so I am about to start my mass paramedic class in about a month, and i was wondering if there is anything that i should be doing to maybe get a head start. I am pretty much worried about cardiology, pharmacology med's& dosages... o and my medical lingo is....well sad at best. is there anything websites books ect. that could help me get a head start??
Medic school help??
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medichopeful
Flight RN/Paramedic
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Read (and absorb) an A&P book before you do anything else. If you can, before you do that, read a life-science related chemistry book. Then, if there's time before you start class, move onto other stuff. But definitely get a foundation in A&P.
hello
I can't agree with medichopeful more. A good understanding of A&P is VERY helpful. With that, a lot of things will fall into place. Also, as the class progresses and you learn treatment modalities and drugs, you'll understand WHY you're doing what you're doing and how its affecting your patient. This is why I really like my medic school, we spent the first 2 months on A&P. I already had a foundation of A&P from working on my Bio degree, but it was nice for those that didn't.
Hey, as far as books go everyone is going to recommend something different, but here's my 2 cents. For ECG/Cardio stuff I bought E-Z ECG by Henry B. Geiter, I like it a lot and it has been very helpful for me. It breaks down the heart and how it works then builds upon that foundation and even provides a ton of practice strips and little end-of-the-chapter quizes. It's been great for me.
For Pharm, to learn your drugs you really have to surround yourself with them. I bought a little pocket-binder thing of note cards and wrote all my drugs on them. I carry it with me EVERYWHERE either at work, school passenger in a car, whatever. That way I can just take them out and study them whenever and wherever. I also color coded them which helps, I.E- Red for Cardiac/ACLS drugs, Green for analgesics etc and I focus on one specific category per week.
For med lingo maybe just pick up a med-terminology flip book or intro book at a bookstore and read up. Flash cards again help for that since its mostly just memorization. Some may disagree, but for me flash cards are awesome. I retain information with them very well. Hope this helps!
I can't agree with medichopeful more. A good understanding of A&P is VERY helpful. With that, a lot of things will fall into place. Also, as the class progresses and you learn treatment modalities and drugs, you'll understand WHY you're doing what you're doing and how its affecting your patient. This is why I really like my medic school, we spent the first 2 months on A&P. I already had a foundation of A&P from working on my Bio degree, but it was nice for those that didn't.
Hey, as far as books go everyone is going to recommend something different, but here's my 2 cents. For ECG/Cardio stuff I bought E-Z ECG by Henry B. Geiter, I like it a lot and it has been very helpful for me. It breaks down the heart and how it works then builds upon that foundation and even provides a ton of practice strips and little end-of-the-chapter quizes. It's been great for me.
For Pharm, to learn your drugs you really have to surround yourself with them. I bought a little pocket-binder thing of note cards and wrote all my drugs on them. I carry it with me EVERYWHERE either at work, school passenger in a car, whatever. That way I can just take them out and study them whenever and wherever. I also color coded them which helps, I.E- Red for Cardiac/ACLS drugs, Green for analgesics etc and I focus on one specific category per week.
For med lingo maybe just pick up a med-terminology flip book or intro book at a bookstore and read up. Flash cards again help for that since its mostly just memorization. Some may disagree, but for me flash cards are awesome. I retain information with them very well. Hope this helps!
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TransportJockey
Forum Chief
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Preferred? Take A&P 1&2 w/ labs, take a pharm course, take a med-term course, make sure you've got a good science and bio background.
For EKGs I love Dubin's book. It's an amazing read, same w/ Bob Pages 12 lead book. If you are serious about learning, you'll find that a lot of your money might go to extra reference books
For EKGs I love Dubin's book. It's an amazing read, same w/ Bob Pages 12 lead book. If you are serious about learning, you'll find that a lot of your money might go to extra reference books
Preferred? Take A&P 1&2 w/ labs, take a pharm course, take a med-term course, make sure you've got a good science and bio background.
For EKGs I love Dubin's book. It's an amazing read, same w/ Bob Pages 12 lead book. If you are serious about learning, you'll find that a lot of your money might go to extra reference books
Haha good advice for readers but a month out is too late for courses, I concur Dubin's book is invaluable. Read it until you get lost, then keep reading. Look up stuff as you go then go back & reread from the beginning. Bit by bit it'll make more sense. Drugs are gonna be tough until you get to see them & use them in the field, but you can start learning about the classes & general effects before tackling heavy specifics in each&every drug on your list.
tl/dr - Get Dubin's book. With drugs: Focus on understanding vs memorization.
