New Job, need advice

[pulseless]

So I just started a new job at a busy big city hospital-based ambulance service, unfortunately I hate it. I was expecting something very different when I started and have found that this job is not the pinnacle of progressive agencies but is just a place full of lots of ego and "old-school" paramedic care.

Now the problem is that I'm still in training and really dread going to work, most people have the argument of wait it out because it'll probably get better, unfortunately training is 6months to a year. My thought is that by the time I'm finished I will hate being a paramedic so much that it isn't even worth slogging through it.

Here are the pros of this particular job:
Busy urban EMS system where I don't have to roll hose.
$3 more an hour than my last private EMS job.
EMS career minded coworkers.
This was my dream job since I finished EMT school 3 years ago.

The cons:
I have no choice in shifts until training is finished and maybe for some time after that.
I have to conform my way of running a call to their way, there is no room for personal preference in how a call is run. (ie oxygen for everyone, backboards for all car wrecks etc)
Coworkers are very unwelcoming, I have not spoken to a single person outside of my FI and the others who are in training. There is no "hi, how is training? my name is blah welcome to blah blah EMS!"
There is a stigma of leaving the job because others view that you failed out of their FI program.

Now I have been trying to leave EMS by going back to school for the past 6 months and had to put it on hold to work at this EMS agency, but I now have almost no flexibility and cannot go back to school and I have no idea when training will be finished (there is no schedule). My question to you lifers is, what would you do? Should I stay and bear it out for the year or 2 it takes to get a regular shift so I can go back to school? Or should I take my $3/hr pay cut back to a private but with more flexibility to go to school? I am very torn and so far most of my friends have recommended to stick it out.

 

[terrible one]

What are you planning on going to school for? What are the job prospects in that field? Pay? Hours? And are you sure when you get there you won't hate it too?

 

[Lil Medic]

I'm by no means a "lifer" but hey, here is what I would do. I would finish the training session and find any and all bright side you can and exploit them. Dropping out now, as you mentioned, will in no way help advertise yourself for any future jobs you may want. Employers want to know that you finish what you start. School has the wonderful luxury of being able to be put on the back burner for a time. If you drop out now just because people aren't being as friendly as you wish and you can't pick your schedule, not only will you lose that reference, but later down the road how are you going to sell yourself if you drop out of something like that? Then going back to school will hardly help to accelerate yourself into a stronger career because in their eyes, you couldn't cope with the last one you had. Not everything is rainbows and gummy bears, you are in the field, you are in a place were thousands wish they could be. I say, stick it out at least until the end of training then it shows you were at least ABLE to do. Why not take the initiative and make the place better? Be the person that starts introductions. Prove yourself extraordinary. Then, when you have the scheduling perks, go back to school and finish it. Plus you will have the recomendations and track record to prove that even in a less then ideal circumstance you came to play and gave it everything you had. YOU made a difference. But don't drop out now, that might just hurt you more than help.

Sleep on it....

 

[pulseless]

What are you planning on going to school for? What are the job prospects in that field? Pay? Hours? And are you sure when you get there you won't hate it too?

nursing, I have no idea if I'll like it or not, im sure I'll hate some jobs but critical care really interests me, but it'll also give me a BS degree and enough income to be comfortable while I look for other things if I truly hate it.

Not everything is rainbows and gummy bears, you are in the field, you are in a place were thousands wish they could be. I say, stick it out at least until the end of training then it shows you were at least ABLE to do. Why not take the initiative and make the place better? Be the person that starts introductions. Prove yourself extraordinary. Then, when you have the scheduling perks, go back to school and finish it.

Unfortunately the scheduling doesn't get much better, they change shifts every few months so I have no guarantees when it comes to school. And there is no making this place different/better, they have the same paint scheme and uniforms from the 1970s. The shift schedule, FI process, some of the equipment, heck even some of the people haven't changed since the 1970s. I don't think my reputation would be ruined, people flee and fail the FI process all the time. My main question is, is it worth being miserable for a small elevation in status and income for the delay, which may be long, in getting through school to do work that I want to do?

 

[Lil Medic]

Another option would be to get your other job back if you can and then drop out of the program your in now. You wouldn't ever even have to mention you participated in it if you didn't want to. I suppose a more enlightening and simple answer might be, if you really are miserable then don't do it. Life is short as we in this field know all too well, so spend it doing what you love and makes you feel like your spending your time well. A degree in anything opens countless doors, especially one in nursing. Your options would only broaden if you went back to school. Haha my two answers are polar opposites I know but with the uncertainty that you seem to have, and maybe you don't, but you said you might not even enjoy nursing, I get the feeling sticking with it might not be the best option for you after all then. Happiness is arguably the most important thing in life. Once you get your degree you could do anything almost. Work as a nurse and other related jobs (obviously), Join the military as an officer, travel abroad, become a writer or journalist with that expertise in mind, tons of major corporations need medical officers like Boeing for example, even something completely unrelated. In the end it is up to you of course, but if you don't enjoy the work and your not sure that you'll enjoy where it takes you... sure give it a shot but I would consider moving on then in that case.