If you had to do this all over again?

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dmitriy

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If you had to do this all over again (go through training and work as an EMT) would you? Why or why not?
 
Yes and no.

I wish I would have gone another route and gotten my certificates. It would have opened up a lot of doors that are shut for the time being.
 
what route would you have wanted to take?
 
Really looked into the Army as a medic. Would have opened up contractor medic spots, tactical medic positions, easy to get into whatever classes you want at colleges, normally looks really really good on résumés.
 
Tough call for me.

On one hand, I could have found a department to be a resident in and pull 6 years doing that instead of the military and possibly gotten picked up in that time frame. Volunteer experience sometimes goes a long way from dept to dept and usually big time with the agency you're volunteering at, provided they also do career.

On the other hand, veteran's preference is beating out a lot of my opponents in the race. I'm sure one day I'll ace the test AND the interview(s) and get the dream job. I also got the opportunity to travel and see a little bit of the world.

You know...I just don't know. I should have tried volunteering while I was stationed in Fort Hood for 3 years. That is where I could have improved. That or maybe go in specifically for medic or firefighter...The wait time for those jobs was just too long though at the time...
 
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I am proud to call myself a paramedic but If I had to do over again I probably would have gone the PJ route. If I was going to go strictly for the money I would probably say the nursing route (let the flaming begin. lol)

But I'm proud of where I am and proud to be a paramedic. No regrets.


DesertEMT66 said:
Really looked into the Army as a medic. Would have opened up contractor medic spots, tactical medic positions, easy to get into whatever classes you want at colleges, normally looks really really good on résumés.
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You don't have to be a prior Army medic to get a contractor job. I've been doing it for years now and had no military experience. How long have you been a paramedic? You need 3-5 years for most contracts and 5-7 for others.
 
pcbguy said:
I am proud to call myself a paramedic but If I had to do over again I probably would have gone the PJ route. If I was going to go strictly for the money I would probably say the nursing route (let the flaming begin. lol)

But I'm proud of where I am and proud to be a paramedic. No regrets.




You don't have to be a prior Army medic to get a contractor job. I've been doing it for years now and had no military experience. How long have you been a paramedic? You need 3-5 years for most contracts and 5-7 for others.
Click to expand...

The contractor jobs I have looked at are mostly for security details where they are a shooter first and medic second. My goal is to get away from transport medical so I ignore any of the jobs that have you on an ambulance.

I'm still not a medic yet (about 6 more months of school). I've been an EMT for about 4 years.
 
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Same route - different attitude.
I'd be less confrontational and maybe I would have pushed things forward easier. Then again I would have sold my soul so on reflection - Nah, I'd still go down the same road.
I considered Medical School a few times when it was offered to me - but hey I'm not single and stonking rich so that was never ever to be.
 
Keep going for it. Even after you get finish paramedic school, you are still going to need a few years of experience before you will qualify for any of the contracting jobs. Even the clinic jobs over here require that. You'll probably have to get on a truck again and work as a paramedic for a while.

After a while being off the truck you will miss it. I do sometimes until I see my old co-workers working 36hr shifts with no sleep through Spring Break. No thank you! Lol
 
I don't know if I still would have done it... I would have chosen to move earlier though. Although my experience now is lining me up for remote medicine pretty well. In another year I'll probably start applying for overseas contracts
 
Love where I am at in my career right now, however with the inflated cost of everything I wish I would have taken another route to said career path.

I would have most likely done the military route as well, then used money to go to nursing school, then bridged to Paramedic. At the end of the day there isn't much to fall back on being a medic if and when you get hurt. Nursing is not only much more lucrative but provides a much more solid education base and more career opportunities. Experience and skills can be picked up in the field, education and opportunities not so much.
 
TransportJockey said:
I don't know if I still would have done it... I would have chosen to move earlier though. Although my experience now is lining me up for remote medicine pretty well. In another year I'll probably start applying for overseas contracts
Click to expand...

