Mt. San Antonio College August 2010

[Cawolf86]

Hey there, I am registered for the August 2010 Paramedic course at Mt. SAC; for which the pre-course begins in late June. Anyone else on the boards happen to be attending this session? ^_^

 

[themooingdawg]

I thought you do the pre-course first and then if you are placed in the top 20-30 student in class, then you get in the paramedic program?

 

[Cawolf86]

Generally yes, but the consensus from the staff is that the precourse will weed out the group to where if you pass the precourse you get into the paramedic program.

 

[dudemanguy]

What is the pre course, an EMT basic course?

 

[Cawolf86]

After you apply to the paramedic program you get an invitation to register for the precourse. The precourse is technically EMS 1 - Fundamentals for Paramedics. This course runs for 8 hours a session and is 2-3x per week for 2 months. It covers review material that you are given prior to the course.

 

[B.K.]

yes i am also going to this upcoming pre-course! my friends talked me into going there for medic school but said i would have to study my butt off.
what kind of materials have you been studying? im almost nervous from hearing so many horror stories of how hard the course is!

 

[Cawolf86]

Oh awesome! I have been studying the material they gave us for about a month. Making note cards for all the terms in both books and the packets and going through the recommended drug math and anatomy/physiology books. I too feel unprepared because I do not know exactly what we will be tested on.

I see you live in Santa Clarita (I am from the SFV), will you be commuting?

 

[B.K.]

yeah im gunna have to drive down there for each class during the pre-course, but im pretty sure its only on the weekends so at least theres no traffic. and if i do get accepted to the program (*knock on wood) im gunna look into renting a room somewhere in diamond bar/pomona area. there's the cal poly campus down the street from mt sac so theres gotta be a lot of college students looking to share rent or somethin.
and thats pretty much the same approach to studyin im taking, just drowning my brain in flash cards. but i know they start testing you the very first day so i guess we better get used to it. and did u turn in your application yet? if so, do you know the actual date/time of the first day of class?

 

[AnthonyM83]

For those asking, the pre-course material is EMT material....except you're now expected to actually know it. Word for word definition of medical terms and suffixes for example.

For you two in it, study your asses off right now. I've been told countless times how absolutely brutal the class is. From the dozens in the precourse, 20 to 30 (or whatever) will go into the program, but I heard only about 6 or so end up graduating. Everyone else fails out (including people who are taking it for the 2nd or 3rd time around).

Study like you had a gun to your head. Or a family member's head. Or if this was the only thing the existed in the world. Or as if only the person who did the best would pass, only the top student (cause it's almost close to the truth). Or whatever works for you.

Take care of any unfinished life business now (finishing the deck, fixing your car, trying to land that girl in bed, whatever...cause there'll NO time for it during class). This is what I'm told...

 

[Cawolf86]

That is what I am doing right now; constant studying of the pre-precourse packets. Any tips on what was covered the most in your experience? Assuming you went there, I guess I just did because of your prior post.

 

[AnthonyM83]

Naw...but new a few smart guys who did (and failed out). I did buy the pre-course materials at one point when I was considering going there. Never signed up, though.

Heard the main guy there finally retired, though...so maybe? it won't be quite as tough

 

[Cawolf86]

Steve, the one who created the course is who I believe you are referring too. That is what I heard as well though his name is listed as the precourse intructor.

 

[themooingdawg]

from what ive heard, the real hard part about the mt sac paramedic program is that you absolutely are not given any help; you go into class like any other lectures, they lecture, and thats it, no help whatsoever from the instructor, so you're pretty much left to do everything yourself. The tests/quizzes at mt sac also consists of fill in and short essays, unlike the usual multiple choice, which i think gets alot of people as well too

 

[Cawolf86]

Yah my concerns are more that I feel unprepared for the precourse; even with all my studying.

 

[jgmedic]

from what ive heard, the real hard part about the mt sac paramedic program is that you absolutely are not given any help; you go into class like any other lectures, they lecture, and thats it, no help whatsoever from the instructor, so you're pretty much left to do everything yourself. The tests/quizzes at mt sac also consists of fill in and short essays, unlike the usual multiple choice, which i think gets alot of people as well too

Why would anyone want to go to a program like that, with no real instruction outside of lecture. I have heard that many Mt SAC grads can recite the whole brady book from memory, due to the obscure test questions used. I just don't see how this style of educating is any good at all for EMS or any other field for that matter.

 

[B.K.]

Why would anyone want to go to a program like that, with no real instruction outside of lecture. I have heard that many Mt SAC grads can recite the whole brady book from memory, due to the obscure test questions used. I just don't see how this style of educating is any good at all for EMS or any other field for that matter.

i agree that its not the best way to teach everyone, the tough-love/sink-or-swim style. but i've worked with a couple of guys who got their P-card there and from what i've seen, Mt SAC just seems to generate professional, intelligent, confident, think-on-their-feet medics. i was truly impressed working with those guys, and i learned something from them every shift. and i have a feeling that this whole idea of an entire medic course consisting of just a single 6-month-long lecture is something of an urban myth created by former drop outs who still hold a grudge. at least i hope thats the caseh34r:

 

[themooingdawg]

Why would anyone want to go to a program like that, with no real instruction outside of lecture. I have heard that many Mt SAC grads can recite the whole brady book from memory, due to the obscure test questions used. I just don't see how this style of educating is any good at all for EMS or any other field for that matter.

it really depends on you, but you have to think about it this way; everybody that passes the program is guaranteed to come out knowing literally EVERYTHING there is to know about paramedicine, in and out.

 

[terrible one]

it really depends on you, but you have to think about it this way; everybody that passes the program is guaranteed to come out knowing literally EVERYTHING there is to know about paramedicine, in and out.

Sorry to nit-pick but its not possible to know EVERYTHING about paramedicine. You will know what there is to know as an entry level medic and progress from there.

 

[themooingdawg]

i agree that its not the best way to teach everyone, the tough-love/sink-or-swim style. but i've worked with a couple of guys who got their P-card there and from what i've seen, Mt SAC just seems to generate professional, intelligent, confident, think-on-their-feet medics. i was truly impressed working with those guys, and i learned something from them every shift. and i have a feeling that this whole idea of an entire medic course consisting of just a single 6-month-long lecture is something of an urban myth created by former drop outs who still hold a grudge. at least i hope thats the caseh34r:

prob not, the medics that told me this graduated from mt sac

 

[themooingdawg]

but then again, fail % shouldnt matter to anyone. If you go to mt. sac, pti, freeman, it shouldnt matter where it is, you should be studying just as hard to learn more; after all, you'll need to have the base of knowledge when you go in to do your clinicals/internship or you'll fail out either ways