# Got my Paramedic...now what?



## rhstanford (Sep 11, 2016)

So I just finished my paramedic course, passed the NREMT, got my state certification and got a bag full of stuff. Now what? I work for a law enforcement agency so running EMS calls isn't my first priority. I finished my paramedic course and I realize that I don't know very much about being a good competent medic. My desire is to find some online training material so that I can continue to increase my knowledge base. Does anyone have any suggestions? I work 50 hours a week, have three kids, a wife and I am working on my Bachelors degree so I need stuff that is flexible. Thanks in advance for any advice.


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## NomadicMedic (Sep 11, 2016)

You'll never be a competent medic until you see lots of patients and practice in the field. Good luck.


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## ExpatMedic0 (Sep 11, 2016)

There are plenty of CME sites (like distance cme for example) and review books on amazon, but in all honestly you will need experience. Imagine if I became a cop somehow but only graduated the academy and never went to work and had zero experience.

 Why did you become a paramedic and what are your goals for doing so?


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## rhstanford (Sep 11, 2016)

ExpatMedic0 said:


> There are plenty of CME sites (like distance cme for example) and review books on amazon, but in all honestly you will need experience. Imagine if I became a cop somehow but only graduated the academy and never went to work and had zero experience.
> 
> Why did you become a paramedic and what are your goals for doing so?[/QUOTE
> 
> My agency has a full blown EMS program. I became an EMT thru them and then was offered the opportunity to go to a medic course. Trust me I fully understand that the more patient experience I get the better medic I will become. Unfortunately, we run very few ALS calls and while I will be able to do some clinical work it will be limited. That's why I posted initially.


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## STXmedic (Sep 11, 2016)

Podcasts, books (some good ones listed here) and Online video education/FOAMed stuff will help you stay current on knowledge. But unfortunately I wouldn't hold my breath on being polished without actual experience.


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## Sr Dingdong (Sep 16, 2016)

Khan academy has a lot of videos on A&P, pathophysiology and also pharmacology I think, that I have found to be very good at explaining normal and abnormal processes in the body and much help alongside my books. 
Two other resources I would recommend are Andrew Wolf and Armando Hasudungan on youtube.
If you get a good foundation of solid understanding of these subjects you will get more out of your later experience and clinical placements, as you will to a much larger degree understand what it is that you see and why it is happening. And that is key to become a good paramedic.


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## NysEms2117 (Sep 19, 2016)

rhstanford said:


> So I just finished my paramedic course, passed the NREMT, got my state certification and got a bag full of stuff. Now what? I work for a law enforcement agency so running EMS calls isn't my first priority. I finished my paramedic course and I realize that I don't know very much about being a good competent medic. My desire is to find some online training material so that I can continue to increase my knowledge base. Does anyone have any suggestions? I work 50 hours a week, have three kids, a wife and I am working on my Bachelors degree so I need stuff that is flexible. Thanks in advance for any advice.


I AM NOT A MEDIC, however i just got my EMT cert, i work with state parole, and have a girlfriend at home(no kids). I am currently "applying" for the local sheriffs office EMS unit(applying is in quotes because nepotism yay!). They do a ton of part time stuff, which ends up fitting my schedule really really well as a supplement, an excerpt from their website:          ("As one of the leading agencies in the region, the EMS unit teams life saving treatments (such as intubation, IV medications, and defibrillation) with highly trained professionals to ensure fast and critical care is available, twenty four hours a day. In addition to responding to 911 calls, the EMS unit provides personnel to support other specialty teams with the Sheriff's Office, such as the Search and Rescue Team (SRT) and Emergency Response Team (ERT).")
edit: feel free to pm for more details


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## FK911 (Feb 27, 2017)

If u have an iPhone. Down load iTunes U
From the App Store.  In iTunes U Search for Rob Theriault.
He is a paramedic instructor at A college in Canada who has 10 years as a helo flight medic. The content is just 95% the same as US 
They use the Bledsoe Text Canadian version 
His podcast lectures are AWESOME. 
Has tons of cardiology
ALS Meds.
ECG Interpertation.
You can also acces some of his stuff here.
Paramedic tutuor at Wordpress


The podcast u can listen to while on your watch in your MPU or the like
Being out of medic school is a big emotional swing.
Got the patch
And SO.... damn... I am still human.


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## Agg04 (May 8, 2017)

From my personal experience, being actually hands on in anything seems (for the most part) to be a better learning experience than learning from a book or on the internet. I say try to get a part time job and get that hands on experience if you are able to.