Any if I was still single Remote Medicine is certainly something I would be going after as well. Good luck in your journey man.
 
dmitriy said:
If you had to do this all over again (go through training and work as an EMT) would you? Why or why not?
Click to expand...

I'd have gotten out of software full time, become a live-in with a department, and done software on the side.
 
No. Not because of the work, that I do not mind. What I do not like is a lack of professionalism and incompetence. I want to work with people that take work seriously and leave their whining at the door. I wasted many years working with space cadets that could have gotten me and others killed.
 
If I had to go back and do it all over again, the only thing I would change would be that I'd have gone to medic school earlier. But at the time I had a girlfriend who did not want me to go to medic school out of the area. Other than that, I love EMS and can not imagine doing anything else. (And yes I do have a BA as well as other skills so I am not one of those people doing EMS because I see it as just a paycheck and can't do anything else.)
 
I would do it all over again, but the motivation would be purely financial. I started out in NYC, so EMT's started out at $14-$15/hr, and can top out over $22/hr, on a 40 hour workweek. In NYC, a medic makes almost as much as a nurse, with a hiring range of $22-$25/hr, and topping out at over $60k/yr. I don't count the privates, who typically pay $10/hr for BLS and $20/hr for ALS. Basically, I chose medic school over nursing school because the former took only 13 months, and the latter would have taken three years.Money was tight, so going to school full time, working full time (for not enough money to make ends meet), and not being able to do OT was simply not an option.

Many other parts of the country have 48 hour and 56 hour schedules, so you're only making like $8/hr as an EMT, and $12/hr as a medic. In that case, I would opt to take the time to get a medical degree in something that pays much better than EMS.

As far as the actual job itself, it's just easy money to me at this point. The more I learn about medicine, the more I realize that this knowledge will not change pt care much, if at all. In the end, we're still arriving at a provisional diagnosis, and pretty much treating S/Sx/reversible causes. EMS is simply not that challenging anymore. Some systems specifically have protocols/guidelines for general supportive care for patients that are sick, and the reason cannot be determined in the field.

I was making over $80k/yr as a NYC medic, and over $130k/yr as a firemedic now, and I'll be completing my first degree this summer.
 
If I knew I wanted to be in medicine when I was 20, then no, I would not have done EMS, I would have gone to med school.

Alas, I was 5 years out of college when I decided to get into EMS. And by getting into EMS, I learned about PAs. And with my EMS experience I am kicking *** in PA school. So in retrospect I couldn't see it any other way.

EMS is a young man's (person's) game. Great intro to medicine, great adrenaline rush, great comradie, great stories. But the ceiling comes up quick, and can come even quicker with a back injury/road injury. Its great for what it is, but for LOTS of reasons here in the US, its not a great career (in most localities).
 
I am still in the beginning processes of this and only an EMT, BUT I wouldn't want it any other way. Like stated above, being an EMT has let me work with other healthcare professionals and has me thinking about trying that. Yes EMS tends to be a young mans game with the potential for getting hurt. That is why I want a degree to either go into PA school, or just move into the office side of EMS when I am no longer able to do this. The only thing I can not determine is whether or not to get my Medic.
 
Would I have changed anything? Sure. Just one thing. I would have gone into nursing a LOT sooner than I did. It's not that I would have wanted to give up working on the ambulances, rather to increase the options I'd have to continue working with patients. You do top out very quickly in EMS.

I still would have become an athletic trainer, an EMT, and Paramedic. I would only have moved up the RN timeline by about 8-10 years.
 
nope. I would have gotten my EMT, and maybe or maybe not gotten my bachelors degree. if I had gotten my degree, I would have gotten my paramedic at the age of 23, and been testing everywhere I could for a career FF or FF/PM job, or moved to an area that required residency for a career FF job.

I would have gotten my ProBoard HazMat Tech 10 years ago (to increase my chances of getting hired), and probably been employed a a career FF working on my nursing degree.

And looking at where I want to complete my Masters Degree.

Basicly, I'd be where I am in my early 20s, instead of my 30s.
 
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