Paramedic school and the real world

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ironguy321

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How did you guys go through school AND support yourselfs? Do schools work with your schedule or you work with theirs? Did you take the month off for the FD ride outs or change up your schedule? Just seeing what you guys did so I have an idea of what to expect down the road.

Also I only support myself and a 1room apartment so I don't support a family.
 
With the program that I am in, work and family "fit" around class and clinicals. They told us at the beginning of class that it would be the best and the worst year of your life, and I can see where they are coming from when they told us that. I am fortunate that my family if supportive, as is my employer. If you don't have a great support system, it can be a very difficult road to go down.

Personally, for me the information hasn't been that difficult to leart. It has required taking the time to study, but I have been able to grasp the concepts. However, between class, all of the projects, and all of the clinicals it has been very time consuming. (Even more than I had anticipated.)

We schedule our own clinicals, and do them through out the program. They occur simultaneously with class. Around here, I believe most programs do clinicals in the same manner. In fact, I can't think of a single one off the top of my head that does just class for a while and then just clinicals for a while.

Your best bet would be to talk to students that are currently in the programs you are considering or those who have recently went through the program.
 
as far as the didactic, the school sets the hours that the class runs. in ma, you have to attend 100% of the class. so you work around the schools schedule.

for clinicals, it largely depends on the school and the hospital. some only allow interns on day shifts. some allow interns on all shifts. and for your field internship well, ems runs 24/7. so can interships.
 
ironguy321 said:
How did you guys go through school AND support yourselfs? Do schools work with your schedule or you work with theirs? Did you take the month off for the FD ride outs or change up your schedule? Just seeing what you guys did so I have an idea of what to expect down the road.

Also I only support myself and a 1room apartment so I don't support a family.
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In our class, we were able to schedule our own ride time & clinical time, but we still had class 2 or 3 times a week. You have to set a schedule for each week that will allow you to what you need to do for class and still work enough to support yourself. It is a great lesson in time management. Take a calendar and budget your time so that you have everything set where it works for you. Then use that each week.

Also, schedule some time for yourself - do something unrelated to class and EMS. What I did was play golf once a week with some friends. It was about 3 or 4 hours away from it all, and gave me a good chance to recharge my batteries.
 
See if you can get some loans. Then you don't have to worry about working and can commit yourself to studying.
 
I teach at a college & university in different programs.

From my years of teaching this is the comon methods.

Usually one will have class two days a week, with either following labs afterwards or integrated within the class. Some have separate arrangements for lab's; again all dependent upon on the infrastructure of the institution.

Clinicals are made with agreement and contracts of local EMS, Hospitals (specialized units) all dependent upon the availability of the area and number of students. Remember, there maybe more than one educational facility competing for those sites. Doubtfully, most will arrange around your schedule, many now sign up on computer, and as well check off portions as completed.

Financial aid can be achieved, just alike any other educational program. Student loans can be obtained, apply for grants ( yes, there are some out there-talk to a financial counselor).

Prepare yourself mentally. Seriously, prepare your family & loved ones you will be taking a hiatus for a while. Prepare yourself to have a study area & time. Want to pass, better yet, want to be a good medic? It takes a lot of studying and practicing. There is a difference between those as we say in the education as okay and those we say "better hire this one!".. and yes, we get asked that.

Become very organized, and allow family time & time for yourself.

Good luck and keep your nose in the book !

R/r 911
 
Up here its a little different. Our PCP,(Primary Care Paramedic), classes are full time for about 10 months. About 7 months full time class and labs, 7-8 hr days. Followed by 3 months of clinicals and ride time which are schedualed for you.

After that if you want to take your ACP,(Advanced Care Paramedic), you have a choice of a full time program similar to PCP but 13 months. Or part time/self study programs. The part time programs have a couple of varations. One is to spend a week a month in class and labs for 8-9months then self schedule clinical and ride time, 800 - 900 hours. The other is two days a week in class for 8 - 9 months plus your clinical and ride time. Both of these part time courses require hundreds if not over a thousand hours of self study. Both of these are hard on family life and require dedication but are somewhat flexable around work.

I've done both and I find full time is easier on the head but not the pocket.
Loans and hard work will make it pay off in the end.

Best of luck.:)
 
I used to have a family but I haven't seen them since September. I no longer have friends. I live and work in an ambulance.
 
Should you be used to supporting yourself, it is difficuilt to now stop and study. But there are people who have put themselves through training while supporting themselves, and even families. Very stressful indeed, but has been done, and can be done, by you. That is a motto I often use to motivate myself and others.