HotelCo
Forum Deputy Chief
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A&P! A&P! A&P! Having a FIRM understanding of A&P will help you to realize what the drugs your giving are actually doing to the body, to get the effect that you want.
Along with the A&P, I bought myself a nice EKG book which had every rhythm imaginable (wish I remembered the title) to practice on....there were literally thousands and the beginning explained how to read them. Since I'm more of a visual learner, this helped me out a lot during medic school because I already had my EKG's down. I dunno how your school teaches things, but EKG's were a HUGE part of mine and I feel it gave me more time to study some of the other material just because that was one less thing I had to prepare for. Good luck with everything man, I wish you the best.
abckidsmom
Dances with Patients
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All these threads jarred my brain. Before I took A&P, I read and studied an A&P for dummies book. It was helpful, and more comprehensive than you might think.
Also, the standard anatomy coloring book, especially for cardio, respiratory, musculoskeletal, and neuro really help you to train your brain to remember that anatomy and be able to recall the form when discussing the function in class.
Also, the standard anatomy coloring book, especially for cardio, respiratory, musculoskeletal, and neuro really help you to train your brain to remember that anatomy and be able to recall the form when discussing the function in class.
18G
Paramedic
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I agree with the above but with being right on the verge of starting the program ur not gonna have time for any of that. I would focus on reading the A&P portion of the Paramedic text. It is light reading but will give you a good overview of terms and how things work and are related so they aren't so confusing when you start going over them in class.
Most importantly just remain calm and keep a clear mind. Paramedic school is a big undertaking and requires a lot of dedication. But as long as you stay focused and immerse yourself in the subject matter you will do fine. Make Google your best friend. If there is ne thing in class that u do not understand then Google it! it really does help fill in the blanks. I used to (and still do) get so frustrated when I didnt know the answer to something or couldnt answer it fully. Strive to have a complete base of knowledge and not a fragmented one.
So, just read the A&P of your Paramedic text, read the first few chapters of the material you will be going over the first couple days of class, and go from there
Most importantly just remain calm and keep a clear mind. Paramedic school is a big undertaking and requires a lot of dedication. But as long as you stay focused and immerse yourself in the subject matter you will do fine. Make Google your best friend. If there is ne thing in class that u do not understand then Google it! it really does help fill in the blanks. I used to (and still do) get so frustrated when I didnt know the answer to something or couldnt answer it fully. Strive to have a complete base of knowledge and not a fragmented one.
So, just read the A&P of your Paramedic text, read the first few chapters of the material you will be going over the first couple days of class, and go from there
calebsheltonmed23
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SMARTMedic has helped me a lot. I retake the tests after every day of school and quiz myself.
HTML:
http://smartmedic.com/quiz/index.aspChief Complaint
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Just to piggyback off of what has already been said in this thread. A good knowledge of A&P will help you immensely.
Im finishing my 2nd semester 'I' program in May and will take the NREMT shortly thereafter. Looking back, a better understanding of A&P would have made many of those lengthy lectures make much more sense. Im doing well without the info, but it requires a greater amount of time studying due to my lack of A&P knowledge.
We'll be getting much more schooling on these subjects when we jump into our 'Advanced Pathophysiology' class next semester, but im sure ill struggle a bit there.
If you are skipping 'I' and going directly to 'P' level classes, my advice is to use the links provided by other posters, or look for some EMS related A&P books on Amazon.
Im finishing my 2nd semester 'I' program in May and will take the NREMT shortly thereafter. Looking back, a better understanding of A&P would have made many of those lengthy lectures make much more sense. Im doing well without the info, but it requires a greater amount of time studying due to my lack of A&P knowledge.
We'll be getting much more schooling on these subjects when we jump into our 'Advanced Pathophysiology' class next semester, but im sure ill struggle a bit there.
If you are skipping 'I' and going directly to 'P' level classes, my advice is to use the links provided by other posters, or look for some EMS related A&P books on Amazon.