Student with many questions.

[atlasD]

Currently, I am an EMT student aspiring to start paramedic school soon after. There aren't many options in my area to get my feet wet, otherwise I might. I have several questions...

1. Though it is not a requirement of the college I am attending, I have read several places (including these forums) that Anatomy and Physiology be completed before started Paramedic courses. Why is this? It is obviously common sense to have a strong grasp of A & P, but is the education in most paramedic programs not adequate enough? I'm slightly hesitant to take it prior because including preqs thats a year past finishing my EMT. That is a year of possibly forgetting and losing many skills. Also I'm impatient and want life out of college to finally begin.

2. I'm grasping the basic A & P of the course, and I'm doing well on quizzes - but obtaining a blood pressure is rather difficult for me? Should I be incredibly worried? Would purchasing a blood pressure cuff and obsessively practicing help?

3. I'm living in a small midwestern city and would like the freedom to live elsewhere. If I attend paramedic school here and then want to move immediately after or soon after, would it be possible to find work? Is reciprocity as difficult as it seems?

4. What cities is it easiest to find exciting/fulfilling work?

5. The majority of people in my class are taking it to get onto the fire department. Many are actually pretty vocal with not wanting to do anything with EMS. I on the other hand want to be a paramedic, have since I was a teenager. If after getting my EMT-P I apply with a fire department, would I have to wait several years to be promoted to work in an ambulance?




Yep, loaded post. Thanks for your time!

 

[Akulahawk]

I can't answer ALL your questions, but I'll do what I can... in Red, in line.

Currently, I am an EMT student aspiring to start paramedic school soon after. There aren't many options in my area to get my feet wet, otherwise I might. I have several questions...

1. Though it is not a requirement of the college I am attending, I have read several places (including these forums) that Anatomy and Physiology be completed before started Paramedic courses. Why is this? It is obviously common sense to have a strong grasp of A & P, but is the education in most paramedic programs not adequate enough? I'm slightly hesitant to take it prior because including preqs thats a year past finishing my EMT. That is a year of possibly forgetting and losing many skills. Also I'm impatient and want life out of college to finally begin.
A&P goes MUCH more in-depth than what you get in an EMT-B course, and generally more so than Paramedic programs. You want the full year as you'll get a LOT more knowledge about the body than you'd get out of a 1 semester "survey" or "functional" course. If you get a job as an EMT, hopefully they'll be flexible enough to allow you to work and be a student at the same time. I'll be murder on you if your time management skills suck though. If that doesn't work for you, just work on getting on with your schooling and finishing your degree. Take the A&P when you can, before, during, or even after you get through Paramedic School. Preferably before... things will be much easier to understand that way.
2. I'm grasping the basic A & P of the course, and I'm doing well on quizzes - but obtaining a blood pressure is rather difficult for me? Should I be incredibly worried? Would purchasing a blood pressure cuff and obsessively practicing help?
Practice as much as you can in class. Put the cuff on, palpate the artery before you start, and put the steth diaphragm right on top of that spot. If the elbow is extended, the artery will be a little closer to the surface and should be easier to hear the sounds. It was difficult for me at first too... once I learned what I was listening for, it became easier. Now I can usually hear the sounds, even when bouncing down the road going Code 3.
3. I'm living in a small midwestern city and would like the freedom to live elsewhere. If I attend paramedic school here and then want to move immediately after or soon after, would it be possible to find work? Is reciprocity as difficult as it seems?

4. What cities is it easiest to find exciting/fulfilling work?

5. The majority of people in my class are taking it to get onto the fire department. Many are actually pretty vocal with not wanting to do anything with EMS. I on the other hand want to be a paramedic, have since I was a teenager. If after getting my EMT-P I apply with a fire department, would I have to wait several years to be promoted to work in an ambulance?
Most of the folks around here (Fire Departments) start working the ambulance right off the bat. They rotate between ambulance and engine/truck duty. So they look at finally getting completely off "the box" as a promotion, as they then work only on a single type of apparatus... until they decide to change things up a bit. That tends to take about 5 years...

Private ambulance work is OK ... but the hourly pay is lower and all you do is ambulance work. The other thing to consider is that private companies typically don't have as good benefits as you do in the public sector. I'd be all over the local FD's if they'd be OK with me working in a single role. Same if any of the cities or (non-fire) districts around here started up their own muni 3rd service and decided to do it WELL.


Yep, loaded post. Thanks for your time!

Answered what I could...

 

[daedalus]

As an EMT student, you are not going to understand the need for the anatomy and physiology yet. In paramedic school, A&P is 70% of what we learn. A lot of paramedic schools assume a good grasp on it. The two hours of time alloted to anatomy and physiology (if you can even call it that) in EMT school does not even cover what is learned in 7th grade science class.

Paramedics preform advanced assessment of patients, which requires a solid grasp of A&P. When listening to the heart for example, you must listen to all four heart valves and know which of the two sounds to listen for at that valve. You must also know how to line up what you are diasystole hearing with the part of the cardiac cycle occurring (not just systole, but chamber pressures at certain times, etc). Learning why a right to left shunt caused by a defect in the heart of a new born and learning how to treat it is not as simple as two hours of anatomy and physiology.

