Lapsed Cert With Degree

[46Young]

The other day, one of my co-workers was discussing dropping his medic cert with the county as he's grown tired of frequently being detailed to other stations to ride transport units due to our gereral shortage of medics. In my attempt to discourage him from doing so, an interesting question came to mind:

If you let your medic cert lapse with the county, they'll no longer give you continuing ed on duty, so his cert will lapse with the state and thr NR. Getting ConEd off duty is not going to happen. So, the question is, if you have an EMS degree (AAS or higher), would you still need to repeat the original program in the event of an extended lapse of certification?

For example, since I took my medic class (non degree) in NYS, I'm told that all that I need to do is complete a challenge refresher to recert. In Virginia, you have two years after the date of lapse to fufill the requisite CME's to be eligible for the state exam. After two years, the original program must be repeated.

I would hate to think, that after spending two years or so on an EMS degree, that one would have to do an entire paramedic program all over again in the event of a lapse. I haven't yet found any literature that gives different consideration for a medic degree vs a medic tech school in regards to recertification.

Anyone have anything to offer on the subject?

 

[EMSLaw]

I don't think the various states make any distinction between a degree and a tech school, so I doubt there are different rules. And why should there be? If I let my law license lapse, depending on the state, for more than a given period of time (a few years), there are states that require I resit the entire bar exam. I don't have to go to law school again, of course, but I have to go through the whole rigamarole of applying for and sitting the bar.

If you have been certified to practice the very technical and perishable skills of paramedicine, and haven't been keeping up, then it's likely that you have either forgotten something important or are doing things the "old fashioned way" that is likely to be dangerous.

I guess you're lucky you're certified in NY, which takes a more lenient view of getting a certificate back after a long period of time. Pennsylvania does as well, I believe. But in no case does it matter whether you have a degree.

Best to keep the license that you worked so hard for, rather than let it lapse.

 

[46Young]

Having to sit for the bar and having to redo law school to requalify for said bar are two different things. Regarding paramedic skills, I'm not saying that I should just be able to sit for a recert exam. What I said is that you need to do a challenge refresher exam in NY. You sit for the challenge test, and whatever you score less than a 90% on you need to sit for that lecture. All skills are practiced on and tested per per state standards.

What I was getting at is that having an EMS degree should afford a certain degree of permanence, where a challenge refresher should be sufficient for recert after an extended lapse, not a repeat of the entire program. You wouln't do law school twice, would you?

Sure, it's easier just to keep current with CME's, but maybe the medic burns out, changes careers, then wants to re-enter the field years later. Why would you make someone that completed an EMS degree, and worked in the field repeat all those clinical rotations, and all of the core classes/sciences? A challenge refresher, and maybe certain amount of limited clinical hours, based on time away from the field, should be all that's required.

 

[banana88]

hey

Hey
since you are from virginia could you tell me what i need to do to get credit for my category 3 hours