First Responder want to be a EMT

rescue13

rescue13

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I start EMT school this month and I'm very nervous. I've had a decent amount of experience in the field with trauma and basic medical PT but that dang book sure looks intimidating. Any advice would be much appreciated.
 
Don't sweat the small stuff. You have a good baseline going into it. Study your book, ask questions, and most of all listen to the instructors. :cool:
 
Thanks for the advice. My biggest problem is I don't test well on paper but I do very well on the skills check offs. I have to study at least twice as hard just to make a decent grade. I'm taking the 2 semester EMT course so maybe it won't be as fast and furious as the fast track First Responder course I took.
 
A lot of the book is a bunch of pictures, diagrams and graphs, so you will find yourself getting through the pages pretty quickly. I always showed up to class 3 hours early and sat and read the book. That might work for you.
 
I just went from First Responder to EMT. You will be fine, don't worry. The material is similar, just a little more in depth on some things.
 
I definitely recommend making friends with your classmates and try to start up a study group. Studying on your own is important, but I found it very helpful to have a small group to be able to discuss the chapters and quiz each other.
 
Take it one class at a time, one chapter at a time. If you look at the whole all at once, as you discovered it can be intimidating. But we have all been where you are. So, it can be done.

Follow your instructors lesson plan to a T. Also, and this is just my own experience, spend more time learning anatomy and physiology, and pathphysiology of diseases. I am not saying to forget your skill set, but the A+P NEVER changes, think of it as your cornerstone.

My.02 cents for what they are worth.
 
rescue13 said:
but that dang book sure looks intimidating.
Click to expand...

Why? Most of my high school textbooks were thicker and written at a higher level than the EMT text I own? You must know from any earlier schooling that all textbooks look a little intimidating when you don't understand any of it, then once you do, they don't. Its not deep stuff.

You clearly already know what you need to do: Study twice as hard as normal because you don't test well. You just gotta get to the doin' of it.
 
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study groups for you.

first day of class meet people, make friends. figure out who is serious about the course, and who is smart. then instigate study groups to get together before class and go over homework, ask each other questions, quiz each other all that jazz. if others are getting together ask if you can join them.

if you do well in skills and assessment and the real world but not on tests, you need to think of tests differently. think of each question like a scenario and choose the "best" answer.
 
beano said:
study groups for you.

first day of class meet people, make friends. figure out who is serious about the course, and who is smart. then instigate study groups to get together before class and go over homework, ask each other questions, quiz each other all that jazz. if others are getting together ask if you can join them.

if you do well in skills and assessment and the real world but not on tests, you need to think of tests differently. think of each question like a scenario and choose the "best" answer.
Click to expand...

As your class gets going, there are people who will start to form study groups. Even if you find one other person, at the end of class let everyone know, "Oh hey, we're doing a study group at [place] at [time] this weekend.
We were gonna get a pizza and sit around and help eachother get ready for the exams. Anyone is welcome, as long as you throw down for pizza!" or something like that. Heck, even talk to your instructor, my instructor held pizza-study parties on a few weekends, for anyone who wanted some extra help. They were really successful.
 
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