Advice Needed

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astophiz18

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Hi everyone,
I'm 17 years old, pretty smart and over the last two years put a lot of serious thought into becoming a medic and decided thats what I want to do in life (at least for the next 10 years), I'm still looking around at schools but my main plan is going to community of an A.A.S. (next fall) I recently went into a school I was interested in to get some info, and the instructor just basically tried to talk me out of it, he thought I was young and dumb, and jumping into things too fast. Thats definitely not the case, I understand his concern but I'm truly ready to and put my social life aside and live, eat, and breath EMS for the next 2 years. Will the instructors take me seriously because of my age? And when I do graduate and apply for work will companies just laugh at my resume being that I'll be 19, fresh out of the classroom with 0 experience (possibly a year of basic if it doesn't interfere with my studies). I want to know the smartest/safest route. I don't know any medics and need to know if this is a good plan, so any input or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Also what was/is your situation while in school? (how old were you?, were you working? as a basic? overall thoughts?) Thanks!
 
If this is what you want to do then go for it.

I was 18 when I did Basic(freshly graduated from high school) and 20 when I finished paramedic. I had no problems getting hired at that age. I worked as an EMT full time then a full time 911 fire/ems dispatcher during school. It all depends on your maturity level and how you act.

Ive seen plenty that werent ready to do this at 18 and plenty who were.
 
It sounds to me like that instructor is projecting his inadequecy and failure on you.

I started as a ride-a-long explorer one day after my 14th birthday. I'd like to think I didn't do too bad.
 
Thanks for your replies, these are the kind of answers I was hoping for!
I guess I'm just getting nervous and over thinking things since the time has come to actually apply to a school instead of just stalking this website
 
Last edited by a moderator:
astophiz18 said:
Thanks for your replies, these are the kind of answers I was hoping for!
I guess I'm just getting nervous and over thinking things since the time has come to actually apply to a school instead of just stalking this website to gain knowledge.
Click to expand...

I think on the creepy scale,

lurking < stalking :)
 
Haha, Sorry I didn't mean to come off as creepy. I'll be sure to keep my thesaurus handy before posting again.
 
i am in rare form today :)

"know the first rule of Thesaurus Club: you do not talk, speak, prattle, whisper, chatter, mumble, rant, gossip, articulate, babble, describe, drone, divulge, confer, deliberate, squeal, or converse about Thesaurus Club."
 
Veneficus said:
"know the first rule of Thesaurus Club: you do not talk, speak, prattle, whisper, chatter, mumble, rant, gossip, articulate, babble, describe, drone, divulge, confer, deliberate, squeal, or converse about Thesaurus Club."
Click to expand...
But you can have a palaver about Thesaurus Club.
 
If you don't know any paramedics, then does this mean that you haven't sat down with one (preferably one who is not full of themself and/or a raving idiot and/or one who thinks they are the center of the medical universe...which can be hard to find if you haven't noticed) and had a long, honest talk with them about what this job is really like? And then repeated that talk with someone else? And another someone else? And then done several ride alongs with several different services?

I'd caution you to do all that and more and be sure that you really know what you'll be getting into. If it takes a little more time, so what? You've got plenty of that, so make sure that you really know what you'll be doing and that you can make an informed decision about your career.

And I'd very strongly advise that you get all your info in person, NOT from this forum. Stop by whatever service covers your area, introduce yourself to the crew and see if they are willing to talk, or set up a ride-along and do it then.

If you've allready done this, then good, you're on the right track, I'm just guessing from your comment that you haven't.
 
This is good advice. There are plenty of areas that claim lots of employment opportunity for paramedics, when in reality, it may be very difficult to find a job to support yourself and a family.

The life of a medic is certainly not an easy one, but it can be rewarding and, depending on where you work, quite lucrative.
 
Thanks for the advice! I have spoken to a few philly medics that work for the fd, they say they get paid very well but it's stressful. I could definitely use more info though, I'm going to try to talk with medics from a private service to see what they have to say since thats mostly like what I'd be getting into after school.
 
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