Memories of Paramedic School

[Carlos Danger]

Paramedic school was long enough ago for me (I graduated in June of 1999) and my life has been busy enough since then that I've gotten pretty foggy on most of the details. But I do remember being really excited about the program and very proud when it was over, so it always makes me reminisce a little when people on here are all excited about school and freaking out over how hard it's going to be, etc.

I took EMT-B on my own while still on active duty in the military. Despite having absolutely ZERO EMS experience - I had never even seen the inside of an ambulance as an EMT - just before I left the Army I applied to a paramedic program in the same area that my wife was going to be starting her engineering program that following fall. Back then you had to call and ask for an application packet, and they mailed it to you, and you filled it out by hand as neatly as you could, and then you mailed it back. And you had to go to the public library to use a computer to type an essay as part of the application. That part of the process alone took weeks. Eventually they mailed you a letter that said whether or not you were accepted.

So I left the Army in Dec 1997 having recently mailed my application in and really not thinking I'd be accepted. My wife and I stayed with her parents until July, when we would move to the new place. She was going to community college full-time, getting a head start on her credits. I was going part time and working on farms and trying to figure out what I was going to do if I wasn't accepted into paramedic school.

Somehow I did get accepted. To this day I honestly have no idea how, because back then they were really big on EMS experience for paramedic applicants, and I was literally as inexperienced as one could be. So that summer my wife and I and our 5 year old daughter moved into an apartment near her new campus. In Sep she started her program in chemical engineering and I started the paramedic program and our daughter started kindergarten. We lived off a combination of the excess from our student loans, my GI Bill, and the $7.50/hour I earned working a couple shifts a week as an EMT driving a 911 ambulance for the same company that I would first work as a paramedic for.

I drove a little over an hour each way to class, IIRC, Mon-Tues-Thurs from 0900-1300, and then about once, sometimes twice a week we'd have a lab session for an hour or two starting at 1400. I felt like the program was pretty solid, didactic-wise, considering we learned everything from the same instructor. He was an older guy who'd been a paramedic for years and years, but he was very professional and articulate and carried himself like a real university professor. Always wore a tie and pressed pants.

Hospital clinical sucked. We had to do a certain number of hours in all these different areas (ED, ICU, L&D, OR, etc). Each week they would put out a schedule of all the time slots available in each area, and you had to sign up for whenever you could make it. The problem was the total number of hours available in each area barely added up to the total number of hours the entire class needed in that area. So if you only had certain times in a given week you could do L&D clinical, for instance, because of work or childcare issues, you had to find a way to be the first person in line to sign up, otherwise you were SOL. We lost several people from the program because they just couldn't schedule all the clinical hours by the time they were due.

Ambulance clinical was awesome or sucked depending on your preceptor. At this time, some of the more experienced paramedics had been practicing since the early 80's or even before that, so they were really salty and old-school. The overall culture was very, very different than what I see now. My preceptor ended up being one of the worst. Even though this guy had approached me personally (we both worked at the same place) and asked if I'd like for him to precept me (and I said "sure, thanks!", having no idea what was in store), he was absolutely disgusted by the fact that I had no experience at all and he seemed to see it as his mission to punish me for it. For a couple months it was really rough working with him and it got so bad that some of the other paramedics approached the school on their own and told them that I was being treated really badly and should be assigned a new preceptor. This was unheard of; normally the preceptor you start with was the one you did all your hours with and finished with, no exceptions. Another guy who had also been around a long time but had never precepted took me under his wing, and it was like night and day. We had a great time and it was pretty much smooth sailing after that.

There was one point in the program, towards the end, where the way my work and class and clinical schedule fell, I would wake up on Sunday morning for work and not go back to bed until Thursday afternoon when I got home from class. That lasted about 8 weeks or so, I think. My wife was just as busy as I was, between her coursework and taking care of our daughter.

I remember it being a good time overall, both the program and in my personal life. It would have been a completely positive experience if it weren't for the clinical schedule and dealing with that a$$hat preceptor for that couple months. (he got his, though, about 2 years later when I was hired into the very flight paramedic position that he had been trying for years to get into and was repeatedly turned down for, ).

Well that's it for my Sunday morning reminiscing. That turned out longer than I planned.

Who else has memories of paramedic school?

 

[BigDon]

I just wanted to say thank you for sharing!

 

[akflightmedic]

Sure, I will take a stab at it.

I started volunteering when I turned 18 and quickly realized I could easily be an EMT, so I applied to and got into the program. It was easy. I borrowed $350 from my mom and paid for the course. Yes, the amount is correct. I had no issues with EMT school and I always thought it would get harder or we would do more...so I was overall very disappointed. I could not believe I was going to be allowed to ride an ambulance and do this with what I felt was very easy entry requirements.

EMT class was taught by a very sassy, very smart lady who is still in EMS today. She was hard on people and they accused her of being cold. I thought her style was good and enjoyed it. Little did I know, several of our "evaluators" and guest instructors were actually employees of the County I lived in...and they basically used her class to screen potential new candidates. I aced my final and when it was time to take state boards, I was in and out in under 45 minutes. I am not bragging, just recapping the facts and I think it was a combination of my over preparation and her teaching style. As I went through the exam, either I knew it or I did not. I went with immediate answer right or wrong and refused to second guess myself. When finished, I walked out and did not review the test.

