Excited and nervous. I got accepted to paramedic school.

[david419]

I start my anatomy and physiology course Wednesday and should finish that in mid December. On January 3, 2012 I start paramedic school. I'm nervous and excited at the same time.

I'm nervous because I don't have field experience as an EMT-B on an ambulance. Should I try and get a part time job as an EMT-B while going to Paramedic school or should I just concentrate on school?

My goal is to become a fire/medic.

 

[LucidResq]

Study hard in A&P!!! It's not easy and will require extra time. If you have a lab section... experience as much as you possibly can. It WILL pay off. If you have the opportunity to take part in any kind of dissection labs jump in. Things start to click when you can get your hands in it.

There are mixed opinions on whether or not one needs EMT-B experience to become an EMT-P. Personally I feel you can never go wrong starting with more education... but I will let others who are actually medics handle that question more definitively.

I think the big question is how working would impact your schooling. If you are in school part-time, it may be easier to pull off and even beneficial, especially if you can find a smart and helpful medic to partner with, and ask questions of in down-time on a rig. If it's a full-time program, you may be better off just focusing on school. All my friends who've gone through P-School tell me it's rigorous, fairly challenging, and time-consuming. I would make sure to give it the attention it deserves.

 

[Handsome Robb]

Congrats! It's tough, but it's doable.

The experience argument has been beaten to death, I personally have limited off-label EMS experience (pro ski patrol and beach lifeguarding) and I haven't had a problem.

I recently scored a Per Diem Job as an Intermediate with a 911 service. The training period sucks but after that you only have to work so many shifts per month/quarter.

Along with what Lucid said, I wish I had more education in A&P before I started school but I put in the time and made it work out. A background in A&P would have made it much easier though.

 

[Nerd13]

Congrats! Like lucid said there are waaay too many opinions on whether you need experience going in. Personally, I believe that it very much depends on the person. Whether you should try and work during class varies on how rigorous your medic program is. If you can work part time or even just on a casual basis I would highly recommend it. I walked into my paramedic class with zero road experience but walked out with almost a year. Could I have done it with no experience? Yes. I am more comfortable in the field because of my experience though. If for no other reason than that I don't have to focus so much on operations stuff and I can pay more attention to pt care. Not a requirement but it is nice if you can get some. Whatever you chose to do make sure that you devote the most of your time to medic class. It's a long, tough road but it can also be a lot of fun. Have fun with it and throw yourself into every opportunity you get and you'll come out of it just fine!

 

[cynikalkat]

congrats!

 

[mike1390]

Good luck to your preceptor cause now he has to teach you how to be an emt also.

 

[Akulahawk]

Good luck to your preceptor cause now he has to teach you how to be an emt also.

I agree... and I don't advocate a LOT of experience as an EMT before going to medic school... just enough to learn how to do the Basic stuff without having to think about it much. When you start your field time, ask your preceptor if you can have some additional time just so that you can concentrate on doing basic skills for a few shifts, just to get well familiar with them. After that, you'll have to incorporate basic and advanced stuff as one smooth continuum of care. It won't be easy at first, but it's completely doable.

As to whether or not you should work as an EMT during school? That totally depends upon the school schedule. If you're doing 5x/week... may be not. 3x/week? Probably OK if your study skills are pretty good.

 

[Handsome Robb]

Good luck to your preceptor cause now he has to teach you how to be an emt also.

 

[STXmedic]

good luck to your preceptor cause now he has to teach you how to be an emt also.

 

[EMSDude54343]

Congrats!! And good luck!!
When ya get bogged down, just remeber to keep your head up aand remeber what you will be getting at the end!

 

[BigBad]

I actually did exactly the same thing you are describing. Zero to hero. It will be extremely hard and you will question yourself daily. If you are nervous about school, just wait until someone hands you a dead baby... Pm me

 

[NomadicMedic]

Good luck to your preceptor cause now he has to teach you how to be an emt also.

 

[Handsome Robb]

I'm wondering how many of us going from "0 to hero" without problems its going to take to prove that you don't need experience. h34r:

 

[Everett]

Congratulations! You've got a long road ahead of you there buddy but if your determined you can do it.