✚ Michael S. ✚

[UserMike]

Greetings from CA, USA. I am a student with some college credits from De Anza Community College & am enlisting into the United States Marine Corps. Afterward which I plan to pursue a job/ Occupation Health Care/ Medical. i was wondering to start off, what sorts of programs people have done in order to become an EMT / EMS, etc ? I have read that some require a 1-2 years worth of classes for certain qualifications & certification. Any help on getting into the field, as well as links, or information would be much appreciated.

[CPhT]

Greetings from MI! Welcome to the city. In all honesty, this is one of the best sites I've stumbled across, as long as you have thick skin and can take criticism. Judging by your choice in career, I would hope you can take a bit of tough love.

In any case, the best course of action depends on you. If you can teach yourself a lot, and can grasp concepts quickly, you might be well suited for a shortened, fast-paced EMS course. Typically those courses can have you ready for your EMT-B in as little as a month. Community college courses are typically one-two semesters for Basic, then another semester or two for Intermediate/ "Specialist". Finally, you can go for the gusto and go through Paramedic courses, which are typically 1.5-2 years long, on top of your Basic school.

[paramedicmike]

There are way too many people here named Mike.

Switch your enlistment to the Navy and be a corpsman. This will get you started with some of the training you need. I believe Navy corpsman are still trained to the EMT-B level. Once you're out of your MOS training you can work towards being assigned as a medic to a Marine unit. As a Navy corpsman you'll get a lot of exposure to different areas of medicine that should serve as a good foundation for exploring where you'd like to take your "job/occupation health care/medical" (whatever that means).

All the best for your success.

[CPhT]

There are way too many people here named Mike.

Switch your enlistment to the Navy and be a corpsman. This will get you started with some of the training you need. I believe Navy corpsman are still trained to the EMT-B level. Once you're out of your MOS training you can work towards being assigned as a medic to a Marine unit. As a Navy corpsman you'll get a lot of exposure to different areas of medicine that should serve as a good foundation for exploring where you'd like to take your "job/occupation health care/medical" (whatever that means).

All the best for your success.

I agree with this statement with a certain caveat. Corpsmen are trained well above and beyond even Paramedic level. Think critical care paramedic, trauma nurse, and ER surgeon all rolled into one. Independent Corpsmen, like surface fleet and submarine fleet, are actually able to perform minor surgery now, but also do things like routine checkups and treatments aboard the ships. You can also get ground combat MOS and be assigned to a Marine unit. Sounds cool, right?

Well, I don't know of any states right now that accept Corpsman training as any direct correlation to a civilian certification. Meaning, I don't think you can challenge the NREMT or the NCLEX without taking the courses to do so. For example, I have a colleague of mine who just got home from Afghanistan. He spent 10 years in the Army as a Ranger medic. He came out and did a tour with one of the private security companies. Coming home to civilian life, he tried to get a job as a paramedic, and couldn't because he didn't have any of the proper certs, and they wouldn't let him test without taking the proper paramedic training course.

As an alternative, I believe the Navy has RN-enlisted programs. They train you to be an RN, then you can move forward to BSN. They pay you as an O1 while in training, then you get a commission once you're graduated.

While typing this, I was reading an article that says that in many states, you can challenge the LVN (Licensed Vocational Nurse) exam, and possibly the MA (Medical Assistant) exam. I know with LVN, a few places have transitional courses where you can go LVP ->LPN -> RN, but it would still take a bit of time and extra effort.

Why do we, as a country, feel the need to treat our veterans like crap? I'd trust a Corpsman as my paramedic any day over someone coming out of one of the fly-by-night internet mills.

[chbare]

Not all corpsman are independent duty however. Not all Army medics have an 18 series MOS or a W1 ASI. My concern abot somebody enlisting is the fact that the military is downsizing. There is a certain amount of uncertainty and many people are being separated from service.

Edited January 31, 2012 by chbare

[paramedicmike]

CHBARE has a solid point. Not all enlisted health care MOSs have such a breadth of experience as would be found in an Independent Duty Corpsman (IDC) or 18 series MOS. However, I've worked with and known several former military corpsman/medics who were able to pursue additional education while in the military either through official channels or on their own. These guys were able to leave the service as paramedics with NR certifications which allowed them to obtain civilian EMS jobs. I also know several former military corpsman/medics who were able to roll that experience/exposure into physician assistant school upon completion of their contract.

While the military is downsizing there will still be a need for new enlisted providers. It may be harder to position oneself for a billet in these MOS. But if played well one can still earn the exposure, experience and education needed to set oneself up for a civilian job after the military.

Last thought with regards to military members as paramedics. Yes. I agree that more should be done for our Vets. However, as far as military medics go, trauma is the primary name of the game. The military is full of young adults with few, if any, chronic problems. These aren't sick people. They're young, healthy people traumatized by battle. So the basic focus of military medicine is a little different. So a paramedic education, while covering trauma, also covers a lot of medicine that may not necessarily be immediately appropriate to a unit level medic. From a military prospective, why waste the money on teaching your medics something they won't need in a military setting?

It's funny, though. I've worked with and seen USAF PJ candidates coming through medic units and hospitals where I've worked. These guys know trauma inside and out. They're not so familiar with medicine. This was evidenced by several guys being utterly floored by watching D50 turn around a hypoglycemic diabetic. They thought that was the coolest thing they had ever seen.

[mikemedic999]

Not only is it cool it also does a little bit for the ego too