You can get ready for eating, sleeping, drinking, thinking, dreaming, etc, EMS should you want to pass and perform well. Often the deciding factor wheather to pass of fail a candidate for us is: "Do I want this person to treat my family??" Inform your family as such so they now what to expect and can support you. Normally the course does not structure itself around you.

As Rid mentioned, you will be surprised as to who watches your every move during your training with regards to patient treatment, bedside manners and general behaviour. If you work hard, it gets noticed (Contrary to popular belief) and could be the difference between going to look for job and one being offered to you on a plate.
 
If you can afford it, it is possible to fund the course privately. Unfortunately its an extremely expensive course and the duration as well.

Our company send you on the AEA (EMT-I) course, but if you want to do it privately (fund it yourself) you would most probably end up resigning.

I think our company only allows three months unpaid leave...

I was fortunate enough to fund two years myself and obtain most of my qualifications before I went into EMS permanently.
 
The paramedic program I went through was 3 nights a week, from 1900 - 2200, from Sept. To June. After that we had our Hospital rotations, about 400 hrs, and then our truck rotations, about 440 hours...

My Full-time work schedule is wed - sat, 0600-1800, So I was able to fit everything in.
 
I wish we had our paramedic courses part time. I would probably be the first one that join. The course for paramedic I know that is part time was our National Diploma course, since they've changed it to the Btech Degree... I dont know.

Its difficult to do the diploma course part time, you might as well do full time.

Would love to do the CCA program part time! (hint hint to the SA colleges)
 
firecoins said:
I used to have a family but I haven't seen them since September. I no longer have friends. I live and work in an ambulance.
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This pretty much sums up my thoughts. Just for an example, here's my current schedule...

Sun- work 8a-9p
Mon- work 8a-9p
Tues- class 9a-6p
Wend- work 7a-9p
Thurs- class 9a-6p
Fri- class 10a-2p
Sat- off (overtime)

Almost any time between that is filled with overtime or studying. The rest of my life is on hold, and unfortunately I pretty sure its about to ruin my current relationship.

It's a lot of work and time, but you only gonna get back what you put in.
 
My current medic program is 24/48 shift friendly. Class on either Monday or Tuesday and then Wednesday or Thursday and clinicals inbetween work and school. It's really not too bad, in all honesty. Then again, I live at home with the parents.
-rye
 
best advice i heard for medic school was take one day per week for yourself. on that day do nothing related to ems - no school, studying, clinical, work, overtime, etc. go hang out with friends, do something relaxing for yourself, whatever. but make time for yourself. also know your limitations. the paramedic supervisor who says that if you don't gain 30 lbs while in school jsut because he did while barely ever leaving the station b/t work and clinical, surviving on mountain dew and burgers and candybars is an idiot and should not be payed attention to (yes i was actually told something very similar). also don't be afraid to say it's too much right now and find another way or time to do it.


good luck
 
AJemt said:
best advice i heard for medic school was take one day per week for yourself.

good luck
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I take Monday from 5:04 am to 5:17 am to myself.
 
I work full time in the ER of a Level II trauma center as an ER tech. We have 3 12-hr shifts a week and I plan on doing an extra 24 hr shift per diem on the ambulance for experiance over the summer. I'm trying to phase out of the main hospital and onto the rig full-time during Paramedic school this August. If you have to work to support yourself during Medic school, 24-48 a week is the way to go--not 3 12's! :)
 
Going to school & supporting my self

I have 3 jobs and my husband, dad, and friends help.
 
My school has class 3 days a week. Lecture and clinicals are scheduled by the college, except for ambulance clinicals. You schedule those yourself with your assigned preceptor. Our clinicals are done in the same manner as nursing school - you go to the hospital with your clinical instructor and remain in whatever area with that instructor for whatever number of hours you're scheduled to be there. For example, I have psych clinicals every Wednesday in June from 7am to 12pm. Classes and clinicals are 100% mandatory. Absences must be made up hour for hour, double time for unexcused absences.

Yes, it's tough. But anything worthwhile usually is tough. ;-) My program is through a college so I have the option of student loans, grants, and the GA HOPE grant. I will end up with around $5K each semester that is refunded to me for living expenses. Plus I work full time for a hospital based EMS service (I'm an EMT-I already). I work 2 days a week, 24 hour shifts at a time. I arrange my work schedule around my school schedule. My school is 100 miles from my home and work so I stay with someone two nights a week to save on gas. It's tough on my family, but they know it's temporary. Plus I can get most of my homework and studying done while at school. It's working out well so far.

The best advice I can give you is to give it a shot and then rework your schedule if things aren't working. Good luck to you!

Christina
 
when i went it was 3 nights a week friday saturday and sunday, 8hours per class. then when i wasn't there i was working 3-4 24 hour shifts a week. it was the best year of my life!:P
 
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