The Hobet made me feel icky...

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shadow5606

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So I'm in the first week of my EMT-B course... Anyone else here in my class at St Vincent?

Took the Hobet last night which was a complete surprise. We were essentially piloting this web based test, it was not a full blown live test.

I've got to say that it made me feel like a dunce. I graduated High School twelve years ago and haven't touched some of the math & science in that time. I've got a year and a half of college but no science since high school, twelve years ago.

Some of it was pretty heavy for someone not recently out of a biology/chemistry course... specific questions on recombinant DNA, periodic table of elements, cellular & atomic questions, etc...

The test we took won't have any consequence since it was a pilot but I am competitive and felt really underprepared next to some of the students in my class who are currently pre-med.

I've been in the workforce for a decade and am a successful sales engineer & national accounts manager for a textbook publisher. It's not that I'm not using my brain, just don't have the same skill set with science & math as someone fresh out of school.

Ugh, needed to vent that. Will be looking forward to getting into actual EMS studies in the next few classes.
 
Took the Hobet
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What the heck is the Hobet?

Some of it was pretty heavy for someone not recently out of a biology/chemistry course... specific questions on recombinant DNA, periodic table of elements, cellular & atomic questions, etc...
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Who makes their EMT-B students take this? We need to encourage this sort of thing.
 
Uhm, the hobet is an extremely basic entrance exam for competency... At least you aren't taking wonderlic, that's even easier. 5th graders could pass it.
 
you know I've read in other threads that the hobet (google it) is extremely easy.

Some of the reading comprehension, basic math etc, is easy but some of the test I took, particuarly science, was tricky for someone who has not recently read or studied bio/chem.

I had no problems reading a passage, making some assessments on it, etc... I also didn't have issues with story problems where simple addition/subtraction was required... No rocket science there...

But really, when I got into the science section... Questions regarding the valence shell of an atom??? Really, I'm the only one who thinks that is not basic??? Has everyone else retained this high school science for over a decade without using it once?

I mean, I recall the terms from high school but I'm sure not going to be able to go into specifics at that level without some study.
 
There wouldn't happen to be a public version available, would there?
 
knowledge is power

Most colleges I am familiar with actually have you retake basic sciences if you are rentering or transferring within science fields if you are more than 3 years out of date.

It is not because they want to make money, it is because the amount and content of knowledge changes so fast.

I have encountered a more than a few paramedic programs that require Hobet.

Thanks for the post, it is very useful information for those entering the field.
 
Yeah, they tend to do that to me too

406nhobbit-group-the-lord-of-the-rings-posters.jpg
 
exodus said:
Uhm, the hobet is an extremely basic entrance exam for competency... At least you aren't taking wonderlic, that's even easier. 5th graders could pass it.
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Ah...that explains a lot. It explains why a basic EMT course would be using it and it does not bode well for the OP's academic prowess that he/she struggled with it. (I retract my prior statement about it being a good sign)
 
Medic, I don't mean to be argumentative but I think the boat has been missed.

the Hobet is not used for entrance to this EMT course (St. Vincent), nor is it used to evaluate students already in the course. This was a pilot session for a new web based version, like I mentioned in my first post.

However, a paper version is used for entrance into the Paramedic program at this hospital.

And again I didn't struggle with anything at a 5th grade level, I promise.

Did I struggle with some high school chemistry on the test? Did I pass that chem in school? Has it been over a decade and do skills decay? Bingo on all counts. No need to knock my "academic prowess", I know my strengths and deficits.

The crux of what I was feeling is that I'd just want to brush up and prepare like a responsible adult. That's what I was getting at. Not that the standards were too high.

Since this was a pilot it's not a big deal that I couldn't prep, just a bruised ego that I wanted to vent on.
 
Hmm... Instead of encouraging the OP people take the opprotunity to kick she/he while they're down, telling them how easy it's supposed to be.

I'm sure it's easy for someone who just got out of high school but really do you remember everything you learned in high school if you've been out of high school for more then a couple years? Do you regularly think about the valence shell, or DNA? What's the saying... if you don't use it then you lose it. That is not to say the OP has the intelligence of a fifth grader (And maybe a fifth grader could pass it because it's dealing with subject matter they're currently learning? Not really a fifth grader but a middle schooler, probably.) just that the test had questions not relative to what the OP knows now.

Anyway, OP, don't feel bad about struggling, use it to learn your weak points so you can study up on them.
 
Linuss is right though... there is something pretty creepy about hobbits. Just don't look at the feet.
 
Instead of encouraging the OP people take the opprotunity to kick she/he while they're down, telling them how easy it's supposed to be.
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Be right back...I have to go hand out food to the panhandler outside.

I'm sure it's easy for someone who just got out of high school but really do you remember everything you learned in high school if you've been out of high school for more then a couple years? Do you regularly think about the valence shell, or DNA?
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I recently tested out of a biochemistry course without studying eleven years after I last had a any coursework in it.

Do you regularly think about the valence shell, or DNA?
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Not really, but then again I still recall a lot from when I did learn about those things.

use it to learn your weak points so you can study up on them.
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That part I do agree with.
 
