# EMT/Paramedic school struggles



## xrsm002 (Jul 15, 2012)

How many people on here struggled with with one part in school? And what was it. I need some encouragement.


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## Anjel (Jul 15, 2012)

xrsm002 said:


> How many people on here struggled with with one part in school? And what was it. I need some encouragement.



Pulmonology kicked my butt. 

But when it came down to it. I was slacking. You conquer the "hard" part that everyone tells you is the worst. Then you slack. 

You either don't study. Don't study enough. Loose sight of the end goal. 

Everyone tells me you have the moment that everything "clicks". I am still waiting for it. 

You have to try just as hard with the small subjects as you do with cardiology, pharmacology, etc.


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## bigbaldguy (Jul 15, 2012)

I'm having a really really hard time remembering where I put my brand spanking new school supplies. Seriously I'm freaking out, I'm not even in the class yet and I'm lost :/


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## Anjel (Jul 15, 2012)

bigbaldguy said:


> I'm having a really really hard time remembering where I put my brand spanking new school supplies. Seriously I'm freaking out, I'm not even in the class yet and I'm lost :/



Oh no! I bought new school supplies today. I was like a kid in a candy store lol


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## bigbaldguy (Jul 15, 2012)

Anjel1030 said:


> Oh no! I bought new school supplies today. I was like a kid in a candy store lol



My memories associated with school tend to be....less than positive. Buying school supplies was brutal. I did find an awesome pen I like though. It writes upside down and underwater. 

xrsm002, keep the faith, stay the course, nose to the grindstone ect. You think positive thoughts for me I'll think positive thoughts for you and maybe we'll both get through this without a nervous break down, deal?


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## fast65 (Jul 15, 2012)

Even though it was a little more than a year ago that I graduated, it's hard for me to remember a particular area that I struggled in per say. Truth be told, there were aspects of almost every area that I struggled in, the trick is to realize where you're weaknesses are, and spend a little more time working on those areas. 

Just keep pushing toward that end goal, and never forget why you're doing this. Ask NVRob, it feels amazing to finally see all your work pay off, and to see how far you've come. Good luck.


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## shfd739 (Jul 16, 2012)

I struggled with cardiology and parts of A&P. Cardiology finally "clicked" and the A&P took some extra studying.


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## Handsome Robb (Jul 16, 2012)

fast65 said:


> Just keep pushing toward that end goal, and never forget why you're doing this. Ask NVRob, it feels amazing to finally see all your work pay off, and to see how far you've come. Good luck.



Ask me what? :unsure:

Medic school can be rough, there's no way around it. It may sound conceited but I didn't have a whole lot of trouble with didactic and clinicals were boring at times. What really got me was my internship. I saw a bunch of bad calls with bad outcomes in quick succession and got to the point of questioning whether I even still wanted to be a medic or work in EMS. Two of those calls I still am not a fan of talking about but when people ask I make myself talk about them as part of the "healing" process. I talked to coworkers, friends, family and people on here and they convinced me to push through it and finish and I'm glad I did. Now I'm set to start my FTO time as a full time medic here in the near future. Trust me, it's worth it.


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## leoemt (Jul 17, 2012)

I finished my Basic a couple of months ago and it was harder than I thought. 

I walked into class thinking this is going to be a piece of cake. I've been a cop, I've worked security in a large industrial setting I have seen my share of trauma and medical calls. Boy was I wrong. 

First day was CPR for 8 hours. I have been taking CPR classes since I was 12 and this was actually my first struggle. I had to relearn how to do compressions because they changed how they were done. Then I had to learn how to use a BVM which I had never used before. Trying to get a good seal was really stressing me out. Didn't help that we were using these high tech dummies that had computers to tell you if you were doing it wrong. The printout said of the 500 compressions I did, less than 80 were correct. Talk about humbling. 

The hardest part of the class was A&P and Patho. I couldn't understand why we were learning this stuff. Why did I need to know about cellular metabolism and all these fancy medical terms? As the class continued the later chapters reinforced the A&P and patho chapters. Learned about diabetic emergencies - oh so thats why I had to learn about cellular metabolism and glucose, duh. 

By the end of the class everything had clicked. I walked out having learned two very important lessons. First, the field of medicine is everchanging and you need to adapt. Second, everything is tied into everything else. You may be confused by one topic, but at a later date that topic will make sense.


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## Jambi (Jul 17, 2012)

I never found paramedic school as difficult as my peers made it out to be.  I still worked my butt off, but no single thing was "hard" outside having to learn, master, and demonstrate information and skills.  I think what made paramedic school a real sucess for me was the fact that I had a degree going in, so I knew how I learned and how to study, and I had 10 semester units of anatomy and physiology, 5 of microbiology, 5 of chemistry, and a boat load of math etc...


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## NomadicMedic (Jul 17, 2012)

^^^this. I never thought any particular section of medic school was difficult. Nor did I study any harder than I did for any other college class. And yes, 4.0, number 2 in the class. 

If you have solid study skills and the ability to retain and regurgitate information, paramedic school is no more difficult than a typical college level science, with lab.


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## xrsm002 (Jul 17, 2012)

NVRob said:


> Ask me what? :unsure:
> 
> Medic school can be rough, there's no way around it. It may sound conceited but I didn't have a whole lot of trouble with didactic and clinicals were boring at times. What really got me was my internship. I saw a bunch of bad calls with bad outcomes in quick succession and got to the point of questioning whether I even still wanted to be a medic or work in EMS. Two of those calls I still am not a fan of talking about but when people ask I make myself talk about them as part of the "healing" process. I talked to coworkers, friends, family and people on here and they convinced me to push through it and finish and I'm glad I did. Now I'm set to start my FTO time as a full time medic here in the near future. Trust me, it's worth it.



Ive made all B's in lecture/lab/written exam. I will hopefully be done with my internship in August if not sooner. But I have had days where I wonder of I'm in the right field. I still have trouble between CHF and COPD treatments according to my book the first few steps are the same. I have has my preceptor ask my simple questions I knew the answers too  and I couldn't remember the answer I guess because I was nervous.


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## xrsm002 (Jul 27, 2012)

I do better remembering stuff when I hear or do it multiple times, I've always been like that. I'm a hands on type of person. For some reason though I freeze up on some but not all calls. I'm guessing this is just nervousness


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