Education Beyond Paramedic

[WVNobody]

Hey guys, I'm 21 and just graduated this past week from a community college with an Associates Degree in Applied Science in Emergency Medical Services. I'd really like to find a bachelor's degree that I could utilize my associates with that could benefit me later on. I'm thinking maybe a bachelor's in emergency medical services or something like management or something.

Does anyone have any idea what I could maybe do? I've been looking around and it's hard to find stuff. I'd like to eventually go to nursing school as well.. I'm just wanting to further my education and don't know exactly which way to go with it and am looking for suggestions.

 

[Run with scissors]

http://www.baker.edu/programs-degrees/emergency-services-management-associate/

 

[joshrunkle35]

That link only shows an associates degree. Do they offer a bachelor's?

 

[Gurby]

From your post, you want to get a bachelors in EMS(?), you want to do management maybe, you want to go to nursing school... These are all fairly different paths.

My gut feeling is that getting an EMS-focused bachelor's is not a great plan. You kind of pidgeon-hole yourself into a very specific role when there's really no reason to do that. In the US, if your goal is to work the field in EMS, paramedic is as far as you can go, really. There are other classes you can take but a bachelor's in EMS doesn't really benefit you much.

If your goal is to be a manager of some sort at an EMS company, you can probably achieve that with a regular business/management degree, which you could earn while you work as a medic. I don't really see the benefit of going for an EMS management degree when you could just get a regular business degree and have far more options open to you.

If you want to do nursing, the obvious choice is jumping into a BSN program.

I think you got good advice in your other thread, so I'll repost it here:

Also, not having a BSN is difficult in some states and career limiting in others.

Nursing is hypercompetitive for new nurses in many locations. Fresh minted RNs with questionable nursing educational backgrounds (and no BSN) will be at a severe disadvantage (the taking whatever crap job they can get after 1 year of looking type of severe disadvantage).

I guess what I'm saying is why all the leap frog backdoor BS? Paramedic school isn't nursing school. You don't have gobs of healthcare experience to supplement with as a minty fresh 21 year old paramedic. Shortcuts can short-change you and your patients.

Go to a BSN program and get yourself a degree from a real program. Work as a medic while in school. You'll be a competitive hire, maybe you will score that ICU or ER residency program. It will keep you from working night shift at nursing homes, then medsurg, to get yourself competitive to the point where you can do the type of nursing your presumably want to do (ED/ICU) given your paramedic background.

So ask yourself, why do you want to be a nurse and what kind of nurse do you want to be?

 

[DrParasite]

go get your BSN, and then look at obtaining a Master in Public Administration.

 

[WVNobody]

I've thought about jumping into a nursing school but the schedule makes it super hard to do while working full time as a medic. That's one reason I was leaning towards management type degrees because most of them are all online.

I didn't even think about a regular business degree though.. I may look into that.

 

[DrParasite]

in my experience most people who get those management degrees are already working in positions of management; it's not like you are going to get the management degree, and you will be offered a job in management as a result. or they are working in a supervisory/management position at one job, and they get the degree and take a position with another agency.

and MPA doesn't pigeonhole you to just working EMS, it's applicable to to anything in the non-profit world

 

[WVNobody]

Yeah I'm not really trying to limit myself to just EMS. I plan to work a truck for atleast the next 20-30 years. But in my state RN's can work trucks just like a medic. I'm just trying to think of something that may benefit me more for a possible supervisors position or safety officer or director or something one day maybe. And not necessarily just EMS, maybe just public safety.

 

[COmedic17]

I would look at a bachelors in something other then EMS.

As a medic, your pay will be menial. It won't matter is you have your paramedic certificate, or an EMS degree.

I would look into a career you could do full time and maybe eventually just be a PT medic if it's something you enjoy.

Move on to nursing, flight medicine, PAC, criminal justice, etc.

 

[Underoath87]

Or you could get a bachelor's in biochem or some other science and go to PA school.
But that's a bit more ambitious than the kind of stuff you're thinking about...

 

[Run with scissors]

yeah, to be honest. BS degree won't help you much. RN program would be your best advancement option in this career field.
i don't know about your state. but in texas. colleges offer Paramedic transitioning classes to obtain their RN. its about a year long.

 

[Akulahawk]

yeah, to be honest. BS degree won't help you much. RN program would be your best advancement option in this career field.
i don't know about your state. but in texas. colleges offer Paramedic transitioning classes to obtain their RN. its about a year long.

To the OP: A degree (at this point) won't help your career in EMS much. An RN program could certainly be beneficial and offers quite a bit opportunity to try different areas of patient care while having a relatively decent wage. There may be RN programs that may work with your work schedule. Another possibility is to go to PA school as PAs are generalists by training and can move from field to field reasonably easily. However in some areas the PA may be more or less "in demand" than other areas. You'll have do your own research on this for your area and schooling, being very tough, typically precludes employment due to demands placed on students.

 

[mgr22]

yeah, to be honest. BS degree won't help you much.

To the OP, I disagree with the above comment; a BS might help a lot and, in my experience, will probably help at least a little by making you stand out among candidates who have everything you do except that degree. You have so many years ahead of you to take advantage of opportunities, some of which don't even exist yet. One constant that isn't likely to change is the perceived value of a college education among people who hire.

A BS always counted when I hired medics, even without an EMS-related major. Think about generic skills needed in EMS, such as communications and problem-solving; there are many majors that offer polish, if not expertise, in those areas.

 

[Altitudes]

To the OP, I disagree with the above comment; a BS might help a lot and, in my experience, will probably help at least a little by making you stand out among candidates who have everything you do except that degree. You have so many years ahead of you to take advantage of opportunities, some of which don't even exist yet. One constant that isn't likely to change is the perceived value of a college education among people who hire.

A BS always counted when I hired medics, even without an EMS-related major. Think about generic skills needed in EMS, such as communications and problem-solving; there are many majors that offer polish, if not expertise, in those areas.

I'm pretty sure he's saying that a bachelors in EMS will basically be useless. Not that a bachelors in something else would be.

If you want to go to nursing school, then do that. Why get a bachelors in something else & then have to go back later in life to get a BSN? Waste of time & a waste of money.

 

[Run with scissors]

Waste of time & a waste of money.

i agree completely. i'll Co-sign that statement lol.