Medic School is like hell...with lunch breaks...

Very difficult, but very doable!! keep at it.
 
Rykielz said:
It all depends on the school. I went to Riverside Community College and that was a difficult program, but by no means was I studying all night and a walking zombie like some people say. However, there are schools like *cough* Mt. SAC *cough* which pride themselves on failing 20-25/30 students and teaching non-applicable information. In that case, sure I can see why their saying it's the hardest thing they've ever done.

(I'd say Riverside Communities Fire Academy is the hardest thing I've ever done. They have some instructors that can run for miles and hours at a time...and guess what? You better keep up)
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RCC Class 9 here. Work at Hall? I did too, me and one of the other guys from my class were the 1st ones to go up there. I liked it a lot but AMR Hemet is a hell of a lot closer to home.
 
Class 11 here. Ya I'm at Hall. I don't mind living up here even though it is kinda far away. The experience and the company make it worth it. I don't feel so much like a number
 
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Im about a month in, so far so good. I also work about 36hrs a week on a truck. Glad I work for a company that is flexible with my hours. I work a 12 on Friday 8a-8p and a 24 on Saturday 9a-9a. I have class twice a week Mon and Wed 8-5. Hang in there it'll pay off.
 
MrBrown said:
Of course its going to be hard, you are trying to cover a depth and breadth of complex information that has been molested and watered down to a couple of PowerPoints without the cognitive background required to form a comprehensive framework for uptake and reention of information in your mind.

Now, come here where it takes six years to become an Intensive Care Paramedic, then you can complain.

Good luck mate.

Oh, be thankful that you even get a lunch break :)
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I've said before, if I could find some way to get the visas and pay for it, I'd gladly do that :D
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phlipper View Post
Which wouldn't be so bad except the latest "Big Red Book" is so hard to read/follow and the generated tests can hit literally every sentence in the book, no matter how far removed from the actual practice of being a paramedic.

That is not true. Those details are the core of what becomes the ability to make logical clinical decisions.
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I'll have to strongly disagree. As will every student I've talked to in both county programs, and every medic we've talked to across the five or six services where we work. The year a prescription was first written in ancient history has less than nothing to do with paramedic practice, nor with understanding the underlying causes/processes of disease states or injuries. When we have such a limited time to grasp so much material already, having to memorize random, nonpertinent facts like this is silly.

As for the program itself, it is what it is. If we want the pertinent knowledge and the license bad enough we'll do what it takes. Those who don't will fall/have fallen by the wayside. Hopefully someone will take a closer look after two or three years of dismal pass rates on the course and/or state tests.
 
The poor creatures, they don't know any better

Phlipper said:
I'll have to strongly disagree. As will every student I've talked to in both county programs, and every medic we've talked to across the five or six services where we work.
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Sounds like a small sample size to me.


Phlipper said:
The year a prescription was first written in ancient history has less than nothing to do with paramedic practice, nor with understanding the underlying causes/processes of disease states or injuries. When we have such a limited time to grasp so much material already, having to memorize random, nonpertinent facts like this is silly.
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You probably wouldn't know and neither would the paramedics in your area, but in all the upper level medical textbooks I own, the history of not only diseases but treatment modalities are listed in them, including the failed ones.

Any idea why?

I have taken entire courses in paleopathology. Which is the history of disease processes. It is an entire field of study.

Any idea why?

Unfortunately, because paramedic class encompasses such a broad range of information in such a small amount of time, in order to talk about topics like "introduction to medicine" or "EMS systems" or biochemistry, they are basically presented in all texts as a serious of disconjoined facts that have to be memorized. Some paramedic books are worse than others, but they are all some level of bad.

I would also be wary of people who went through the same questionable program or a similar one as the definitive source of information.

I didn't make it that way, but it is what it is.

If people are simply measuring what applies to the real world by skills performed or protocols say, they missed out on a large part of their "education." (Which I think a better term might be "indoctrination")

You must know where you come from in order to plot a direction to go. Otherwise it is just random guessing. Any laborer can hack out a job. A professional pays attention to the details.

