So I am thinking about becoming an EMT just as a job to gain more clinical experience because I want to go to medical school. It wont be a full time job, just a part time job while I am in college.

Is anyone here an EMT, previously been an EMT, know a lot about someone who is an EMT to give me some personal experiences as to why being an EMT is a good or bad idea. I personally do not know anyone that is an EMT, but I am curious about people's thoughts on whether this is a good idea or not.

Thanks in advance

intrigue

Washington, D.C9935 Posts

February 23 2008 19:41 GMT

my emt license just expired, i did it for two years a while back.

being an emt is quite an experience and i highly recommend it. aside from the medical things you learn, you gain a sense of responsibility and confidence. imagine yourself on a highway at 3 am, and there's police cars blocking off one area, more sirens in the distances, cars on the opposite lane slowing down to try to get a look. you get out and touch the cold empty pavement for the first time after driving down it countless times. there's two cars wrecked and you're first on the scene. what do you do?! there are situations where you can't believe that someone somewhere has absurdly entrusted you, some random college kid, with such enormous tasks where you are the patient's only hope. experience-wise and for building yourself, it's extremely valuable.

as far as clinical experience goes, an emt-b (basic) license doesn't really let you do that much beyond relatively basic care and transport unless you are assigned with a parademic and get to help out. you might want to consider getting a higher license after you fulfill the requirements to pursue them (i think eligibility for taking an emt-p (paramedic) class is something around 2 years experience as an emt-b + recommendations?). volunteering in an ER will probably be better for seeing the gritty stuff and how doctors work. at any rate though you are still learning a lottttt as an emt-b so don't sweat it until you've got the basics down pat.

yeah so do it! final words... okay so being an emt looks really nice on your med school app, but i want to remind you to take it seriously. it isn't like a medical association club or volunteering at a nursing home where you show up once a week and dick around, you really have to put a lot of effort and yourself into this. i remember staying up all night filing reports, freaking out at my first time leading a call only to find the callsheet labelled "Hemorrhage" and thinking OH GOD WHAT IF HE HAS AIDS OR IS BLEEDING TO DEATH AND THERE IS A POOL OF BLOOD and doublelayering my gloves, feeling miserable after failing a drill, and being amazed that the things a little shit like me was doing really made a big visible difference to scared and helpless people.

best of luck!

GrayArea

United States872 Posts

February 23 2008 23:08 GMT

Wow, thanks for the response intrigue. I'm not actually planning for it right away, but I am considering it for the future and gaining as much knowledge as I can right now to see if it is something I want to do. I might also look into getting into a research lab but I am not sure atm.

Anyway, how come you chose EMT? Are you applying to med school also and did it to gain experience?

micronesia

United States24779 Posts

February 23 2008 23:38 GMT

On February 24 2008 04:41 intrigue wrote:
a little shit like me

Are you 21 yet?

Physician

United States4146 Posts

February 24 2008 02:12 GMT

Being EMT is a career in itself, an honorable one at that too. Do it because that is what you want to be not as a means to gain something else.

Medical school is a really long career so if you rather go to medical school, do not delay your goals doing something else. Intrigue gave you very decent advice, in particular:
"it isn't like a medical association club or volunteering at a nursing home where you show up once a week and dick around, you really have to put a lot of effort and yourself into this."

If you want it just for your resume and/or are trying to get into an ivy league without great scores/gpa - you would do better volunteering at a university based research lab. As for the clinical experience - there will be plenty of that once you make it to med school.

LeafHouse

United States185 Posts

February 24 2008 02:17 GMT

Hey Gray Area, I did exactly what you said you were interested in doing.

Intrigue really said what it feels like well and there's not much to add at all. Actually, I loved reading his post... so good. His explanation of being an emt-B(asic) is also really important, you will not be able to do much as an emt-B, but it should give you a taste of what it's like to work in the emergency medical field. To be honest, even doing volunteer emt work is awesome and really rewarding.

If I were you, I'd try to think of some family friends who are doctors and ask them if you could shadow them for a while. I know you're looking for a part-time job, but if you ask the right person they'll take you into surgeries and show you all kinds of amazing stuff. Plus, once you get to know one person you'll get to know more and soon you'll know better if you want to go to med school or not.

Anyway, good luck! The work to learn is definitely worth it and when you start doing physiology stuff you'll have real life connections with the material you're learning.