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## SMC (Oct 30, 2017)

Run Calls / Gain Experience


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## joshrunkle35 (Nov 5, 2017)

Your agency will probably be most interested in your ability to respond to serious trauma like gunshot wounds, knife wounds, care accidents, falls, etc. The reality is that you will not see this stuff regularly unless you work in a busy EMS system in a bad neighborhood. Working EMS will give you a lot of well rounded experience, and you’ll probably be of more help by treating tons of dehydration between 4th of July parades and St Patty’s Day than you will by treating Gunshot wounds.

But...your agency would probably still value the treatment of GSW’s much higher, despite the fact that they won’t see that every day, and you won’t see that every day in EMS. 

If I were in your shoes, I would take ITLS or PHTLS every year, and I would take TCCC, TECC and LEFR-TCC as often as possible until you master the material. Then, I’d get hooked up with someone who teaches TCCC and start teaching. If you master this material and teach it every day, you will use it far more than a full-time EMS employee that uses it once a year or less. 

I’ve treated two GSW’s in 7 years. How does that make me an expert? It doesn’t. It’s almost the same as having zero experience.

I’d also get an EMS job that is fun and 1-2 days a month. Something that you can get some limited experience with basic care, since people will look to ask you questions about basic care. Maybe do something like Event Medics. 

TL;DR: dedicate yourself to TCCC and get a very limited job doing something basic.


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## Goofy (Jan 8, 2018)

I am a cop and I love emergency medicine. I have kept my EMT up to date, but would love if my department implemented a medic somehow. I don’t what’s good we’d do, but it’s still my dream.


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## rhstanford (Jan 14, 2018)

keep praying. I never thought that my agency would send me to medic school, but God parted the clouds, aligned the sun, moon and Milky Way and off I went. BTW I wouldn't wish medic school on my worst enemy...well yeah maybe him. I was lucky because I went on duty so it made my life easier...if that can be said about medic school.


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## rhstanford (Jan 14, 2018)

joshrunkle35 said:


> Your agency will probably be most interested in your ability to respond to serious trauma like gunshot wounds, knife wounds, care accidents, falls, etc. The reality is that you will not see this stuff regularly unless you work in a busy EMS system in a bad neighborhood. Working EMS will give you a lot of well rounded experience, and you’ll probably be of more help by treating tons of dehydration between 4th of July parades and St Patty’s Day than you will by treating Gunshot wounds.
> 
> But...your agency would probably still value the treatment of GSW’s much higher, despite the fact that they won’t see that every day, and you won’t see that every day in EMS.
> 
> ...




Actually my agency is more interested in my ability to teach. Because we have a state approved EMT training program they like to use paramedics as instructors. I have run a couple of ALS calls, but the knowledge I bring is more valuable to the management.


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## NomadicMedic (Jan 14, 2018)

rhstanford said:


> Actually my agency is more interested in my ability to teach. Because we have a state approved EMT training program they like to use paramedics as instructors. I have run a couple of ALS calls, but the knowledge I bring is more valuable to the management.



What knowledge do you have, aside from anything purely academic? I’m certainly not a fan of teaching through war stories, but an instructor with no practical experience has very little credibility.


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## rhstanford (Jan 14, 2018)

NomadicMedic said:


> What knowledge do you have, aside from anything purely academic? I’m certainly not a fan of teaching through war stories, but an instructor with no practical experience has very little credibility.


While I may be a new medic, that doesn't mean I don't have the ability or knowledge to instruct an EMT Course. Myself and another medic have taught two complete EMT Courses together and between the two we are 39/40 first time pass on the NREMT. No I don't run as many calls as a medic on a rig, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to instruct. There are plenty of traditional medics that have years of experience that have no business teaching.


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## NomadicMedic (Jan 14, 2018)

rhstanford said:


> While I may be a new medic, that doesn't mean I don't have the ability or knowledge to instruct an EMT Course. Myself and another medic have taught two complete EMT Courses together and between the two we are 39/40 first time pass on the NREMT. No I don't run as many calls as a medic on a rig, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to instruct. There are plenty of traditional medics that have years of experience that have no business teaching.



Fair enough.

What’s your background in education aside from acting as an instructor for two EMT classes? Are you using canned lectures and PowerPoint or are you developing your own content? What are the requirements to act as a lead instructor for EMT in your state?


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## joshrunkle35 (Jan 14, 2018)

rhstanford said:


> While I may be a new medic, that doesn't mean I don't have the ability or knowledge to instruct an EMT Course. Myself and another medic have taught two complete EMT Courses together and between the two we are 39/40 first time pass on the NREMT. No I don't run as many calls as a medic on a rig, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to instruct. There are plenty of traditional medics that have years of experience that have no business teaching.



