# I got accepted!



## Thriceknight (Dec 18, 2012)

Well...I'm taking the leap! Got my letter of acceptance to start the 2013 Paramedic class!!! So excited and nervous! I hear this particular college's program is pretty hard but their 1st time NREMT-P pass rate is pretty high! I'm sure I'll be on here frequently with questions or rants! bahahaha So here's to no life for a year and a half!!!  :beerchug: 

PS-Any tips/suggestions/comments/experiences would be appreciated!!!


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## NYMedic828 (Dec 18, 2012)

Thriceknight said:


> Well...I'm taking the leap! Got my letter of acceptance to start the 2013 Paramedic class!!! So excited and nervous! I hear this particular college's program is pretty hard but their 1st time NREMT-P pass rate is pretty high! I'm sure I'll be on here frequently with questions or rants! bahahaha So here's to no life for a year and a half!!!  :beerchug:
> 
> PS-Any tips/suggestions/comments/experiences would be appreciated!!!



Read the book before class.


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## Achilles (Dec 18, 2012)

Read chapters before lecture, Listen, take notes, ask questions, keep your phone in your car.


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## ams17 (Dec 20, 2012)

good luck! keep us posted on how it's going!




Thriceknight said:


> Well...I'm taking the leap! Got my letter of acceptance to start the 2013 Paramedic class!!! So excited and nervous! I hear this particular college's program is pretty hard but their 1st time NREMT-P pass rate is pretty high! I'm sure I'll be on here frequently with questions or rants! bahahaha So here's to no life for a year and a half!!!  :beerchug:
> 
> PS-Any tips/suggestions/comments/experiences would be appreciated!!!


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## Amberlamps916 (Dec 20, 2012)

Congrats! Study, study, and STUDY!!!!


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## Angel (Dec 27, 2012)

same here! where at if you dont mind me asking? (PM)
 our orientation is in jan


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## sweetpete (Dec 31, 2012)

Here's my .02; be organized. The paperwork that you have to turn in or get signed or take to clinicals can kill you faster than your actual test grades. 

Just keep it all handy, have plenty of "extra" print outs, and be sure to get EVERY SINGLE PAPER SIGNED as needed. Buy plenty of folders, color coded if necessary, and make sure you turn everything in ON TIME!!:wub:

If you do that, you'll be able to actually focus on studying and learning and NOT have to worry about where your papers are and that awful feeling of not knowing what's due and when.

Take care and keep us all posted. We're all here to help you as best as we can.

Take care


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## Thriceknight (Dec 31, 2012)

sweetpete said:


> Here's my .02; be organized. The paperwork that you have to turn in or get signed or take to clinicals can kill you faster than your actual test grades.
> 
> Just keep it all handy, have plenty of "extra" print outs, and be sure to get EVERY SINGLE PAPER SIGNED as needed. Buy plenty of folders, color coded if necessary, and make sure you turn everything in ON TIME!!:wub:
> 
> ...



Thanks for the advice!!! Will definitely heed it!! Will keep you all posted.


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## MIT (Dec 31, 2012)

Study before class so the content presented in lectures is not new content. 

Make sure you get lots of hands on time with all the skills that you learn. 

Organise everything you've got- different subjects get different folders and allocate time every week to study all of them individually even when their content overlaps. 

Evidence Based Medicine is the future of paramedic research so make sure you are up to date with the newest and latest things as they come through and you learn about them!


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## Akulahawk (Dec 31, 2012)

Read ahead, stay ahead, be in class. That's my #1 advice. Second, make copies of all forms you will need. Make certain that you get signatures on everything that needs to be signed and make absolutely certain that you turn in your paperwork on time. Stay organized all the time. Make sure you know where to find anything you're presented in class or paperwork you have to fill out. 

