# Paramedic School Questions



## macwiz1220 (Jan 21, 2012)

Hey guys,
I currently have my NREMT-B and NYS-EMT-B. I got my certification in August and loved the class and rotations. I want to go ALS and am looking into the Stony Brook Paramedic Program (I can't post links since this is my first post, but a Google search for "stony brook paramedic program" yields the website as the first result). I have a few questions.

Has anyone heard anything about the Stony Brook Paramedic program? Reputation, quality, etc.... Has anyone been through the program? Experiences, comments, etc...
What was it like going through medic school? Did you like it? Challenging? Time consuming? What were the hardest parts of the class?
Should I get some experience riding before I jump to ALS or go right into 
the class (beginning in August).
What was the hardest part of the course?
What course material (academics) did you find the most challenging to grasp?
About how much time a night was spent studying/rotations? Did you ever get any "free" time?
Any recommendations on how to get a head start in the course?

Thanks for all the help!


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## Maine iac (Jan 21, 2012)

Answers:
1- Never heard anything about it but I am not in the NY area. Although looking at their website it was last updated in 2008, and there are still parts that say "under construction".... Also it does not appear to be nationally accredited, which seems to be a growing trend among schools.  

2- Not sure the set up of this program. Is it an 18month course, or 10 months? My course was 9 full months long (but some students were finished in a solid 7 months). I did my classroom, then hospital then ride time. The classroom was 40 hours a week and then I would read/study for 3 to 4 hours each night and one casual full day on the weekend.

3- I did my Basic and went straight into P-School. It can be hard to find jobs because I lack the experience. That being said I have a university degree and other work experience. But since the class starts in August, what are you doing now? If you can get a job doing BLS just get one and then quit. All just depends on your $$$ situation.

4- The hardest part was probably the pharmacology. I have a good grasp on the standard ALS medications but know minimal amounts of everyday medications that the general public is on. 

5- Cardiac stuff was easy if you took it slow and learnt the basic PQRSJTU morphology. The BIG chapters are toxicology, endocrinology, and Pharm. Take the time to learn the foundation of this stuff and it will help BIG TIME. Really you need to understand the neuro system and that will help you understand the tox and pharm stuff much better.

6- See #2. As soon as I got the the clinicals and ridetime I didn't stop reading, but I didn't go home after a 12 hour shift and spend hours reading. Have your notes/books with you in the hospital and look up anything that you need to. Your goal should be to hold a conversation with the patient's doctor about their problem. Come ride time just get a good pharm apt on your phone or ipod so you can quickly look up a medication. Put Poison Control's # in your phone that way you can call them if need be. We got a call one night for a women shooting up adderall heroin style, and gave poison control a call just to see if we needed to be extra worried.

7- If you are not a science guy start reading and understanding A&P and the Neuro stuff. Like I said, understanding the different pathways helps in many areas. For your ride time try and pick a large call volume service. I was running 8-12 calls in 12 hour shifts, whereas other kids were only doing 2-6 in 12 hours.

What separates a good medic from the medic that everybody wants to be? Sure nailing a tube in a vomiting trauma pt is pretty bad ***. But picking up on an EKG that your pt has overdosed on Digoxin and knowing how to treat that will get you much further, and save your pt.


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## mgr22 (Jan 22, 2012)

1. Stony Brook has a well-respected paramedic program.
2. Medic school is much harder and much more time-consuming than EMT courses. A lot of the material is college-level.
3. Experience isn't required, but it'll help you master basic parts of the curriculum.
4. I'd say most students find cardiology, pharmacology, and math particularly challenging. Also, alternating between classroom and practical settings with close scrutiny by instructors and numerous pass/fail obstacles can be very stressful. Some students find it hard to excel in a results-oriented, no-excuses environment.
5. See #4.
6. You'll have classes and/or practical rotations at least three days a week -- often more. Be prepared to put much of the rest of your life on hold for ten months.
7. Reading comprehension and basic math skills are particularly important. If you're weak in either, you'll have a much more difficult time with the program unless you get some tutoring.

