Leg Injury

[Dustdevil]

My parents know and they support me 100%...

Then why do you need to "work" your way through college? :?

If you absolutely must work your way through college because your parents are not supporting you 100%, then we all understand that. But EMS is about the worst possible way to do that. Finding people who have earned a bachelors degree in the natural sciences, AND keep a decent GPA, AND learn and retain enough to score well on the MCAT, AND do it in less than 6 years, while working as a paramedic, are actually pretty damn rare. You must think you are really super special if you think you can do it. Pre med classes are 6-10 hours a day, 5 days a week. How are you going to work a 24 or even 12 hour shift in there? Yeah, you might pack one into the weekend if you blow off studying for the test you have Monday morning, but that's not exactly going to earn you enough money to "work" your way through college. Especially at what a medic makes.

Sorry, girl, but it sounds like you have not given this a single moment of intelligent research or thought. And if your dad agreed that this was a good plan, then he's not "supporting" you at all.

[dpa]

i blew my knee out when i was 17 playing football i was told i would never be able to play again or be able to work on my feet but with hard work i proved them wrong from the doctors to to pt come up with a plan walking bending gym work just work hard and youll be fine

[spenac]

i blew my knee out when i was 17 playing football i was told i would never be able to play again or be able to work on my feet but with hard work i proved them wrong from the doctors to to pt come up with a plan walking bending gym work just work hard and youll be fine

What? Can we get a little punctuation to know what the hell your talking about?

[Scaramedic]

Hey Spenac, I think that post was just to get a ticket to chat.

Peace,

Marty

[spenac]

Hey Spenac, I think that post was just to get a ticket to chat.

Peace,

Marty

Surely not. No one with any kind of life would do that just to get into chat. I just think it's another person causing black marks on our profession. But maybe we can help him to become a professional with some constructive guidance.

[medic_girl_chas]

My parents due support me 100%. That does not mean they can afford for me to go to school without me helping out a bit. My dad is a paramedic and works three jobs my mom stays at home with my two little sisters so money is tight and i dont want to make matters worst for them.

[spenac]

My parents due support me 100%. That does not mean they can afford for me to go to school without me helping out a bit. My dad is a paramedic and works three jobs my mom stays at home with my two little sisters so money is tight and i dont want to make matters worst for them.

It is commendable that you want to do this. Check out all your options. Please be careful if you choose EMS not to ruin your knee for life.

[medic_girl_chas]

I dont plan on doing that! If it happens it was meant to be and I also plan to take every precaution possible to make sure it doesn't get injured.

[Scaramedic]

Please be careful if you choose EMS not to ruin your knee for life.

Knee? Try Knees and back. Sometimes I sound like popcorn machine when I wake up in the morning.

Peace,

Marty

[Eydawn]

Did any of you stop to consider that maybe she's not absotively posilutely sure she wants to go to medical school as an end career? Just a thought....

Parents can be 100% supportive of one's choices, which often includes allowing someone to figure things out for themselves instead of TELLING them what to do. She's not going to end all hope of ever going to medical school if she becomes a paramedic... if that's where she really wants to go, she'll get there. Might take her longer and she might find it harder than if she chose to enter med school right away, but if she REALLY wants to be a doctor, she'll figure it out and choose the right path.

Oh, and by the way, my parents are 100% supportive of MY career goals but certainly aren't able to financially cover the burden that full time college is. That's why I work!

If it wasn't for loans and scholarships, the only thing I'd have right now is my EMT-cert and I'd probably be working BLS transfers as a career.

I thought I wanted to go to med school for a while. Then I figured out that I just don't like academia enough to commit to 7 more years of it. And that's AFTER being homeschooled and circumventing 8 years of traditional schooling... I can't imagine what it's like for someone who started with preschool. But that's me.

As for the knees... look into what kind of compensatory lifting techniques you can learn. I've got a bad hip, touchy knee and bad ankle- all on my right side. I have yet to be unable to help lift someone or something when required.

Again, each person is different.. but if you want to make it work, you can find a way. My fiancee's EMS instructor is an active paramedic who suffered spinal meningitis at the age of (I think) 14 months... he walks very strangely and doesn't have quite as much strength as most. He's still a very good medic. Look for braces, talk to another PT (go in for a consult if you need to) and find a way if you really want to do this.

Same with medical school. If you want to do it now, as many are advising, look for loans and scholarships. They give out scholarships for having brown eyes for crying out loud... there is always something you can find if you are determined enough to. Also, the federal government helps considerably with need based loans and scholarships if your parents don't make much money and can't contribute a whole lot.

Oh, by the way... I'm an EMT... and I don't think it's deterred me from going to nursing school at all. But maybe I had an advantage by attending college in pursuit of my bachelor's BEFORE I went to EMT school. Just another thought.

Whatever you decide, make sure it's what you really want to do. Life is a lot more than school, and school affects what happens in your life later much more than you think it will. Talk it over with your folks, and feel free to ask questions here. Just don't commit yourself to either EMS or medical school if something doesn't feel right about it.. you will burn out and waste time. Good luck!

Wendy

CO EMT-B