I'm a carona Paramedic student and its horrible..

exitb98

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about halfway Into my second semester of paramedic when corona hit. From there, my Paramedic II was put on hold as they didn't know what they were going to do about it. For TWO MONTHS our instructors communicated through email and said do these few pre-tests and watch these videos. In TWO MONTHS that was the only thing, we were told to do. No zoom meetings, nothing. After two months, we started meeting on zoom to discuss how the completion of the course would go about. After that, we did about two weeks of ALMS and PALS for the certifications that were required. We did about one week of lecture, and then for months all we did was catch up with Paramedic II with test after test after test. Having had two months of basically doing nothing for the course, we were so far behind that immediately following finishing the Paramedic II schedule, we immediately jumped into a test after test after test for Paramedic III. The amount of lecture received via zoom was nonexistent rather than maybe 3-4 class sessions for the entire Paramedic II and we received no lecture for Paramedic III.

I hammered the test book as much as i could and prepared for chapters 45-52 test on Tuesday, reviewed airway and cardiology on Wed for the rough fisdap tests, and then on Thursday took a final or some other test such as comp or whatever. Every week consisted of this. Me getting on zoom and taking tests. I was not taught anything, i taught myself how to be a paramedic. We stopped any sort of review before tests due to someone trying to cheat or something like that, we werent ever given specifics but it was mentioned so the whole class was punished by discontinuing reviews or study guides.

To make up the countless hours of labs, we had two weeks of simulations on campus towards the end, that was nothing more than a simple review of basically EMT skills nothing that required me to actually use my knowledge as a paramedic which counted towards "patient contacts"

We were then allowed during the very end to take up some shifts in clinical time as it just opened up. a WHOPPING 72 hours that i did on the fire dept where the most exciting thing I did was treat a woman who started to seize on me.

So counting the Paramedic II and III hours combined, there's something of almost 600 hours of clinical field time that i would have had..... and since it hit before i started my paramedic II clinical i did 72 hours rather than 600.

Yes, 72 hours, when I should have had 600 hours of experience. Not to mention the hours of labs that were hammered out in 2 weeks and called good enough. That scares the **** out of me.
.
Some might say I got lucky and out of a lot of work, but I just really feel like I got screwed over big time. All the course was worried about was finishing on the deadline rather than extending the course date to properly do hours. I'm going to be spending a bit of money for some hefty review materials before i even apply for a job. Since i paid 12,000 dollars for this uselesss education that was ran so poorly i wrote a long email to the collage asking for a refund and how the sylabus hours i purchased did not even come close to what i paid for. They wrote back and basically said screw you, its your fault you shouldve asked for help along the way more. Sorry, i was too busy hammering the books every damn day teaching myself how to be a paramedic so i could become a master at answering multiple choice questions.

Yes, i did pass the course.

Anyway just thought id share my experience. I appologize to anyone who actually put in all the hours and worked hard for their completion of the course, i cannot say the same about myself and i did not choose this. i also have the NREMT psychomotor coming up in a few days and if anyone has any resources to help me read 12 leads i would love that because i heard they throw 12 leads at you but guess what.... WE NEVER EVEN LOOKED AT A 12 LEAD THE ENTIRE THING NOPE NOTHING.

HAVE A GREAT DAY EVERYONE.
 

DrParasite

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WE NEVER EVEN LOOKED AT A 12 LEAD THE ENTIRE THING NOPE NOTHING.
not even in the cardiology section? I would think that is covered on multiple occasions... And I believe the NRP exam has a section called static cardiology, where you are given a rhythm and are expected to identify it...

Many programs have had to adapt and improvise during the past 6 months... not ideal, but sometimes better than canceling the classes going forward and telling students they need to come back next year.

You're angry at the school because you didn't learn anything, yet you passed the course? So either the tests weren't as hard as they should have been, or you retained more then you want to admit.

Good luck on the exam.
 

NPO

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If you chose an accredited program for your paramedic education there is an appeals process for you to follow regarding your complaint.

If you did not choose an accredited program, welp. Now you know.
 
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exitb98

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If you chose an accredited program for your paramedic education there is an appeals process for you to follow regarding your complaint.

If you did not choose an accredited program, welp. Now you know.
They are. This is on the colleges website.

is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and participates in the Standard Pathway, one of several pathways leading to reaffirmation of accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission.
 
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E

exitb98

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not even in the cardiology section? I would think that is covered on multiple occasions... And I believe the NRP exam has a section called static cardiology, where you are given a rhythm and are expected to identify it...

Many programs have had to adapt and improvise during the past 6 months... not ideal, but sometimes better than canceling the classes going forward and telling students they need to come back next year.

