A bit of advice.

[h20life]

Hello all!

I am in need of some professional advice about a career path. To start off with i am a senior in high school about to be graduating in 22 days. I have always had an interest in medicine. During my high school career I've taken Health Sciences 1 & 2, Advanced Placement Anatomy and Physiology, AP Psychology, and AP Botany with an emphasis on medicinal herbs. I've taken all these courses as an attempt to help me further my education in medicine after high school. While researching possible medical careers I came across Paramedic, and it seems like a really great job that i would enjoy doing and be good at as well. However from what i have read thus far it seems like the only way I can even pursue a career as a Paramedic is if I also became a Firefighter which i have 0% interest in becoming.
So my question to the fine people of EMTLife is should i still consider the Paramedic route and just suck it up and also become a firefighter as well, or just get into some other field of medicine? If you could suggest other alternatives to look into that would be great!

Thanks
~Matt

 

[firecoins]

You can become a paramedic and work doing interfacility transfers. Sucking it up and doing the firefighter/medic thing may not be that bad. Or you can always move to somewhere that does not have the combined FF/medic requirment.

You can become a registered nurse and work in the emergency department. Later you can become a nurse practioner.

You can become a Physician Assistant.

You can become an MD/DO and work as a doctor.

Respiratory therapist is a nice career.

 

[DrankTheKoolaid]

re

No, you do not have to be a FF to work as a medic. I notice your from Florida so i'm not sure about your 911 system there and who responds so i can't speak for there, but i would have to say FF/Medic is probably the minority in 911 systems.

You obviously have an interest in medicine and i think Paramedic would be a great start on building your patient assessment skill's and confidence as you work off protocols based on your own assessments not based off somebody else's, and treat accordingly. And then further investigate other medical career path's.


Corky

 

[MMiz]

First, welcome to EMTLife!

You'll find that in Florida most Paramedic jobs require you to be a firefighter. Florida also has a large supply of Paramedics, making finding a job challenging.

If I were you I'd start at a traditional college with the basic core classes. With little effort you can take the EMT-Basic course either at college or over the summer, you can even do it this summer, and see if you like it.

I would suggest you pursue EMS while also pursuing a formal education. Start college and and take an EMT-Basic course through a local community college or program. I found that after taking my EMT-Basic course I was content being an EMT, and that EMS wasn't for me. Like most people leaving high school, I thought I knew what I wanted to be, but that changed many times in college.

Good luck!

 

[reaper]

As stated in the other FL threads. It depends where you live in FL? There are some EMS only agencies in middle and west FL. South is mainly Fire/Rescue. The North is mainly EMS only. So, it depends where you live or where you want to live!

 

[AJ Hidell]

Anything but EMS. As Matt said, there are a lot of patch factories cranking out hundreds more paramedics every few months across this state, making competition for the few non-fire jobs out there fierce. And those few non-fire jobs very rarely pay a career wage that you could actually support a wife and kid on. Unlike the fire service, almost nobody ever actually retires from an EMS agency. Florida is just a bad place for anyone considering EMS as a career, about on par with California. Don't waste your time.

Go get a real education, a real profession, and a real career instead. Good luck.

 

[reaper]

Anything but EMS. As Matt said, there are a lot of patch factories cranking out hundreds more paramedics every few months across this state, making competition for the few non-fire jobs out there fierce. And those few non-fire jobs very rarely pay a career wage that you could actually support a wife and kid on. Unlike the fire service, almost nobody ever actually retires from an EMS agency. Florida is just a bad place for anyone considering EMS as a career, about on par with California. Don't waste your time.

Go get a real education, a real profession, and a real career instead. Good luck.

Hey, I was paid very well in a FL EMS only system. Only had to work one job and the pay and benefits towered over the Firemedics!

 

[AJ Hidell]

Hey, I was paid very well in a FL EMS only system.

I notice you didn't stay.

That's my point.

 

[EMT-StudxMuffin]

Anything but EMS. As Matt said, there are a lot of patch factories cranking out hundreds more paramedics every few months across this state, making competition for the few non-fire jobs out there fierce. And those few non-fire jobs very rarely pay a career wage that you could actually support a wife and kid on. Unlike the fire service, almost nobody ever actually retires from an EMS agency. Florida is just a bad place for anyone considering EMS as a career, about on par with California. Don't waste your time.

