# Mt SAC (california)



## EMTelite (Dec 6, 2009)

Hey guys whats up, So i am about to go to Mt. Sac and I could really use a heads up on some stuff that you guys would recommend studying for the pre course any information could help


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## daedalus (Dec 6, 2009)

EMTelite said:


> Hey guys whats up, So i am about to go to Mt. Sac and I could really use a heads up on some stuff that you guys would recommend studying for the pre course any information could help



I got above a ninety percent in my paramedic didactic program without much effort at all because I had taken a good anatomy and physiology class. If you have a good base of anatomy and physiology, and if you do not than read up now, you will fly through paramedic school. Other good things to do would buy a programmed medical terminology book and do it before class, and maybe do a little pre reading.


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## atropine (Dec 6, 2009)

Heard Steve Williams doen't teach there anymore, he didn't care for the fire guys that much, but anyways you should be fine now days.


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## zzyzx (Dec 18, 2009)

If Steve is still teaching there, expect that you will fail the first time through. Most people do. Man, I feel sorry for you. This is just an awful school. I took his pre-course years ago, and I happened to mistakingly walk into the room where the current medic class was taking its final. There were only four students left at that point.


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## JPINFV (Dec 18, 2009)

Was he just a bad teacher or was he just hard?


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## zzyzx (Dec 18, 2009)

He was smart, but yeah, he was a bad teacher because he just made everything harder than it needed to be. If his students learned more than in other programs, that would be okay, but it's not the case. You learn the same material, not more, at Mt. Sac, but you are tested in a way that makes it very hard.


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## JPINFV (Dec 18, 2009)

Cool... just checking. Harder isn't always better and being able to teach can definately affect how students come out.


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## thegreypilgrim (Dec 18, 2009)

I went to Mt. SAC, and Steve is semi-retired last time I heard. He's no longer the program director, and only handles the pre-course and some of the early lectures in the program now. I'm sure he'll be completely retired in the near future.

Regarding the program itself; yes, it is very challenging. The vast majority of students fail the first time through, but the reason for this is Mt. SAC hits anatomy & physiology _*really*_ hard...like much harder than any undergraduate level course. The second reason for the high fail-rate is there isn't a whole lot of pedagogical instruction going on. It's very much andragogy all the way there, but the problem is there isn't much facilitation from faculty either. There's no mercy, if you don't get something no one will help except for your peers; and, you're not allowed to re-take any final exams if you fail one. The tests themselves also seemed designed to make people fail - lots of strangely worded questions, multiple answers of equal plausibility, questions with no "good" answers, etc.

I believe you end up coming out of the program with a very deep knowledge-base, probably more than the average paramedic school. The problem is, students are very much left on their own to learn. Really though it's the not being able to re-take any finals you fail, especially the A&P final, that kills a lot of students.


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