course . umm really any kinda health science class might be helpful but good luck with all of your classes As far as clinicals went they didnt cost me anything , it was 10 hours , either in the ER or i had the option to ride with medics ( which i would recomend cus that helps a lot) you just have to get a TB test .
DFIB Posted November 9, 2011 Posted November 9, 2011 Clinicals for me were 36 hours with 9 mandatory patient contacts in the ER and 40 hours on the ambulance with 4 patient contacts. I had to witness one live birth as well on a 12 hour shift. I think I had close to 50 patient contacts in ER and 6 -9 on the ambulance. I never could understand why EMTs and Paramedic students as well would get their patient contacts and "sit on their hands" for the rest of the shift. They would say stuff like " we shouldn't have to clean the rooms" or "It's not my job to change the sheet". Needless to say I was not impressed by any of them. I would not like to end up on their crew. I saw a busy ER as a great chance to get some first class experience with a lot of good mentors standing over me. I spent one day in triage, culling the herd and loved it. The ER was great. We had access to the charts and labs. After three days I was helping the nurses and docs with some pretty cool stuff. I would follow the Docs into the initial consult, ask questions, help with whatever they would let me, take vitals, help with the EKGs, monitors and 12 leads, etc. all kinds of great clinical experience. Both Doctors and nurses seemed amused ( I would like to say impresed) by my eagerness and shared a lot of medical knowledge and information with me. My ambulance preceptors were great as well and let me work my entire scope of practice and even help them with some of theirs. I think the key to good solid clinical rotations is to not be afraid to get in there, help where you can and ask questions. I cleaned ER rooms all day just so I could talk to the next patient coming in. After two days the nurses would call me when something interesting would come in and let me help them with some of their nursing jobs as well. I loved my clinical rotations. I wish they had been longer.
systemet Posted November 9, 2011 Posted November 9, 2011 (edited) I never could understand why EMTs and Paramedic students as well would get their patient contacts and "sit on their hands" for the rest of the shift. They would say stuff like " we shouldn't have to clean the rooms" or "It's not my job to change the sheet". Needless to say I was not impressed by any of them. I would not like to end up on their crew. Wow. I am a big believer in students deserving to be treated well. They paid a lot of money to get into a program and come out on practicum, and part of my job should be to make sure that they're having a good time (while being tough when it's necessary and giving honest, constructive feedbacK). But I would react very badly to any student who didn't help clean up the mess they participated in making, or came in with an attitude like that. (I do believe that the student should be elbow-deep in everything medical, and shouldn't be cleaning / restocking the truck if there's debriefing, or clinical teaching that can be done inside the hospital. But they should pitch in when they've got spare time.) I think the key to good solid clinical rotations is to not be afraid to get in there, help where you can and ask questions. I cleaned ER rooms all day just so I could talk to the next patient coming in. After two days the nurses would call me when something interesting would come in and let me help them with some of their nursing jobs as well. I bought doughnuts for the scrub nurses in the OR, and for less than 10 bucks, bought a bunch of intubations. Did the same thing in case room. Delivered (i.e. my hands on baby) 7 babies in 2 weeks. My preceptors would come find me and drag me to every labour and even C-section. I did my best to help clean and do whatever I could to help, and it paid off. The RNs are like the mafia. And even the MDs seemed to appreciate it. I had one Czech anesthetist hold me up as an example while he dressed down his residents for not helping the OR nurses out enough. I could feel the knives in my back from across the room. Oddly I woke up several hours later in a parking lot with my hand sewed to my left buttock. Never mess with anesthetists. I loved my clinical rotations. I wish they had been longer. Me too. I can't pretend that everyone always appreciated me being there, especially in the OR, where views ranged from "Paramedics shouldn't be allowed to intubate", to "Paramedics found touching a laryngoscope should be anesthetised, have their left hand sewed to their buttock and left in a parking lot", to "You guys should RSI with every intubation", but I learned so much, and saw so many things that we have so little exposure to in the field. I left with a lot more respect for the other healthcare professions / occupations. Edited November 9, 2011 by systemet
Just Plain Ruff Posted November 9, 2011 Posted November 9, 2011 Quote I loved my clinical rotations. I wish they had been longer I made my rotations longer. There were shifts that most students didn't want. The early day shifts. I snatched them up like M&M's when it was clear that no student (lazy bastages) were going to take em. The most common theme was "all the good stuff happens at night" well that's partly true, the traumas and shooting happen at night but what about the MI's or strokes. They happen all the time. I think I ended up with over 1000 hours total in the hospital and about 1500 hours in the ambulance. It helped when my parents were paying for the class and I was living with them. They told me this "get your bachelors degree and we will pay for any other schooling you want to go to". I took them up on their offer. They even paid me a weekly wage for going to school. How cool was that for parents? I plan on offering the same thing for my kids but they have to contribute in the bachelors degree cost. If there's a shift open on the ambulance and no-one takes it, then why not go the extra mile and grab it. You might learn something.
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