Go get a real education, a real profession, and a real career instead. Good luck.

There goes my hopes and dreams. :sad:

 

[reaper]

I notice you didn't stay.

That's my point.

No, I had to leave due to family obligations. The last service I was at, was one of the best I had ever worked for. I did not want to leave it, just had to, for a move!

I am not talking S. FL. This is N. FL, where EMS is still a medical service!

 

[JPINFV]

There goes my hopes and dreams. :sad:

Better to find out now instead of later, though. Furthermore, there are still plenty of ambulance jobs that pay better than becoming a paramedic. Become a critical care nurse and run critical care transports. Some areas will use RTs for vent dependent patients. There's flight nursing. Some areas utilize physicians (mostly medical directors/assistant medical directors) for emergency response to supplement paramedics depending on call type as well for supervision (observation is the best way to evaluate a system).

 

[VentMedic]

I am not talking S. FL. This is N. FL, where EMS is still a medical service!

It is just a matter of time....

You've seen the progression of Fire based EMS make it to the Ocala region as well taking a few formerly strong county EMS inbetween. And then, we have the West coast...

Here are a couple of links to the Community Colleges and a few of the degrees offered to get you started. Professions like Physicial Therapy, Speech Language Pathologist and Occupational Therapy require much more education.

Broward Community College
http://www.broward.edu/healthsciences/

Miami Dade CC
https://sisvsr.mdc.edu/ps/sheet.aspx

U of F

http://www.phhp.ufl.edu/education/gradprogs.htm

http://www.health.ufl.edu/colleges_web_sites.shtml
U of F has many nursing degree levels as do several other universities.

FIU
http://cnhs.fiu.edu/

For California, if you want a different coast:
Loma Linda
http://www.llu.edu/llu/sahp/prog.html

This also gives you an idea about many different health care professions.

When choosing a healthcare profession, other than EMS, aim for the higher degree. Don't just go for the 2 year program if at all possible.

 

[VentMedic]

Some areas will use RTs for vent dependent patients. There's flight nursing. Some areas utilize physicians (mostly medical directors/assistant medical directors) for emergency response to supplement paramedics depending on call type as well for supervision (observation is the best way to evaluate a system).

RRTs are on at least 5 helicopter services that also do scene response (HEMS). An RN is their partner. Flight RNs do scene response also and many teams are RN/RN.

RRTs are on at least 70% of the neonatal transport teams in this country. RNs, of course do the specialty transport teams of various types.

For Paramedic, you could study hard and move to Canada.

 

[8jimi8]

maybe you should do a ride out with someone in your area, to see if paramedicine is where you want to be. My advice is follow your intuition. It sounds like you are someone who would enjoy medicine. I don't know why some of the veterans are pointing you in other directions. I am finishing my nursing degree right now and i STILL want to be a paramedic. Good luck, it sounds like you are off to a great start with the AP classes you have already taken!

 

[VentMedic]

maybe you should do a ride out with someone in your area, to see if paramedicine is where you want to be. My advice is follow your intuition. It sounds like you are someone who would enjoy medicine. I don't know why some of the veterans are pointing you in other directions. I am finishing my nursing degree right now and i STILL want to be a paramedic. Good luck, it sounds like you are off to a great start with the AP classes you have already taken!

He sounds very ambitious. I don't believe he would put up for very long with the 3 month wonders waiting to get hired by the FDs who believe even a medical terminology class is too much education. Although most of these patch Paramedics will continue to work at Burger King rather than do private companies while waiting for the FDs to hire. It is quite a sight when one of our big FDs announce their hiring dates. People camp out for days. One day brought out over 1000 applicants standing in line with almost 75% of them having a Paramedic patch. But, less than half had work experience in any medical field including an ambulance.

He can still be a Paramedic in Florida (or several other states) after he finishes nursing school by just challenging the exam. He can also go to California and be an MICN or to a few other states and be a PHRN.

Or, he could be a Florida Paramedic with the FD and look forward to retirement with a pension. Or, be a Paramedic for a non FD service in Florida and worry about job security during the mergers and consolidations.

Other states may be very different. Although, I believe Florida ranks well over California.