Paramedics also give medications, which act on receptors and inhibit or cause responses in body tissues. This can be very dangerous without knowledge of physiology.

Take A&P

 

[atlasD]

.....The two hours of time alloted to anatomy and physiology (if you can even call it that) in EMT school does not even cover what is learned in 7th grade science class.

That sounds about right. It did seem like a very small blip. I think we might have spent more time on lifting techniques...

What is your opinion on taking A&P during or after paramedic school?

 

[akflightmedic]

That sounds about right. It did seem like a very small blip. I think we might have spent more time on lifting techniques...

What is your opinion on taking A&P during or after paramedic school?

Useless, take it from someone who did it after...

So many concepts, drug actions, etc will be so much easier to comprehend if you have the AnP BEFORE medic school.

Doing it during will be too much and you may lose focus.

 

[Akulahawk]

Useless, take it from someone who did it after...

So many concepts, drug actions, etc will be so much easier to comprehend if you have the AnP BEFORE medic school.

Doing it during will be too much and you may lose focus.

I wouldn't say entirely useless, as concepts you've been exposed to in medic school will start to really make sense, but you'll gain maximum benefit from it if you take it before medic school. The A&P you get in medic school should end up being somewhat of a review of the A&P you previously learned, and with that knowledge, the concepts presented will make more sense to you.

Taking A&P during medic school is doable, but it can present to you some major time management challenges. Mostly that's because A&P courses and medic school both run during the day. You can find evening A&P courses, but that can burn you out quickly...

It should be made very clear that I very much prefer that A&P (at the minimum) be done prior to medic school.

Think of it this way: look at the typical allied health programs (Nursing, Physical Therapy/PT Assistant, Respiratory Therapy, etc) and see what they generally require for their core classes. You'll find that, by and large, they're the same. Take those classes. There's a reason why all those allied health programs require those courses... it's to provide a foundation of knowledge upon which the programs can build their own knowledge on.

It can take a while, but you'll find yourself a better clinician (generally speaking) than your classmates. It'll also set you up for a career that's not a Paramedic, or at least get you primed for getting into another career... should Paramedic not work out for you.

 

[Chrissy88]

Currently, I am an EMT student aspiring to start paramedic school soon after. There aren't many options in my area to get my feet wet, otherwise I might. I have several questions...

1. Though it is not a requirement of the college I am attending, I have read several places (including these forums) that Anatomy and Physiology be completed before started Paramedic courses. Why is this? It is obviously common sense to have a strong grasp of A & P, but is the education in most paramedic programs not adequate enough? I'm slightly hesitant to take it prior because including preqs thats a year past finishing my EMT. That is a year of possibly forgetting and losing many skills. Also I'm impatient and want life out of college to finally begin.

2. I'm grasping the basic A & P of the course, and I'm doing well on quizzes - but obtaining a blood pressure is rather difficult for me? Should I be incredibly worried? Would purchasing a blood pressure cuff and obsessively practicing help?

3. I'm living in a small midwestern city and would like the freedom to live elsewhere. If I attend paramedic school here and then want to move immediately after or soon after, would it be possible to find work? Is reciprocity as difficult as it seems?

4. What cities is it easiest to find exciting/fulfilling work?

5. The majority of people in my class are taking it to get onto the fire department. Many are actually pretty vocal with not wanting to do anything with EMS. I on the other hand want to be a paramedic, have since I was a teenager. If after getting my EMT-P I apply with a fire department, would I have to wait several years to be promoted to work in an ambulance?




Yep, loaded post. Thanks for your time!

Others have already answered...

I am also a EMT-Basic student and I thought I was the only one having trouble with taking BP, lol. I think I've gotten the hang of it now, I would strongly agree with buying your own cuff and steth and practicing. It's difficult sometimes to hear the pulse because there are other noises that distract ya or it is a bit faint.

I'm taking an A&P course now along with my class and I think it's going to be helpful in the long run, (You can always brush up and study the textbook after the class is over) and it's nice to have a working knowledge of it, because I imagine Medic school is relatively fast paced and they cram a ton of information in ya so it's best to be as prepared as possible.

 

[rescue99]

1. Absolutely to A/P...take it before Paramedic. You have enough to worry about without having to learn A/P at the same time. You won't regret the decision. Med term and intro to Pharm too if you can. These are important early steps.

2. YES...a BP cuff and scope of your own allows you to quickly become proficient.

3. National registry is accepted by a majority of states plus, most states will let you challenge their exam or have some type of cross system in place.

4. Any moderately sized metro area will offer plenty to keep you busy

The answer to 5 is...it totally depends. Some places yes, some no. Here you would be on a rescue unit for a while but the money more than makes up for the wait time :>) Either way you will always be needed on a fire so don't worry about missing the big weenie roasts.

