I think I have a new hero.
If you ever do become a medical director or get involved in EMS as a doctor, remember that. Please, please, please remember that.Doing the above won't solve the problem; the issues we face are way to big for any one thing to fix it. But it would help. EMT's would have less "need" to be mass-produced, those who entered the field would only be working in the type of environment in which they (right or wrong) are supposed to function, people would not get burned out/disgusted with being put into a role in which they are not trained and have no interest, since there would be less demand for EMT's I think you're right and the competition for jobs/spots in a class would be higher which would hopefully lead to a higher quality of person getting in. And, I think the extra exposure to medicine would hopefully lead to the realization that more knowledge is needed. Of course, that hasn't worked out so far, but I can still hope.
It won't solve the overglamorization of EMS; really it's on overglamorization of medicine, not EMS in particular. That's a problem that, unfortunately does not have a very good, workable solution.
It's a start, and, it might actually be closer to a reality than people think. The gov't is starting to crack down pretty hard on medicare fraud. I'd be curious if, as time goes on, services that are using EMT's for run of the mill non-emergency transfers (uncomplicated dialysis, MD's appointments, physical therapy, routine hospital discharges and the like) start getting less and less of their bill paid, and/or charged with fraud, since a medically trained person isn't really necessary in the majority of cases.