35 yr old male, looking for career change

[pbjsammich]

Hello all,

For the past few years, I've been looking to change careers. I have a BA in Business, worked a few years in HR/payroll, and am currently a CAD Drafter/Designer. This line of work isn't cutting it for me, and I've been feeling a pull towards medical/health services. I live in SoCal.

I took some psych classes last year, thinking I wanted to get into mental health counseling. I looked at a MS program in Counseling, but didn't get in due to my lack of psych education and experience. Seemed like the ideal situation for that would be to get BA in Psych and go straight to MS. I'm still amazed that Cal States don't allow students to register for 2nd bachelor's.

So I volunteered at a local hospital in ED for a few months. It was pretty slow, but when the paramedics brought someone in on a gurney, it was pretty exciting. So I looked into an EMT program. That was a while ago, and I'm back looking into EMT as a spring board into something else.

I found a weekend program at Pasadena City College for EMT-1, and will probably sign-up for Spring 2015. I don't think I'd want to be a career EMT, but just have the basic knowledge, seeing as I have no medical experience at all. What career options are available that would begin with EMT? I always thought I'd make a good PA, just based on personality. I have no objection to going back to school if necessary.

 

[MedicDelta]

Well of course there is Emergency Medical Services, Fire Departments, in Canada paramedics can work in the ER, I'm not sure about the US though. I'm sure your local EMS agency probably offers part time work for EMTs if you're just looking for casual work.

 

[Carlos Danger]

I found a weekend program at Pasadena City College for EMT-1, and will probably sign-up for Spring 2015. I don't think I'd want to be a career EMT, but just have the basic knowledge, seeing as I have no medical experience at all. What career options are available that would begin with EMT? I always thought I'd make a good PA, just based on personality. I have no objection to going back to school if necessary.

EMT's are employed by private and municipal EMS agencies. Some work as techs in hospital settings. They typically make very little money (<$10/hr). EMT is a prerequisite to getting hired by many fire departments, but it won't get you the job because every applicant will have it.

Paramedics also work for private and municipal EMS agencies and fire departments, as well as helicopter EMS and critical care transport agencies, and in a few cases, in hospital settings. Paramedics can do a lot more than EMT's and make considerable better money, but it's still not a great living, by most accounts. That is of course, depending on where you live, how much you work, and of how you define "a good living". There are some really excellent jobs for paramedics, but they don't exist everywhere.

PA is a great field, but it has nothing to do with being an EMT. Of course you could take an EMT course just for the knowledge, and I suppose it might look good on an application, but if PA is your goal, your time and money might be better spent on pre-reqs. There are several PA students on this forum who can better answer your questions about all that.

 

[Ewok Jerky]

I think a career change into PA would be difficult without some kind of transition, especially since you will need patient contact hours. I think EMT/medics are uniquely qualified to excel in PA school. Not that other entry pathways don't work, I just think EMS is ideal.

OP - one thing to seriously think about is finances. EMS pay varies widely with geography, private vs public, IFT vs fire-based etc. Being an established adult I am sure you have various debts and obligations. While the initial outlay for EMT > paramedic aint too bad, lifetime earning potential may not be worth it for you. While I believe that you should enjoy your job and feel good at the end of the day, sometimes the financial hit is just not justifiable.

That being said, dabbling into EMT would not require you to give up your current source of income and would allow to accumulate experience and give you an intro to the medical field.

Back to PA school, if you have more questions you can PM me, but the prereqs + patient contact hours could easily take 3 years of full time commitment. Certainly doable, and has been done over and over, but it has to be priority #1 to be pulled off successfully.

 

[Gurby]

EMT-B is a good introduction to healthcare - you'll interact with people from every level and every field of medicine. Find an evening or weekend EMT course, get certified, start working part time. Gain experience, consider transitioning to paramedic, fire, nursing, PA, med school if you're under ~30, etc. You'll have to give up on your social life a bit, but you can dabble/moonlight without giving up your current job which almost certainly pays much better, until you get a better sense of where to go from here.