You're angry at the school because you didn't learn anything, yet you passed the course? So either the tests weren't as hard as they should have been, or you retained more then you want to admit.

Good luck on the exam.
We only covered rhythms not 12 leads. We were always told "we go into much more depth in paramedic III on these but just know the rhythms for now." and we never ended up covering them.
 

Carlos Danger

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about halfway Into my second semester of paramedic when corona hit. From there, my Paramedic II was put on hold as they didn't know what they were going to do about it. For TWO MONTHS our instructors communicated through email and said do these few pre-tests and watch these videos. In TWO MONTHS that was the only thing, we were told to do. No zoom meetings, nothing. After two months, we started meeting on zoom to discuss how the completion of the course would go about. After that, we did about two weeks of ALMS and PALS for the certifications that were required. We did about one week of lecture, and then for months all we did was catch up with Paramedic II with test after test after test. Having had two months of basically doing nothing for the course, we were so far behind that immediately following finishing the Paramedic II schedule, we immediately jumped into a test after test after test for Paramedic III. The amount of lecture received via zoom was nonexistent rather than maybe 3-4 class sessions for the entire Paramedic II and we received no lecture for Paramedic III.

I hammered the test book as much as i could and prepared for chapters 45-52 test on Tuesday, reviewed airway and cardiology on Wed for the rough fisdap tests, and then on Thursday took a final or some other test such as comp or whatever. Every week consisted of this. Me getting on zoom and taking tests. I was not taught anything, i taught myself how to be a paramedic. We stopped any sort of review before tests due to someone trying to cheat or something like that, we werent ever given specifics but it was mentioned so the whole class was punished by discontinuing reviews or study guides.

To make up the countless hours of labs, we had two weeks of simulations on campus towards the end, that was nothing more than a simple review of basically EMT skills nothing that required me to actually use my knowledge as a paramedic which counted towards "patient contacts"

We were then allowed during the very end to take up some shifts in clinical time as it just opened up. a WHOPPING 72 hours that i did on the fire dept where the most exciting thing I did was treat a woman who started to seize on me.

So counting the Paramedic II and III hours combined, there's something of almost 600 hours of clinical field time that i would have had..... and since it hit before i started my paramedic II clinical i did 72 hours rather than 600.

Yes, 72 hours, when I should have had 600 hours of experience. Not to mention the hours of labs that were hammered out in 2 weeks and called good enough. That scares the **** out of me.
.
Some might say I got lucky and out of a lot of work, but I just really feel like I got screwed over big time. All the course was worried about was finishing on the deadline rather than extending the course date to properly do hours. I'm going to be spending a bit of money for some hefty review materials before i even apply for a job. Since i paid 12,000 dollars for this uselesss education that was ran so poorly i wrote a long email to the collage asking for a refund and how the sylabus hours i purchased did not even come close to what i paid for. They wrote back and basically said screw you, its your fault you shouldve asked for help along the way more. Sorry, i was too busy hammering the books every damn day teaching myself how to be a paramedic so i could become a master at answering multiple choice questions.

Yes, i did pass the course.

Anyway just thought id share my experience. I appologize to anyone who actually put in all the hours and worked hard for their completion of the course, i cannot say the same about myself and i did not choose this. i also have the NREMT psychomotor coming up in a few days and if anyone has any resources to help me read 12 leads i would love that because i heard they throw 12 leads at you but guess what.... WE NEVER EVEN LOOKED AT A 12 LEAD THE ENTIRE THING NOPE NOTHING.

HAVE A GREAT DAY EVERYONE.
Did you tell them you want to repeat the portion of the program that you missed, or at least the specific areas that you feel weren't covered adequately? As well as do more clinical time?
 
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exitb98

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Did you tell them you want to repeat the portion of the program that you missed, or at least the specific areas that you feel weren't covered adequately? As well as do more clinical time?
Yes i said i wanted lab hours and clinical time done and they said they couldnt then i asked for a refund after they offered me a four hour 1 on 1 review which i thought was absurd which is why i asked for a refund which was also declined. after a while now im told that its a case being looked at and im told ill be hearing from someone but who knows
 

MackTheKnife

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Did you tell them you want to repeat the portion of the program that you missed, or at least the specific areas that you feel weren't covered adequately? As well as do more clinical time?
That would be good if they'd offer it. Hopefully they will and he has the time. COVID is screwing up everything.
 

MedicFF

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I’d put all your energy into securing legitimate employ in the field to get real experience. Realize that your course was a vehicle to get you to this point. The real learning happens on the job. Anything you think you missed in your program will he quickly remedied on the job and through self-directed independent study.
 