What are you studying now?

LeafHouse

United States185 Posts

February 24 2008 02:37 GMT

On February 24 2008 11:12 Physician wrote:

If you want it just for your resume and/or are trying to get into an ivy league without great scores/gpa - you would do better volunteering at a university based research lab. As for the clinical experience - there will be plenty of that once you make it to med school.

This is also very true. It wouldn't be a bad idea to do emt work while you're in school and work in a university lab during the summer. Be careful though, it's easy to start in a labratory and be far down an obscure medical research path without knowing whether you actually want to do clinical medicine or not. If you're young and just looking to see what's going on, it's not best to be in a labratory.

But, Lab work is by far the best thing to have on a resume for med school. Once you're at a university and have a few basic biology/chemistry courses under your belt there are a ton of summer opportunities for labratory practicums around. Finding good lab work is awesome and just really good for people who know they want to go into medicine. Physician is completely correct about lab work, but I think he's been a doctor too long to remember what it's like to be curious about clinical things.

(no disrespect to you Physician. I was really glad to see that you had posted here)

At this point if you're older and already at a university you should be looking at working in a lab, but if you're still in highschool and are reasonably sure you can get into the college you want to, definitely try being an EMT. Again, Good Luck!

NeverTheEndlessWiz

Singapore827 Posts

February 24 2008 05:42 GMT

Its a total eye opening experience that changed a reasonable good deal of my perspective in life. intrigue pretty much summed it up but I can tell you how it is like in Singapore after 2 years of experience as EMT-B

As for clinical experience for med school I say EMT experience will help you get a good amount of basics, but thats is as far as it can get anyone as its pretty obvious being an EMT-B/EMT-P doesn't equate to being a doctor but more of like a nurse. Back in the old days, the EMT force in Singapore actually employed nurses for such a role. A shortage of nurses in hospitals forced the implementation and training of EMTs. Currently EMT training in Singapore does require a short attachment in an ED to grasp a good understanding what happens after the patient arrives at the hospital.

For doctors, it will be the other side of the coin. It can give you a good idea happens at the outfield, like how the patient is treated and stabilized before being 'load and go' to the nearest hospital. Such an understanding is helpful for ED doctors. I will be very honest that EMTs do our very best to avoid mistakes giving pre-admission care to patients. I am pretty much relieved that experienced ED doctors understand our position and forgive when it happens! Attempting to render tender loving care (TLC, hehe) for 12 hours straight throughout the night, running back to back cases with minimal rest (record for me is 9 cases). Pretty stressful.

Unfortunately majority of the public does not and tries to find fault in every single loophole. This is a very common sight (and also ugly) in the medical and healthcare industry in Singapore, something a lot of EMTs have to be wary about. It is almost impossible to predict what happens at the frontline.

Aha, but that is where all the fun also comes from ^^ You get to see the real world! Drunk patients (ahh the smell), 'Indonesian maid' symptom (where maids pretend to be unconscious in an attempt to escape from their employers), prank patients and calls, suicides, RTAs, DOAs (I knocked myself out upon my first DOA case lol).. etc

I agree with Physician that being a doctor is a long road, so plan your path with precision. I've yet to know any doctors who had EMT experience. I think maybe a properly planned short stint as a EMT will be very helpful as a good dosage of life experience, which really makes a difference.

Being an EMT helped me develop empathy, something that I lacked back then. Just because it is a short stint doesn't mean you don't put your heart and soul into it; lives are at stake here. My EMT stint is also temporary, I do not consider 2 years as a career. Those 2 years are the best years of my life so far because I went all out with the best of my ability to serve people.

GrayArea

United States872 Posts

February 24 2008 19:17 GMT

Very nice input from you guys, thanks a lot. I have actually volunteered in an ICU at a hospital for 8 months and am currently in the process of applying to volunteer at a another hospital. Also, I started doing research for the first time this semester at my university and I am really enjoying it. I will probably continue it for another year until I apply to med school.

After reading the posts though and doing some research, it seems like EMT will not give me the type of exposure I am really looking for. Rather, like LeafHouse said, I would rather enjoy finding a doctor I can shadow to get direct experience (though finding a long term shadow position seems difficult). Might look into getting into another research program, but don't know yet. Anyway, thanks for sharing your opinions and experiences.