Believe me, that caused me more trouble than I needed to have a couple semesters ago in Nursing School. Ever since then, I have not had any paperwork-related issues. Also, start looking up problems that patients have and find out what causes it and how it's treated. Also do the same for the meds they take. You'll start seeing patterns and you'll begin to see that sometimes patients are taking meds for a problem that isn't listed in their history.

If you spend time doing interfacility transports, you'll have a much better idea what you'll need to do for patients later, and be far more educated (because you took the initiative) than many of your fellow medics. Should you choose to change careers to something else, you'll have that knowledge base to draw from.


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## bigbaldguy (Dec 31, 2012)

sweetpete said:


> Here's my .02; be organized. The paperwork that you have to turn in or get signed or take to clinicals can kill you faster than your actual test grades.
> 
> Just keep it all handy, have plenty of "extra" print outs, and be sure to get EVERY SINGLE PAPER SIGNED as needed. Buy plenty of folders, color coded if necessary, and make sure you turn everything in ON TIME!!:wub:
> 
> ...



Excellent advice. The paperwork can be a pain especially in accredited programs because they cut you zero slack on it. I carefully go through the paperwork before each clinical and highlight the spots that need to be signed by my preceptor. I even put those little sign here tabs. We don't have dedicated preceptors the nurses sign off on our paperwork so it makes it nice and easy for them and makes it easy to tell if they missed anything. 

Akulahawk's advice is also excellent. Read that book! My trick is I cut the pages out of the book then three whole punch em and put them either in cheap tab folders a few chapters at a time or just put the chapters I'm reading on in a small three ring binder. This makes it easy to take your reading with you anywhere, gym, park, traveling, work. The huge book is a pain to drag around so why not eliminate that as an excuse to not reading it. I find it's also psychologically much easier to sit down with a magazine sized folder of reading to get through than a 900 page book. A 900 page book becomes just thirty, 30 page magazines


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## kaaatielove (Dec 31, 2012)

I start medic on the 9th. Congrats & goodluck!!


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## alabamatriathlete (Jan 1, 2013)

Know the WHY, not just the HOW. I'm sure your instructor staff will drill this into you ^_^

Understanding the A&P is big too - goes with the above advice. 

When it comes to treatment down the road - go simple before advance. No reason to do all these fancy procedures when you can do simple BLS treatment and that keeps your patient stable. 

ABC's or CABC depending on your patient - take care of those, your patient will make it to the ED. 

Like everyone has said - keep ahead of the game. Don't get behind. Ask questions if unsure. Once you get behind or the class has moved on from a topic and you don't understand, it's hard to get back up to speed if no one knows. 

Be confident in your treatment and field diagnosis - there are times where you will have to refer back to Medic SWAG (Scientific Wild A** Guess  ), but don't let that mindset rule you. Be proficient, know what your signs/symptoms, be able to process what is going on in someone, and be flexible. Not every patient of COPD or CHF or whatever will all be perfect, classic textbook S/S. 

Lastly, textbook medicine is not real life medicine. Learn to adapt. Learn to think on the go and be 10 steps ahead of what is happening so you can, hopefully, prevent that patient from coding or going into respiratory failure/etc. 

Good luck - do you best and we'll see you on the other side!


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## energystar (Jan 8, 2013)

Congrats! What school are you taking it at? FCC? I have been looking into applying there in the next twelve months.


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## Thriceknight (Jan 8, 2013)

energystar said:


> Congrats! What school are you taking it at? FCC? I have been looking into applying there in the next twelve months.



Thanks! I'm taking Fresno County's Paramedic course. It's done through Fresno City College.


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## energystar (Jan 8, 2013)

Awesome what was the application process like? Does bill Brotsis teach it?


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## Thriceknight (Jan 8, 2013)

Application process consisted of the following: Application, Basic Math and English test, and written EMT test all on same day. Then they select who gets into the program. CCEMSA.org to get the number to call about the medic class. Next one should start in Jun/Jul I believe. As for teachers it's gonna be Rick and Starky as well as guests/subs.