Carlos Danger

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I’d put all your energy into securing legitimate employ in the field to get real experience. Realize that your course was a vehicle to get you to this point. The real learning happens on the job. Anything you think you missed in your program will he quickly remedied on the job and through self-directed independent study.
This is really the best solution. In reality there’s likely nothing you missed that you can’t get adequately up to speed on with some self-study and a good preceptorship somewhere.
 

FiremanMike

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And that sums up online training...
That sums up lazy online training.

It is absolutely possible to make quality online training, I've seen it and I'm working on some stuff now (there is a free version of blackboard that we've set up for our department).

The problem is, it takes a motivated instructor and a SIGNIFICANT amount of time and energy to do it right. It's easier to just toss a powerpoint with a recorded lecture online and be done with it..

We only covered rhythms not 12 leads. We were always told "we go into much more depth in paramedic III on these but just know the rhythms for now." and we never ended up covering them.
I've not been involved in paramedic initial education, and I went through medic school a long time ago, but is 12 lead analysis a part of the national curriculum now? I know when I went through it wasn't and we taught ourselves if we were so inclined.

Like you, we spent a lot of time on rhythms..
 

FiremanMike

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@exitb98 - I'm sorry for your experience, and while I do think your program could have done a better job working with you, the truth is that much of this was out of their control. We are in uncharted waters and no one really has a grasp on what's going on.

In this area, EMS students still aren't allowed in the hospital. Our department just started allowing EMS students at the beginning of this month, and I'm told we're one of only two departments allowing riders right now..
 

Emt257

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OP I feel bad for your situation, and especially because I can relate. Today I made the difficult decision to call it quits and drop out of Paramedic school. I'm almost 10 months into the program, what a waste of time and money. Everything was great until all the covid lockdowns and closures and then for me it all started falling apart. My school transitioned to online learning as well, our skill labs became non-existent. I began struggling as the instructors threw boring powerpoint after powerpoint at us online, it has been horrible. I lost a metric ton of motivation and stopped studying because of it all. When the hospitals opened back up they were severely restricting clinical rotations and we had to settle for what we can get (any ER, anywhere) whereas under normal conditions we were supposed to get specific shifts at the burn center, an OR shift, a cadaver lab, peds shift, L&D shift. All of those specific shifts have gone out the window. I feel robbed of the education I was supposed to get and feel if I continued through the program I would not be ready to go into the Paramedic level of pre-hospital care. I'm now left with my only option of restarting Paramedic school all over again and I'm not even sure if I should try soon or wait out more of this Covid bull****.
 

MedicFF

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Emt257 - Did you fail out or did you willingly leave the program? Sounds like the latter. It also sounds like you still do have the end goal of being a paramedic. If so, why throw away 10 months of investment? No, it may not be exactly like you wanted or planned, but it wasn’t for many of us, either.

Try and be objective with this decision before you squander a heavy investment. Others here can agree that the real learning begins once you’re on the job, and that’s independent from the training program you chose. Don’t be fooled into thinking you are ready for professional perfection right when you have received a license to practice.
 

MedicFF

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The last two posters are both correct. OP, I went through a lot finishing my program, COVID restrictions and much, much, more even prior to the pandemic. You’re close to the end. If and how you finish is entirely up to you and not the obstacles in your path. It’s not the wind you face on the ocean that matters, it’s how you set your sail.

Drop me a private message if you want to discuss and game plan how to overcome this and succeed. I’m happy to help.
 

Emt257

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Emt257 - Did you fail out or did you willingly leave the program? Sounds like the latter. It also sounds like you still do have the end goal of being a paramedic. If so, why throw away 10 months of investment? No, it may not be exactly like you wanted or planned, but it wasn’t for many of us, either.

Try and be objective with this decision before you squander a heavy investment. Others here can agree that the real learning begins once you’re on the job, and that’s independent from the training program you chose. Don’t be fooled into thinking you are ready for professional perfection right when you have received a license to practice.
I willingly withdrew. I'm not expecting perfection of myself if I had graduated. I understand it's constantly learning, however, I felt I couldn't perform at least at a minimally competent level. It's just been too much of a hassle trying to figure things out around Covid and now there's talks of hospitals closing down clinicals yet again. In a way I've been depressed way more than usual over the last few months, I think I need to take the time to regroup myself and try again once things settle down around Covid.
 

ffemt8978

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I willingly withdrew. I'm not expecting perfection of myself if I had graduated. I understand it's constantly learning, however, I felt I couldn't perform at least at a minimally competent level. It's just been too much of a hassle trying to figure things out around Covid and now there's talks of hospitals closing down clinicals yet again. In a way I've been depressed way more than usual over the last few months, I think I need to take the time to regroup myself and try again once things settle down around Covid.
Sometimes the better choice is to take a step back, regroup, and give it another go if it is what you really want to do.
 
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