Anyways, the county hired me within weeks of me getting my state card. My County application which I elected to TYPE (on a typewriter) as opposed to using my sloppy handwriting was submitted. LOL Wham bam there I was, an EMT on a 911 County EMS Service, age 18.

I immediately enrolled into Paramedic school. I do not think experience is required and I encourage people, if you have the desire and the drive, keep leveling up. You will get plenty of experience during paramedic school, so no need stopping the school mindset if you already know your end desire is to be a paramedic. Through my own fault, I was fired from the county so I went back to working the nightclub and volunteering. (Wish the story was exciting but in short I have a history of pissing people off).

I asked the owner of the nightclub to vouch for my employment at the local credit union. I had to borrow $1500 to pay for paramedic school with a loan repayment of $90 a month! Yes, again, my entire paramedic program was $1500.

The program was shift friendly for the county, so there I was, side by side with former colleagues and supervisors. I had a chip on my shoulder and a lot to prove. In regards to the program, I had no comparison. We write about this in the forums a lot...you do not know what you do not know. When people say they have the best program or the best instructor...my question is "how do you know?" What criteria are you evaluating them by? Simply because everyone says so, or because they have been in EMS for decades? How do you know? Truth is, you don't.

I thought i was getting adequate education to do the job but again was not overly impressed. It was very superficial and cookbook. I would learn this much later. I finished paramedic school and the course work was light. The clinicals were ok, but the RNs in the facilities just did not seem as keen to precept or host....it was like they just tolerated us. I did get to witness some cool surgeries and do a few procedures here, but overall the clinicals sucked. My ride time was good, I got to ride with many different people who had very different styles (all again on the county trucks). I was able to appreciate that no 2 medics are the same and it dawned on me...I will be whatever medic I decide to be. There is no mold. Two preceptors impressed the hell out of me and made me want to be better. Both of those individuals are now Emergency Doctors in ER...so I stress to you, pick your mentors or role models carefully. Go for Gold! Surround yourself by people who you want to be like.

So during medic school, I worked 3 jobs. I was working interfacility transport, the nightclub and I did a couple months at McD's. Anything I could to pay the bills. On top of all those hours, I was doing my studies and my ride time and clinicals. It was insane and this was all before smart phones and the internet!! My paramedic textbook is actually greasy as I propped it on the shelf above the grill, so I could read stuff in between burger cooking!

After medic school, I was hired back by the county and got some time under my belt, but I was not happy. I just felt there was more. I met my wife and we had our first child. We decided to move to FL. When we got to FL, despite having National Registry, I had to challenge the FL State exam. I did not prepare for it and I failed first time. I need money so I took a job ROOFING! In the FL heat, I was baking on roofs while waiting my next move. I ended up getting hired at the local trauma center and my eyes were wide open. I was exposed to so much and I realized how inadequate my education and program had been.

I started studying on my own, on the job and asking a million questions. I was side by side with some very smart, motivated people and I was able to see and evaluate every EMS crew which brought in a patient. I learned a tremendous amount and I saw how much more advanced the paramedics were around me. Their scope was amazing. I then started precepting medics on their clinicals in the ER, which forced me to be sharp. I had to know what they know or I was dumb. I basically retaught myself paramedic school using them and my textbooks. I then applied for and was hired by a county south of the hospital. Their medics were SO advanced, the stuff they do or are expected to know...I was never taught! I was light years behind.

This highlights what I said earlier. Once you move out of your comfort zone, IF you ever move out of your bubble....you will quickly see how poor or how well your actual program really was! Truth is, most people do not move, so they will never know.

Anyways, full on entry into EMS (again). I felt like a student all over. I challenged myself, kept reading and kept taking courses. I became instructor certified in all the alphabet courses, I volunteered to precept students, did whatever I could to force me to be sharp and not get complacent. It took another year or two before I felt 100% comfortable again and as soon as I had that feeling, I would take on something new to get me out of that mindset. I then decided I wanted to be a flight medic. So back to school, more courses....and I got the certifications. Then I got the job. Then I wanted to travel...and so on...I won't go too far in this as the discussion is entry into EMS and how it felt.

I had TWO entries into EMS. The first one which prepared me to be a medic in that system only and the second one which prepared me to be a medic anywhere I wanted to be. I simply cannot stress this enough, be critical of your program, be critical of your instructors. You are adults. This is YOUR education, YOUR money paying them to instruct YOU. Challenge them, question them, do not accept everything they say as fact. Research it on your own, circle back to them, share with other students.

Get a mentor, become a mentor....

Make EMS a profession!

Medic school was just as challenging then as it is now. I see all the time people wondering how they will do it with jobs, families, being broke. The truth is, we all have been there and done that. If there is a way, you will find it...never make excuses. I have had many roadblocks in my life where I could of just walked away....but I wanted it, so I found a way.

How HUNGRY are YOU?