glad you went with ems

[ramitheduck]

Hey guys, im a freshmen in collage and I've wanted to go into medicine most of my life.
I just wondering if people are glad they were medics before med school and what you feel the pros/cons are!

thanks in advance!

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[docB]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=5994783&postcount=2

 

[MedicFL]

If you don't have to do it to provide for yourself then dont do it.. GO to school get done get into medical school.. If I had parents or a means to pay for all my schooling and not have to be up at 0300 am when class starts at 0800 I would trade it any day..........

 

[fiznat]

I don't know if this is the same as the age-old "will EMS help my app" question. In any case, I can quickly answer that I am well aware that EMS has significantly delayed my medical school plans and distracted me from the larger goal, but at the same time I have found this experience infinitely valuable and I would not give it up for the world. I love being a paramedic, and even though it may have damaged my "forward progress" I am grateful for the experience and I am glad that I did it.

 

[EMmedic]

I think that if you know that you want to go to medical school, then just finish your college career and apply. If you want to get your basic EMT certification while in college and work on the side, then go for it. But do it because it is something that interests you and not because you think it will help your application in some way. As for paramedic school, its a lot of time and money. If that's what you want to do and you are going to work for a while, then fine...but if you know you want to go to medical school, then just go to medical school.

I think that if you asked a lot of medical students/physicians who were once paramedics, the majority would say that it was not something they did to help them get into school or as a transition to medicine. Most of them probably either went to medical school as a career change from paramedicine or used the field to help them figure out what they wanted to do with their lives. I graduated from college and didn't know what I wanted to do. I had been heavily involved in EMS during college and loved it, so I took the next step and went to paramedic school. It wasn't until I was a medic did I realize that I wanted to be a doctor and took all the pre-med courses that I never did. The experiences I had as a medic were amazing and I learned so much about myself and others. If I had to do it all over again, I would do it again...because I don't know what I would be doing right now if I didn't take that step in my journey.

In terms of being helpful for school -- yes and no. Being a medic and being a medical student/physician are VERY different. The knowledge that you will acquire as a paramedic is very limited in comparison to what you will learn in medical school. So, there are certain subjects that you might feel more comfortable with initially, but the other students will catch up to you very quickly. In terms of talking to patients -- I do feel that being a medic is to my benefit in that I am more comfortable in this situation, but at the same time, I have had to re-train myself to stop asking so many closed ended questions (necessary on an ambulance). You may feel more comfortable and at home on EM rotations, but a lot of medicine is so different.

Am I glad that I went into EMS? absolutely. I wouldn't trade those experiences for the world. But, if you know you want to go to medical school - just go.

 

[psychbender]

Hey guys, im a freshmen in collage and I've wanted to go into medicine most of my life.
I just wondering if people are glad they were medics before med school and what you feel the pros/cons are!

thanks in advance!

I started undergrad convinced I was going into some form of microbiology or biochemistry research. I thought they were great fields, had a blast in all of my micro/molecular/biochem labs, and thought I found my niche. I got involved with ground search and rescue at the start of sophomore year because I enjoy the outdoors. Several of my SAR buddies were also medics with the local squad, figured it might be fun, so joined and became an EMT. I found that I actually liked medicine, became a medic, and started to get bored with the lab. With graduation looming, I figured I might as well apply to medical school. I am now in my 4th year, am applying to Anesthesiology (I find lots of parallels between that and EMS), and couldn't be happier with my choice. The way I see it, if I didn't get involved with EMS, I probably would have gone the Microbiology PhD route, still be sitting in the lab (and maybe being happy with it), and having to fight for grants to make a much lower salary than I will be making soon.

 

[ramitheduck]

Great thanks so much... I'm coming from more of the good/ valuable experiance, enjoyable side than will it help my aplication, which i under stand it won't

anymore opinions?

 

[blackadder]

anymore opinions?

I ain't no medic, but I'll chime in...with a longwinded post (with a point at the end, I promise).

I was pretty much in your shoes a few years ago. A few months before finishing college, I faced a choice: accept a spot at medic school or take a job (not a 9-5 though, working as a deckhand/emt on an old schooner).

I had worked as an EMT for all four years in college and the thought of pursuing medical school was on my mind...and to be honest, I thought everyday about how friggen cool it would be to be a medic.

Yet, I just didn't think I could justify more schooling for a skill set that I might largely relearn down the road in med school/residency (note: I am NOT bashing medics here...I think they rock).

So what did I do? I took the boat job--and I'm so glad I did (another story).

After the sailing season ended, I compromised with myself and satisfied my desire to learn more in the interim by completing an EMT-I course (it was MUCH shorter than medic class, but I learned a few cool things).

I'm now working full time doing EM resuscitation research. I simply love it. I don't have medic powers, but I'm developing a deep understanding about a key slice of EM and it feels good to know that I'm helping to develop stuff that might soon become standard practice/protocol. I also got hired as an ED tech at the same hospital (taking a break from rigs), and I hope to be in med school in the next year or two.

So why did I write this? It’s to put a new twist on the common question: “I want to get to medical school but should I become a medic first?” For those wanting to learn more about EMS/EM there are options OTHER than going to medic school. Consider pursuing EM clinical research…there’s TONS to do, and not nearly enough people doing it. And it’s hella cool.

 

[ramitheduck]

hmm interesting, what do you do in em research and what training do you need?

 

[blackadder]

what do you do in em research

totally depends on where you work...hot topics include sepsis, stroke care, resuscitation, and post-resuscitation care. other areas like resource allocation and management are also pretty big. think about what you might like to study and then use google to track down some docs in that area. or, if you're tied to a specific city/region, you can go to ED websites of nearby hospitals to see what they have going on and email to see how you can get involved.

what training do you need?

be personable, enthusiastic, and competent. you can get all other training on the job. having a college degree and some previous medical or research experiences (hospital volunteer, emt, whatever) are pluses.

hope this helps--let me know if you have any more questions.

 

[ramitheduck]

Great! thanks so much, just curious, but what can one expect in terms of salary?

 

[blackadder]

Great! thanks so much, just curious, but what can one expect in terms of salary?

i'm sure it varies depending on location, but $30,000 seems to be about average for a recent college grad. i live comfortably but the benefits i get are insane. i had never really thought much about benefits before this gig...they can be huge.

 

[ramitheduck]

Great, thanks so much, I will look into it