Be right back...I have to go hand out food to the panhandler outside.
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Oh get some new material already, that's getting really old.

I recently tested out of a biochemistry course without studying eleven years after I last had a any coursework in it.
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Good for you, we all know you're so great. Bravo, bravo. I once tested into advanced algebra in high school by christmas treeing a placement test. Sometimes it's the luck of the draw.

I still recall a lot from when I did learn about those things.
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So do I, but I graduated high school in 2006 (god am I starting to feel old) and have a good memory, doesn't mean everyone's the same. I'm not going to fault him/her for not remembering.

Why is it the knee jerk reaction for many is that whenever they find a weakness in others they hammer on it, rub it in their faces, and puff up their own ego instead of nuturing and encouraging students to learn and grow?

The guy had trouble with a test, no reason to try and make them feel stupid over it.
 
Veneficus said:
Most colleges I am familiar with actually have you retake basic sciences if you are rentering or transferring within science fields if you are more than 3 years out of date.

It is not because they want to make money, it is because the amount and content of knowledge changes so fast.

I have encountered a more than a few paramedic programs that require Hobet.

Thanks for the post, it is very useful information for those entering the field.
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I thought all medic courses required a pre-entrance test...no?
 
rescue99 said:
I thought all medic courses required a pre-entrance test...no?
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Not all of them. Some just require payment and a warm body.
 
Oh get some new material already, that's getting really old.
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LOL So do people who kill and eat babies deserve to die? Sorry Sasha...they are classics and you and I have not debated anything lately.

Why is it the knee jerk reaction for many is that whenever they find a weakness in others they hammer on it, rub it in their faces, and puff up their own ego instead of nuturing and encouraging students to learn and grow?
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Two things:
1. Just because you're critical of someone does not mean that you're doing it to be mean or puff up your own ego. The truth hurts and people who don't have thick skin, don't survive long in competitive environments.

If I was trying to puff up my ego, I'd knock someone I consider a peer (Meclin, Linuss, et al) down a few pegs. You really need to leave this fairy tale world you live in where good people are always nice to everyone and those of us who are "meanies" simply have an axe to grind. Wait until life smacks you around a bit and see how long you retain that attitude.

2. To actually answer your question, because we should be weeding people out of programs instead of trying to cram every warm body through that we can? Some people don't have the chops for an education beyond high school. Take my moron of a brother for example. Graduated from community college after FOUR years of going full time (yes, you read that correctly) with a whopping 2.09 average. I am so proud that I really hope there was a mixup at the hospital back in 1988.

I'm not going to fault him/her for not remembering.
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That is the problem with education lately. We teach for the test and not for true learning.

Good for you, we all know you're so great. Bravo, bravo.
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Boy, you're testy tonight. I was just giving an example like I did using my brother, only a positive example.
 
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rescue99 said:
I thought all medic courses required a pre-entrance test...no?
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I am sure there are ones who don't require anything. All the reputable ones I have seen do.
 
Medic, look, I get that you feel it's your place here to weed folks out. You assigin yourself a title like Resident Curmudgeon for a reason of course, you've got an image to uphold that you're proud of and I'm certainly not your peer, I get that.

The first time I posted on this board was to network with others in central Indiana and aside from a quick exchange with epi all I got was you telling me that I was a fool for considering EMS without remotely understanding where I was coming from or what research I had done prior to my post. I didn't ask you if I should get in the field (I had been asking others that in person) and you derailed my thread.

Again on this thread you missed the point entirely... You misunderstood what the premise of of this test was and what was actually covered, jumping to conclusions so you could make a smug comment. You know what? If this thread were on the Hobet you'd be failing your reading comprehension.

As for the thick skin & handouts, I've been a career sales rep for over a decade. I worked my way from retail sales through some low end business to business sales, sold and managed reps selling network consulting & tech training, telecomunications consulting, some industrial equipment and now work for a 200 year old international publisher where I manage 40% of my departments revenue and all of the largest national accounts who buy the official Microsoft texts for their classes.

With that background in professional sales do you think my skin is that thin? Do you think you'll be the one to nudge me away from this career choice?

I've got my own battles to fight man. In the last three months I've quit smoking, put myself on a diet/excercise regimine where I've dropped 20lbs and still going. I'm getting in the best shape I've been in ever. I've been heavily researching this field and talking to PLENTY of local medics, EMTs & employers so I can do this smartly. I'm taking this EMT course deadly serious because this is important to me. I'm on top of everything that's been required of me and you know, although no one is asking me yet to I do plan on picking up some chem & bio now because I don't want to feel like this.

I don't need you to take me down a notch because I posted this thread admiting I was down a notch. That was the purpose of my OP (they ask about the meaning of a paragraph in the hobet)

I also think you and I will have to agree to disagree in general about me entering this field. (i.e. we're arguing on the internet like fools, you're my senior so set an example and let's drop it)

I get where you're coming at with all this, really. Here's the thing, I'm already motivated to learn more & challenge myself so you're not accomplishing that and I'm already kicking myself over this so you're not accomplishing that either. And, I'm certainly not leaving the field or this course over some comments on the internet so you're definitely not accomplishing that.

What are you shooting for with this?
 
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