Time Management: Studying for Medic school with a Fulltime EMT job

LoganBrogan

LoganBrogan

Forum Probie
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Hey everybody, I’m currently an EMT working a full-time job for AMR: Palm Springs, in CA. I have my EMT and A&P entrance exams for Crafton hills college next week and I’ve been putting in lots of hours studying to make sure I pass that and actually get into the school, first. I’ve been putting in roughly 2-3 hr sometimes 4 hours a day for these entrance exams as well as overall prep besides these exams (ex: pharm, EKGs, and assessments) and have been tracking that with a pomodoro app called Focus Keeper.

I’m aware that I’ll be studying a lot more than that each day when medic school rolls around because I’m aiming for that top spot in my class. So my questions to you all is, how much have you guys studied (estimate) each day or even, weekly, during medic school and what was your outcome like? If you could go back and put in more time, would you? I’m curious to hear from you guys who went to school and worked FT as well as those of you who either were PT or didn’t work while attending medic school! Also, maybe you guys can add your time management tips between work and school?

Thanks!
Logan
 
I'd say I'm spending on average 2-3 hours a day on classwork (some days zero, others 7-9). That could easily be increased to 4-5 hours per day on average. Time management skills are the key. Life balance is important as well. Eat healthy. Work out. Don't ignore the family. Kinda ignore the friends. Don't get fired from the job.
 
You need to have a solid understanding of yesterdays material, a firm grasp on todays material, and have read tomorrows material before you go to bed. Adjust for your schedule, but you get the idea.

As far as time management, you need to prioritize. First comes work because thats what is getting you through the day to day. Next, and a damn close second it is, is medic school because that is your future. You also need to keep your health up, so you need to sleep and you need some time every day to just be you(whatever that entails). It's a lot, but almost all of us had to do this balancing act(frequently with more layers added).

If you have a spouse, kids, animals, a sickly relative and so on, then this becomes a very hard nut to crack. Keep in mind a dating relationship isn't the same as a spouse. If you SO can't handle your emotional and physical absence for a period of time during this process, essentially they aren't worth it(essentially a variation on the "if you cant handle me at my best" concept).

Welcome to adulthood.
 
I went through medic school at 41. It took me a few weeks to get back into school mode -- you know, that feeling of always having homework or a test to study for. Once I got used to that, I was ok. I probably averaged less than two hours a day studying because I found I just couldn't absorb useful stuff beyond that. More important than setting a number of hours to study was making sure my family realized I wasn't going to be as available to them.

I was able to work part-time during medic school because we had a second income. Full-time would have been much harder. Either way, though, you have to put aside most recreational activity for the duration of the program.
 
planetmike said:
I'd say I'm spending on average 2-3 hours a day on classwork (some days zero, others 7-9). That could easily be increased to 4-5 hours per day on average. Time management skills are the key. Life balance is important as well. Eat healthy. Work out. Don't ignore the family. Kinda ignore the friends. Don't get fired from the job.
Click to expand...

Ok great thank you for your input!
 
mgr22 said:
I went through medic school at 41. It took me a few weeks to get back into school mode -- you know, that feeling of always having homework or a test to study for. Once I got used to that, I was ok. I probably averaged less than two hours a day studying because I found I just couldn't absorb useful stuff beyond that. More important than setting a number of hours to study was making sure my family realized I wasn't going to be as available to them.

I was able to work part-time during medic school because we had a second income. Full-time would have been much harder. Either way, though, you have to put aside most recreational activity for the duration of the program.
Click to expand...

Wow only 2 hours a day? That sounds amazing haha maybe you just read really fast and retained a lot during lecture! Lol
Thank you for the response!
 
Have you asked any of the AMR- PS guys on here directly for advice? I bet they could help tremendously.
 
VentMonkey said:
Have you asked any of the AMR- PS guys on here directly for advice? I bet they could help tremendously.
Click to expand...
Not on here but I’ve talked to some at work. Most went the part time route but the few that worked FT didn’t talk about time management and how to help me too much. More like, how hard it was and what to prep for in terms of studying
 
You will find 3 other AMR-PS guys on this form. 2 medics, 1 a paramaybe, and 1 a paraalmost...

I went through craftons medic program a couple of years ago but I was part time. I really only studied maybe 2-3 hours a day if that. I might read a couple of pages of text here and there during a shift and finish the whole chapter at home. One of the guys I went through medic school with was full time at AMR, going through the medic program, and spending his days off at the hospital due to a family member being sick. He made it through without any major issues.

For right now just stick with studying and brushing up on your A&P and your EMT textbook. You are only in the intial part of applying for the program so you still have a little while before you actually start. Once you pass the EMT test and the A&P test then you should focus on EMT assessments since that will be your next test.

I would not and did not even think about studying EKGs and pharm until I was introduced to the subjects in medic school. There is a point where going ahead and thinking ahead will actually make you lose focus on what you need to do right now (study only for the EMT and A&P test).
 
hometownmedic5 said:
You need to have a solid understanding of yesterdays material, a firm grasp on todays material, and have read tomorrows material before you go to bed. Adjust for your schedule, but you get the idea.

As far as time management, you need to prioritize. First comes work because thats what is getting you through the day to day. Next, and a damn close second it is, is medic school because that is your future. You also need to keep your health up, so you need to sleep and you need some time every day to just be you(whatever that entails). It's a lot, but almost all of us had to do this balancing act(frequently with more layers added).

