how long......(medics only)

[emtcarter6140]

I'm going through paramedic school right now. Only four months of class time left-then a heck of a lot of clinicals to finish up. Anyway, I'm doing good with all of my tests and homework and quizzes and everything like that. My average score right now is 89%-which I think isn't too shabby for the way I feel.

When I go in to take tests I feel as I know nothing while I'm reading the questions-yet I continue to get high scores on them. During lectures I feel like I learn A LOT-I have some really great instructors.....but when I leave class-like when I'm driving home I try to reflect on the days class and can't remember anything. When I sit and think (as I am now) I feel as though I now nothing more than I did when I started 11 months ago. Everyone says-it all takes time and it eventually will come to you. I'm just wondering when that is going to happen.

I've been doing great so far at all of my clinicals and my skills are great. I don't know what it is really.

Can any of you medics out there explain this?

 

[rmellish]

I'm not a medic, even though I'm a full time student. I guess when I am I can answer your question. I'll check back in about a year and a half, when I've had 3 years of full time college and paramedic completed....

 

[WuLabsWuTecH]

I'm not a medic either, but I am a full time Biomedical Engineering student and I can honestly say that when you are in difficult classes for you, you will feel that way. The best answer I have for you is that you actually are learning, but it just doesn't feel that way.

My advice is to go back and review your notes each night. My EMT-B program was an intensive program, so I was sure to do all the reading the night before, go into class, and when I got home, to read through all my notes and re-read the passages from the textbook that were still unclear. Usually your text will have objective at the beginning of each chapter, can you answer those?

I honestly believe this strategy contributed to my success. I averaged 95% on all of my exams and was out of the NREMT in 20-30 minutes!

 

[EMT-P633]

Speaking as a medic who has just recently been out of school.

I was in the same place you are, Class was nearing its end, You are washed with mixed feelings of alot of knowledge, mixed with inexperience. While I sat in the lectures I felt I could fix the world, Had all the answers to the questions. Then when it was crunch time - tests or clinicals or an experienced medic quizzing me, the cold chill of incertanty ran down my neck.

It will all start making sense, all the puzzle pieces will start comming together. For me it started during clinicals. Once you start getting the "hands on experience" seeing the medications work, not just knowing how the work but actually seeing them work. Seeing your interventions make changes to the patients conditions. This is when it started falling into place for me.

Just remember one thing, no matter how much you learn in school, class, clinicals. YOU MUST NEVER STOP LEARNING. I am sure the more experienced medics here will agree. Once you graduate school, you are only fact, knowledge trained to a minimum. You know the book way of what is supposed to happen, This is the time to continue your education. attend all the lectures, and read as many articals you can get to expand your knowledge.

 

[MSDeltaFlt]

I'm going through paramedic school right now. Only four months of class time left-then a heck of a lot of clinicals to finish up. Anyway, I'm doing good with all of my tests and homework and quizzes and everything like that. My average score right now is 89%-which I think isn't too shabby for the way I feel.

When I go in to take tests I feel as I know nothing while I'm reading the questions-yet I continue to get high scores on them. During lectures I feel like I learn A LOT-I have some really great instructors.....but when I leave class-like when I'm driving home I try to reflect on the days class and can't remember anything. When I sit and think (as I am now) I feel as though I now nothing more than I did when I started 11 months ago. Everyone says-it all takes time and it eventually will come to you. I'm just wondering when that is going to happen.
I've been doing great so far at all of my clinicals and my skills are great. I don't know what it is really.

Can any of you medics out there explain this?

So you're wondering when all of your knowledge and training is going to "click" for you. It can. And it will. And to a point it has, but not necessarily in the way you might be expecting. You know more than you think. If you didn't, you wouldn't be passing right now.

You are beginning to learn how to practically apply all of that knowledge through clincals. The operative word is "beginning". You won't be fully confident for a long time; possbily years. You can't teach experience.

Be patient. Keep your eyes, ears, and more importantly, your mind open. It will happen.

 

[MOflightmedic]

When I go in to take tests I feel as I know nothing while I'm reading the questions-yet I continue to get high scores on them. During lectures I feel like I learn A LOT-I have some really great instructors.....but when I leave class-like when I'm driving home I try to reflect on the days class and can't remember anything. When I sit and think (as I am now) I feel as though I now nothing more than I did when I started 11 months ago. Everyone says-it all takes time and it eventually will come to you. I'm just wondering when that is going to happen.

It sounds as though you are doing well for where you are at in your training. I would attribute some of your "end of the day amnesia" to fatigue and mental drain. I would worry too much about this if you are doing well on your exams. You wouldn't be scoreing so high if you weren't retaining information in regard to your course's objectives.

Your feeling of uncertainity towards your knowledge base--compared to your 11 month prior starting point--is most like self doubt and the stresses associated with potential failure. I think this is somewhat normal and I'd be willing to bet that many have similar feelings whether they physically show it or verbally express them. There's nothing wrong with opening up to some of your select co-students and instructors about what you're feeling--it's important to have a strong social network when going through your paramedic training. Nevertheless, you're nearly making "A's" and this wouldn't be the case if you weren't truely learning.

As far as "when it will come to you"; I don't believe there's any definite time period to answer this. Some will "get it" faster than others and some will think "they got it" when they really don't. Remember, you'll always be learning while you're in the medical field and if the day ever comes that you think you can't be "burnt", I'd strongly consider taking a step back and reevaluating your attitude.

In the meantime, get plenty of rest, don't procrastinate, study hard, and pay attention. You'll do fine.

 

[DT4EMS]

So you're wondering when all of your knowledge and training is going to "click" for you. It can. And it will. And to a point it has, but not necessarily in the way you might be expecting. You know more than you think. If you didn't, you wouldn't be passing right now.

You are beginning to learn how to practically apply all of that knowledge through clincals. The operative word is "beginning". You won't be fully confident for a long time; possbily years. You can't teach experience.

Be patient. Keep your eyes, ears, and more importantly, your mind open. It will happen.

You took the words right out of my mouth!

 

[Epi-do]

What you are feeling is pretty normal, if you ask me. Heck, I have been working as the only medic on my truck for about a month now, and still feel as if there is alot I don't know. I did well in class, and am confident that I do know the material, especially when the info is "just there" on a run, rather than swimming around in my head somewhere, waiting for me to catch it.

I have had several people that I respect, both on a personal level and a professional level, tell me that it takes about a year for you to realize that you do know the basics of what you are doing, and to get into a groove/figure out your "style" of patient care. Basically, that is the time in which you learn to "be" a medic. Class prepares you for what lies ahead, but until you are "the medic" onscene, you don't truly "know" what it entails. Clinicals, precepting, ride outs - they all prepare you for what is to come, but in turn, they also always provide you with a safety net for when you are unsure or flat out just don't know.

I was fortunate that my first ALS run as "the medic" was a pretty basic run. Even so, when I climbed into the back of that truck, knowing what I needed to get done, my heart was racing. My mind was going a mile a minute, and I couldn't wait to get back to station and talk to some of the seasoned medics about the run. I was convinced I was going to miss something, or something terrible was going to happen, neither of which was the case. After it was over, I was able to take a deep breath and think, "That wasn't so bad afterall. Maybe I do know more than I feel as if I do, and I am going to be able to become a good medic, in time."

Hang in there, it sounds like you are doing just fine. In time, it will become easier. The longer you do this job, the more you learn and the more you learn, the more confident you become in your abilities.