To put it in a different perspective: how would you feel if a security firm hired a guy to teach a security academy because he had passed a police academy, but never worked as a police officer?


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## beaucait (Jan 20, 2018)

rhstanford said:


> So I just finished my paramedic course, passed the NREMT, got my state certification and got a bag full of stuff. Now what? I work for a law enforcement agency so running EMS calls isn't my first priority. I finished my paramedic course and I realize that I don't know very much about being a good competent medic. My desire is to find some online training material so that I can continue to increase my knowledge base. Does anyone have any suggestions? I work 50 hours a week, have three kids, a wife and I am working on my Bachelors degree so I need stuff that is flexible. Thanks in advance for any advice.


 Look at boundtree University.. Not a ton of stuff but its free and flexible and COAEMSP certified or whatever


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## MackTheKnife (Feb 13, 2019)

rhstanford said:


> So I just finished my paramedic course, passed the NREMT, got my state certification and got a bag full of stuff. Now what? I work for a law enforcement agency so running EMS calls isn't my first priority. I finished my paramedic course and I realize that I don't know very much about being a good competent medic. My desire is to find some online training material so that I can continue to increase my knowledge base. Does anyone have any suggestions? I work 50 hours a week, have three kids, a wife and I am working on my Bachelors degree so I need stuff that is flexible. Thanks in advance for any advice.


Seriously? Something flexible? I haven't read any other replies, so here it goes: YOUR PLATE IS FULL. Pursuing anything else would be detrimental to you, your family, your degree. And increasing your knowledge needs to be benefited by experience as a medic, which you don't have time for. Clear off a portion of your plate, and then get some experience.


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## CCCSD (Feb 14, 2019)

rhstanford said:


> While I may be a new medic, that doesn't mean I don't have the ability or knowledge to instruct an EMT Course. Myself and another medic have taught two complete EMT Courses together and between the two we are 39/40 first time pass on the NREMT. No I don't run as many calls as a medic on a rig, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to instruct. There are plenty of traditional medics that have years of experience that have no business teaching.



So...by your view, a rook who just passed the police academy is qualified to teach the police academy..? Nope.


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## DrParasite (Feb 15, 2019)

rhstanford said:


> While I may be a new medic, that doesn't mean I don't have the ability or knowledge to instruct an EMT Course. Myself and another medic have taught two complete EMT Courses together and between the two we are 39/40 first time pass on the NREMT. No I don't run as many calls as a medic on a rig, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to instruct. There are plenty of traditional medics that have years of experience that have no business teaching.


Let me see if I understand your situation:

you have never worked full time in EMS, only LEO
you have never worked full time on an ambulance
you have never worked full time as a medic
you never worked a job where EMS was a large priority of your job
as of two years ago, " I don't know very much about being a good competent medic" and "I work for a law enforcement agency so running EMS calls isn't my first priority"
any calls that you do run, it's as a cop, maybe acting as a first responder, so you get basic info and then turn the patient over to the ambulance.
Do I have that all right?

My former college hired someone like you to be their full time paramedic instructor.  This person had with 0 paramedic experience, but experience working as a teacher.  None of her students learned anything from her, and whenever there was an assistant instructor, they wall wanted to work with them.  After a year, she was reassigned to teach an EMT class two nights a week, while experienced paramedics who were instructors taught her classes.  She was recent let go, and was told to come back after she has some EMS experience.

I'm curious: what is the experience level of the other medic?  are they also a no real experience paramedic?  or did they work full time in EMS before getting hired by PD, and now they are running the class because they are an experienced provider?

I don't doubt that you can read the powerpoint slides, and evaluate the NREMT skills stations.  And maybe give some test written by someone else.  But do you know any relevant information that isn't on the slides?  How often do you add content to your class presentations?  How much real world experience do you have applying the content you are instructing in?   I'm betting slim to none.

You might be the greatest instructor ever, but I bet no company would EVER hire you to teach an EMT class.  The only reason you are teaching is because you already work there, and passed your paramedic course.  And quite honestly, it's insulting to actual EMS instructors that you are allowed to do it.

But kudos on the 39/40 first time pass rate.   Do you let rookies teach at the police academy too?  After all, they passed the class.  I'm sure they can have similar pass rates as you have with EMT class.


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## Summit (Feb 16, 2019)

This thread is 1-3 years old depending on which post from op you're responding to...


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