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## energystar (Jan 8, 2013)

Sweet thanks. I took my EMT through FCC but then moved down to LA area for school. Did you have to take A&P or any other prereqs? By any chance did you work a company in the area such as American, Riggs or Pistoresi?


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## Thriceknight (Jan 8, 2013)

A&P is included in the course. Its the first 5 weeks of class. I currently live in Visalia and work for AMR.


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## pa132399 (Jan 8, 2013)

*good luck*

Good luck and as it has been said before stay organized. Make sure you go to clinical on time. Study Study Study. It all pays off in the end. And remember in medic school no one is your friend your there as a student and are there to learn don't be afraid to ask questions. And other thing is make sure you take the time and have fun doing it. School will get very boring if you dont have fun with it.


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## energystar (Jan 8, 2013)

Cool thanks a lot for the info! I have been trying to find someone with some first hand experience applying there and had no luck in the past. Good luck with the program!


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## Thriceknight (Feb 1, 2013)

Well....I'm almost a month in and damn. A&P is wooooooooowza! :wacko: 
For someone who got his GED and didn't get any sciences...this is a lot to take in all at once and at such a fast pace! But I'm enjoying it. Sometimes it feels like I'm reading english but then it invariably turns into arabic! LOL


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## energystar (Feb 1, 2013)

Haha stick with it!! It will definitely be worth it in the end. How large is the class and are others feeling the same way?


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## Thriceknight (Feb 2, 2013)

energystar said:


> Haha stick with it!! It will definitely be worth it in the end. How large is the class and are others feeling the same way?



LOL Thanks. I'm assuming it'll all come together....I hope!! HAHAHA We are a class of 19 and pretty much everyone feels the same. I think I heard that as a class we are all pretty close grade-wise so that's cool. There's two smarty pants guys already. One's smart but humble...and the other is cocky already. Oh well. All in all a good mix of people and experience.


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## Hunter (Feb 2, 2013)

Thriceknight said:


> LOL Thanks. I'm assuming it'll all come together....I hope!! HAHAHA We are a class of 19 and pretty much everyone feels the same. I think I heard that as a class we are all pretty close grade-wise so that's cool. There's two smarty pants guys already. One's smart but humble...and the other is cocky already. Oh well. All in all a good mix of people and experience.



sit next to the nice smart guy and study with him after class and stuff.


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## chrisloveit (Feb 7, 2013)

Congrats I just got accepted into EMT classes at the Community College in Saint Louis and cant wait to start.


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## MrJones (Feb 7, 2013)

Thriceknight said:


> A&P is included in the course. Its the first 5 weeks of class. I currently live in Visalia and work for AMR.



5 weeks? Must be nice. Last semester I had 16 weeks of Anatomy and 16 weeks of Physiology. This semester I have 16 weeks of Pathophysiology. I'm thinking I'll have the whole A&P thing wired pretty tight when I hit the street. :lol:


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## Thriceknight (Mar 9, 2013)

*Update....*

Starting to really suck! lol I love what I'm doing but I am waaaaaaaay hating life right now. I feel like i'm just not getting it. I'm doing well on the tests/exams...holding a B average...but I just feel like I'm not retaining the information....Got our drug list to memorize. 5-7 drugs a week for the next few months. Got our skills sheets. Started practicing Intubation and IV establishment and medication administration. Next we start PT assessment. I'm not going to give up by any means...but damn! 

Till next time......

Bryan:wacko:


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## EMS 911 (Mar 9, 2013)

First of all - I will be quite honest...I did not have much of a life outside of medic school for two years due to constant studying. For me, I had to study a little bit everyday (colored flashcards are a must for any visual learners!) and used anything that would help me "visually" capture the image of the medic skills, sciences, meds, etc. Flashcards and different colored ink pens were great for me (red for cardiac, blue for respiratory, etc), along with a separate binder for each class. Study everyday and it will start to click.


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