Overall, it will be harder and less predictable than you think.


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## Veneficus (Jan 22, 2012)

macwiz1220 said:


> [*]Has anyone heard anything about the Stony Brook Paramedic program? Reputation, quality, etc.... Has anyone been through the program? Experiences, comments, etc...
> 
> Yes, very reputable, high quality. No I have not been through the program
> 
> ...



We should make a sticky for this.


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## macwiz1220 (Jan 30, 2012)

Thanks guys! These are all very well written, detailed answers. I appreciate it.


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## systemet (Jan 30, 2012)

macwiz1220 said:


> Hey guys,
> Has anyone heard anything about the Stony Brook Paramedic program? Reputation, quality, etc.... Has anyone been through the program? Experiences, comments, etc...



No.



> What was it like going through medic school? Did you like it? Challenging? Time consuming? What were the hardest parts of the class?



Time consuming.  My program was  0800-1700 M-F x 2 years, 1000 hours on the ambulance, 400 in hospital.  I worked full-time in parallel.

The first month was overwhelming, until I realised I had to limit what I read about, and prioritise on the core areas.  In general, I'd say the classes were less academically difficult than first year university classes, but involved a lot more lecture time.  It was the volume of information to absorb in the time that was challenging more than the difficulty level.

Practicum was most difficult, as I was working and doing practicum in the same service, resulting in a 2 days 5 nights schedule for several months, for 90 hours in an 8 day cycle, only half of which was paid.  I developed a poor attitude towards the end, and 10-15 kg of fat from constant junk food.  My car looked like I lived in it.




> Should I get some experience riding before I jump to ALS or go right into
> the class (beginning in August).



Get some experience now until August.  Try and work part-time during school.  Unless there's somewhere you can go and run BLS 911 response, I can't see delaying a year.  Even then, unless you're ridiculously young, I'd say do medic school.




> What was the hardest part of the course?



See above.



> What course material (academics) did you find the most challenging to grasp?



Maybe the brief period of time we talked about Swan-Ganz lines, but that could have been an instructional issue.  I don't remember it being hard.  I remember being frustrated that we seemed to spend the first 6 months basically reviewing EMT and adding detail.  In retrospect, this was time well spent, and things I considered "re-learning BLS", were actually important, like "learning to do a half-*** decent patient assessment".



> About how much time a night was spent studying/rotations? Did you ever get any "free" time?



At the start of the course, several hours a night studying.  Rotations were primarily spaced between class time, so we didn't really go to class, then go to a rotation.  At least not that often.

I had very very little free time.  This was the result of deciding to go to school when I wasn't really financially set up for not having to work a lot.  If I could do it again, I'd work less.




> Any recommendations on how to get a head start in the course?



Make sure your basic math is solid, otherwise remediate yourself now.  The math is very simple, but it gets a lot of people who've been out of school for a while.  Address any major issues in written English.

Take A&P, as suggested.  Review ECGs.  Work through a medical terminology text.

I should also add that many of the courses I thought were pointless filler when I took medic school, like Law, Statistics, Research Methodology, Presentation skills, etc.  ended up being incredibly useful later on.  I was really surprised at how much better I became at presenting just due to medic school.


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## macwiz1220 (Jan 30, 2012)

I'm 20, so yes, I'm pretty young. Still in college. Thanks.


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## systemet (Jan 30, 2012)

macwiz1220 said:


> I'm 20, so yes, I'm pretty young. Still in college. Thanks.



I would strongly recommend finishing your degree first.  It's a lot harder to go back and do it later.  I've walked that path as well.  EMS will still be here in a year or two, the option to go to university may rapidly disappear / become much more difficult.


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## macwiz1220 (Jan 30, 2012)

I thought about that, but I was hoping it would be something different for a year. I would go to university once the program completes. No matter what, I'm getting a college degree.


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