 

[bunkie]

On B/P You just need to practice. I had trouble the first day but I just relentlessly prodded at my buddy in class until I figured it out. Never settle for anything less then perfection. Ask your instructors for help, they'll show you how to do it and may even show you the easiest way for *you* to remember.

As for fire. We have a lot of fire in our class, out of a class of 25 I'd say probably 19 or so are fire. They are in the class because its required to do fire around here. They aren't interested either. I can't blame them. What if you had to do fire to be a medic? So I can understand the grief, just stick with like-minded individuals in your group/study sessions and you'll be fine.

 

[rescue99]

On B/P You just need to practice. I had trouble the first day but I just relentlessly prodded at my buddy in class until I figured it out. Never settle for anything less then perfection. Ask your instructors for help, they'll show you how to do it and may even show you the easiest way for *you* to remember.

As for fire. We have a lot of fire in our class, out of a class of 25 I'd say probably 19 or so are fire. They are in the class because its required to do fire around here. They aren't interested either. I can't blame them. What if you had to do fire to be a medic? So I can understand the grief, just stick with like-minded individuals in your group/study sessions and you'll be fine.

They want to do Fire, should firfighters not whatever else goes along with it?If firefighters accepted the job as the part time occupation that it actually is in most places, they wouldn't have to beef up their justification. EMS is a full time as unlike firefighting has become over the last 2 decades. Sometimes advances in technology actually hurt jobs. Product and safety standards have come so far that its put a real damper on fire supression needs.

 

[Level1pedstech]

On B/P You just need to practice. I had trouble the first day but I just relentlessly prodded at my buddy in class until I figured it out. Never settle for anything less then perfection. Ask your instructors for help, they'll show you how to do it and may even show you the easiest way for *you* to remember.

As for fire. We have a lot of fire in our class, out of a class of 25 I'd say probably 19 or so are fire. They are in the class because its required to do fire around here. They aren't interested either. I can't blame them. What if you had to do fire to be a medic? So I can understand the grief, just stick with like-minded individuals in your group/study sessions and you'll be fine.

Most firefighters in WA and elsewhere for that matter are required to be certified as basics thats why EMT classes are full of fire people. Plus as you know all providers need to be associated with a licensed WA state DOH agency prior to approval of their application for certification. A large number of these agencies are fire departments.

The real problem occurs when they move on to medic school with the sole intent of using the certification as a shortcut to the apparatus floor. With many agencies wanting a medic on every engine this shortage of qualified FF/EMT-P recruits is only going to worsen in the future. Many fire candidates know having a medic cert can cut your odds down dramatically but many new medics are not dialed in on the fire recruitment process and even if they make it through the testing process they wash out in the tower. Sadly many departments have watered down the testing process to allow people into the service that 10 years ago would have never made it medic or not. Its an issue that needs to be addressed before the " four medics on every engine" theory takes over the fire system.

 

[atlasD]

Most firefighters in WA and elsewhere for that matter are required to be certified as basics thats why EMT classes are full of fire people. Plus as you know all providers need to be associated with a licensed WA state DOH agency prior to approval of their application for certification. A large number of these agencies are fire departments.

Funny that you've mentioned WA. I mentioned in my original post I want to move after medic school. I've tried figuring out washingtons reciprocity, but it seems nearly impossible. Is WA a state where you basically have to repeat school? What is the usual process with getting associated with a DOH?

 

[Level1pedstech]

Did you go to the WA state DOH website and search for reciprocity, it looks like you have to jump through the regular WA state certification hoops but I did not see anything that says you need to repeat your class. As long as your initial course meets WA standards and you find a department or agency to work for (volunteer or career) you should be able to be granted reciprocity. Finding the right agency may be your biggest hurdle,not all volunteer departments (if you choose that route to get started) are set up to utilize medics and skills maintenance is a big issue for anyone above the basic level regardless of agency affiliation. You will need to be with an agency that has an established agreement with the local ER so you can get in for sticks and tubes.

Do you have a location in WA where you want to settle? It would be easier for you to find a department out of the Seattle area, some of the close in departments have residency requirements and some don't. AMR and Rural Metro have a big presence in the Seattle area but I don't know if they are even hiring. There are some great combination departments scattered around the eastern side of the state and in the counties within one hour of Seattle.

 

[StreetPharmacist]

I took a basic a&p for emergency care class online before medic shcool. It is required for medic school, not before but must be completed before class is over, I wanted to get it out of the way before school started though. It was real easy and I dont think I learned anything useful in it! A real a&p class would have been better! All that was required was 8 modules with reoports due on each module so in all it was about 8 papers that had to be written most of which were 2-3 pages required. Didnt even use the book for it. It was a waste of time, but I have a certificate saying I completed 80 hours of a&p!

 

[JPINFV]

80 hours? Someone on that site is missing the entire issue of quanity v quality.

 

[StreetPharmacist]

Its thru the com col that I'm going thru for medic school. Not on the curriculum side but the con-ed side for the a&p and the medic class.