Am I getting fired?

[RocketMedic]

I think we have air in the tires and some of our services carry oxygen. And blood. And ketamine. And we got Texas country music, Shiner and George Strait.

On a serious note, Texas has a lot of agencies and a lot of places that'll hire a young Basic.

 

[hometownmedic5]

Thank you everyone for the advice and support. I just met with management and they are indeed letting me go. They allowed me to resign instead of being fired and encouraged me to get even more experience and reapply in six months.They were both very kind and seemed to genuinely want me to try again which was nice. They told me they have many employees who’ve failed training and been successful the second time around. I’m a little bit heartbroken but hoping I can make the best of it and work as an ER tech or go back to IFT for a while.

Working as an ER tech isnt going to help you with many, if any, of the issues you said you were struggling with...

 

[CALEMT]

As crappy as it is get a BLS IFT job to get your feet wet and learn as a EMT. It’ll be the best worst time of your life.

 

[DrParasite]

Thank you everyone for the advice and support. I just met with management and they are indeed letting me go.

sorry to hear that, but it's not the end of the world.

They allowed me to resign instead of being fired and encouraged me to get even more experience and reapply in six months.

That is actually more to benefit them than to benefit you; if you resign voluntarily, you can't collect unemployment, and the courts won't help you get your job back if you were terminated improperly.

They were both very kind and seemed to genuinely want me to try again which was nice. They told me they have many employees who’ve failed training and been successful the second time around. I’m a little bit heartbroken but hoping I can make the best of it and work as an ER tech or go back to IFT for a while.

I'm sure they were nice people, but I have a personal policy about begging for a job that 6 months previously I told told didn't want me with their agency. But if it's the only option you have, I guess you can always give that a shot...

Texas has some great EMS places, NC has some great EMS places, heck, I'm sure there are even places in Cali that are awesome for newbies... remember, the better places are more competitive, but many/most will take a newbie EMT and train them the way they want their EMTs to be, and then help them out through medic school. But you need to be willing to take that plunge and start over somewhere else.

 

[VentMonkey]

And we got Texas country music, Shiner and George Strait.

I happen to think Doug Sahm is somewhat of an underrated prodigal musical genius when discussing Texas music legends. However, I can’t dispute the Shiner remark.

Career-wise Texas is absolutely hard to beat. San Luis Ambulance on the Central Coast is still a decently ran company in a good part of the coast. Though arguably, I also don’t know of a bad part of California coastline.

As always what are your long term goals? Aside from flight, fire, PD, or nursing there’s really not a lot of room for career-minded clinicians out here. It’s the cold, hard truth. Then again, at 19 there are many cold hard truths headed your way. GL.

 

[sunshine girl]

As crappy as it is get a BLS IFT job to get your feet wet and learn as a EMT. It’ll be the best worst time of your life.

Yeah I did IFT for about 6 months before this.... I can probably get my old job back but I don’t know how much it’s going to help me to put in another 6 months. I’m considering just working there once every two weeks or so just so I can have it on my resume, and trying for a full time job here at a hospital. What do you guys think I should do?

 

[sunshine girl]

I happen to think Doug Sahm is somewhat of an underrated prodigal musical genius when discussing Texas music legends. However, I can’t dispute the Shiner remark.

Career-wise Texas is absolutely hard to beat. San Luis Ambulance on the Central Coast is still a decently ran company in a good part of the coast. Though arguably, I also don’t know of a bad part of California coastline.

As always what are your long term goals? Aside from flight, fire, PD, or nursing there’s really not a lot of room for career-minded clinicians out here. It’s the cold, hard truth. Then again, at 19 there are many cold hard truths headed your way. GL.

I don’t think Texas is for me haha but thank you for the tip anyways. Long term I’m looking to go to PA school. Flight would be awesome too but I know how competitive that is.

 

[Lo2w]

I don’t think Texas is for me haha but thank you for the tip anyways. Long term I’m looking to go to PA school. Flight would be awesome too but I know how competitive that is.

If PA-C is your end goal I would not waste time in EMS. With your EMT cert, I would see about a gig in a hospital. You'll have more flexibility in scheduling for school and better benefits. And if you get on with a university-affiliated hospital there may be tuition discounts or free classes available.

 

[mgr22]

Yeah I did IFT for about 6 months before this.... I can probably get my old job back but I don’t know how much it’s going to help me to put in another 6 months. I’m considering just working there once every two weeks or so just so I can have it on my resume, and trying for a full time job here at a hospital. What do you guys think I should do?

Is getting a degree -- or working towards one -- an option?

 

[sunshine girl]

If PA-C is your end goal I would not waste time in EMS. With your EMT cert, I would see about a gig in a hospital. You'll have more flexibility in scheduling for school and better benefits. And if you get on with a university-affiliated hospital there may be tuition discounts or free classes available.

Sorry I didn’t phrase that very well. What I mean is that PA is a plan for many years in the future when I’ll need some more cash for a family and my back is giving out. Right now I just really really want to work on an ambulance. PA for me is less of a goal and more of an answer to future issues that still would allow me to work in emergency medicine.

 

[sunshine girl]

Is getting a degree -- or working towards one -- an option?

Yes at some point. This is the first semester of my year off school and I had this whole vision of how it would coincide perfectly with work and I’d be able to devote all my attention to my job.

 

[VentMonkey]

I had this whole vision of how it would coincide perfectly with work and I’d be able to devote all my attention to my job.

I’d strongly consider reversing this thought process. I’d put my college degree completely before working on an ambulance if I could go back in time and knock some logic into my younger selfs way of prioritizing.

A part-time ambulance job while working through years of college prerequisites in order to achieve, say, your undergraduate prior to a Masters program such as PA-C is by no means unheard of, or illogical. Neither is becoming so comfortable on the ambulance that you’re suddenly in your 30’s or 40’s and have become scholastically stagnant.

FWIW, some “rural” areas of California have PA-C progams worked out so that they offer some sort of deal with the student so long as they commit a certain amout of time to a certain area post-grad. I know of at least 3 former paramedics in my area alone who took advantage of Stanford’s PA-C program for this exact reason.

 

[mgr22]

Sunshine Girl, I urge you to consider VentMonkey's suggestions. At 19, you can afford to be flexible with your plans.

 

[bigbaldguy]

Go to school if it's at all possible. The older you get the harder it is to go back. It took me 18 years to finish my degree at 36. Youth is a commodity you don't want to waste.

 

[StCEMT]

I can vouch for EMS being a great part time job during college, I did it for the last year and a half or so of college. That being said, I'm not 100% sold on the idea of leaving EMS, that is a problem for future me. For now, I love what I do and the people I do it with. Should I decide to leave, I will have my ducks in a row and in exit plan in place.

However, it is incredibly flexible when it comes to school schedules and depending on where you work, conducive to double dipping and working on school while you work. If not, you still have the flexibility to build your schedule around your life. If PA is absolutely, 100% your goal and this is mostly a way to get contact hours, skip Paramedic school and use this as a foundation while you're in college. You will get to know many docs and PA's who will be happy to help you along the way.