Regretably, I don't have very many ways of demonstrating it, but if you go through the scenario section, it is often the smallest of details that gives way to the decisions that determine the best course of action. Those details are not always part of a disease process.

The ability to learn enough to pass a standardized exam is not the mark of excellence. The ability to understand a theoretical concept and use that knowledge to affect real time solutions is.

I encourage you to not make passing your goal. For your benefit and that of the people who put their trust in you to make the best decisions for them, aim much higher.

I encourage you to not limit yourself to a set of instructions and psychomotor skills that can be taught to animals with less evolutionary advantages than you as the measure of what is important or not in life.
 
You're missing something. This is an 11 month course. Not a two year degree. We have way more important things to absorb in this very short time. When I did my full degrees in other fields I saw the importance of a more well rounded educational experience and more comprehensive info. We learned the history of everything from mathematics to transistors (BSCS) to the history of production lines and efficiency studies (AAS IET). Apples to oranges.

And just passing definitely isn't my goal. I have three or four dog-eared copies of our EMD code booklets with almost every space filled with info from calls, from class scenarios, and from questions answered by experienced medics and even info from right here (lots from here, in fact). Classroom work only takes one half way. Much work and thinking is required to be truly prepared. I look at a paramedic cert or basic cert as a license to learn.
 
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I'm 5 months in of an 11 month course and I would'nt say it's hell, but it's definantely a trip! We get an hour to go out for lunch, and most of the time, we go to together. SmartMEDIC is a great place to learn and test your knowledge. It's free, which is great. After every day/week of school I go back to the site and reset it and test my knowledge again.
 
I enjoyed my Paramedic program. For me I wouldn't even say it was hard. I studied as required but mostly I just paid attention in class and did well in clinicals. I never struggled with it, never failed an exam, was like #2 or 3 in my class, and passed National Registry first time.

I attribute my success to many years of experience as an EMT for a 911 service and always reading online articles and trade journals on clinical care above and beyond Basic. I never limited my knowledge base as an EMT. Paramedic school felt mostly as a formality, really.

It sucks to hear others are having it so rough.
 
18G said:
I enjoyed my Paramedic program. For me I wouldn't even say it was hard. I studied as required but mostly I just paid attention in class and did well in clinicals. I never struggled with it, never failed an exam, was like #2 or 3 in my class, and passed National Registry first time.

I attribute my success to many years of experience as an EMT for a 911 service and always reading online articles and trade journals on clinical care above and beyond Basic. I never limited my knowledge base as an EMT. Paramedic school felt mostly as a formality, really.

It sucks to hear others are having it so rough.
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I found the information rather easy. Almost intuitive.

It was the time management of working full time, clinicals, having to show up for lectures, and the damn busywork (homework) that miraculously increased everytime somebody did poorly on a test so they would have enough extra points to keep their passing average.
 
Medic School is like a marriage, the newness wears off fast and you cant wait unitl it ends.

jk
 
The people who complain that EMT class is hell are the ones that worry me...... I start my 5 semester year round nursing school in May so i should be used to hell by the time i take a medic program after.
 
you are going to nursing school then to medic school? Thats cool I usually hear of the other way medic to nursing.

I like medic school dont get me wrong. But if you fall one step behind it is VERY hard to catch up.

I have 5 test between Tomorrow and Tuesday. I really dont know if I am going to pass them all. But I figure Ill go down swinging and worse comes to worse. I restart the program in Sept.
 
goodgrief said:
you are going to nursing school then to medic school? Thats cool I usually hear of the other way medic to nursing.
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Nursing schools where I am from have pretty long waitlist so I found my self done with my pre-reqs and having to wait a semester or 2 wait before I could even start nursing school. So I am taking an EMT class now and have totally fallen in love with EMS. I enjoy this way more than any of my nursing classes. So I'm going to peruse being a flight nurse and will have to be an RN and EMT-P.
 
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