If you have a spouse, kids, animals, a sickly relative and so on, then this becomes a very hard nut to crack. Keep in mind a dating relationship isn't the same as a spouse. If you SO can't handle your emotional and physical absence for a period of time during this process, essentially they aren't worth it(essentially a variation on the "if you cant handle me at my best" concept).

Welcome to adulthood.
Click to expand...
Yeah, my family understands I’m not going to be there all to much the next year. Also, before getting engaged I told my fiancé that she needs to understand what I’m going to be going through in medic school and told her we’d have to wait until after school to get married and she’s super supportive and understands. So that always helps.

As for that first quote you responded with I will definitely try to remember that one. I’ve heard that when I was in fire academy as well, however, I know academy and medic school will be way different and medic school is another beast. Thanks for the response!
 
DesertMedic66 said:
You will find 3 other AMR-PS guys on this form. 2 medics, 1 a paramaybe, and 1 a paraalmost...

I went through craftons medic program a couple of years ago but I was part time. I really only studied maybe 2-3 hours a day if that. I might read a couple of pages of text here and there during a shift and finish the whole chapter at home. One of the guys I went through medic school with was full time at AMR, going through the medic program, and spending his days off at the hospital due to a family member being sick. He made it through without any major issues.

For right now just stick with studying and brushing up on your A&P and your EMT textbook. You are only in the intial part of applying for the program so you still have a little while before you actually start. Once you pass the EMT test and the A&P test then you should focus on EMT assessments since that will be your next test.

I would not and did not even think about studying EKGs and pharm until I was introduced to the subjects in medic school. There is a point where going ahead and thinking ahead will actually make you lose focus on what you need to do right now (study only for the EMT and A&P test).
Click to expand...

You work at PS huh? Is this Kevin? Or maybe Chris? Lol
But wow thanks for the advice man! Yeah, I have been focusing on the task at hand as far as these EMT and A&P tests and will be focusing on that oral assessments part after. I had just been preparing for those medic assessments, pharm, and EKGs to build an understanding of it not so much to master it. I just think it would help to hit the ground running and being ahead of schedule rather than lag behind.
I appreciate the input and I’ll definitely focus on the task at hand! Thanks
 
LoganBrogan said:
You work at PS huh? Is this Kevin? Or maybe Chris? Lol
But wow thanks for the advice man! Yeah, I have been focusing on the task at hand as far as these EMT and A&P tests and will be focusing on that oral assessments part after. I had just been preparing for those medic assessments, pharm, and EKGs to build an understanding of it not so much to master it. I just think it would help to hit the ground running and being ahead of schedule rather than lag behind.
I appreciate the input and I’ll definitely focus on the task at hand! Thanks
Click to expand...
They call me Sancho.
 
I guess it just depends on each person. I'm currently about 2 months into my medic. Course is all week Monday-thurs 8-5 for the classroom portion which is basically half done. Then about 4 more months of clinical and rides after that. I personally am putting in a substantial amount of time during the first half of medic school. I'm sure it will be the same for the second half, using testing tools such as fisdap and JBL, and hitting any chapters I feel like re reading before I test nationally. I spend roughly 2-3 hours studying after classroom days and about 8 hours on days I'm not in class. But that's basically because I want to read the book from cover to cover. I am working about 8 hrs a week tending bar which usually makes enough to barely keep me afloat while in the program. I couldn't imagine working full time but there are plenty of people who do. I guess I just want to have a rediculou s depth of understanding the material.
 
When I was in medic class, my hours of studying was better expressed as hours in a week, and i likely spent about 3 studying. Its what works for me.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
 
Colt45 said:
I guess it just depends on each person. I'm currently about 2 months into my medic. Course is all week Monday-thurs 8-5 for the classroom portion which is basically half done. Then about 4 more months of clinical and rides after that. I personally am putting in a substantial amount of time during the first half of medic school. I'm sure it will be the same for the second half, using testing tools such as fisdap and JBL, and hitting any chapters I feel like re reading before I test nationally. I spend roughly 2-3 hours studying after classroom days and about 8 hours on days I'm not in class. But that's basically because I want to read the book from cover to cover. I am working about 8 hrs a week tending bar which usually makes enough to barely keep me afloat while in the program. I couldn't imagine working full time but there are plenty of people who do. I guess I just want to have a rediculou s depth of understanding the material.
Click to expand...
I’m in the same boat! I like to have a complete understanding too. I’m aiming to have roughly 8 hours of studying on my 1 day off a week! Thanks for the input! Good luck on the rest of your class
 
GMCmedic said:
When I was in medic class, my hours of studying was better expressed as hours in a week, and i likely spent about 3 studying. Its what works for me.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
3 hours a week? Wow haha nice
 
Do what works for you, but don't overdo it. Don't study 8 hours straight just because you set an arbitrary number. In my fire academy I've caught myself trying to finish a chapter but found myself nodding off in between reading the same page 3 or 4 times....sire I could spend another hour trying to force myself to finish "reading" the chapter(s) I wanted to read that night before going to bed, or I could recognize that in that state my brain is retaining the info just as effectively as if I was goofing off online instead, so it's better to go to bed then and wake up a bit earlier before class and do some reading/studying in the morning.

So yeah, have the drive and discipline to set out blocks of study time, but don't forget to listen to your body and don't over do it because of an arbitrarily set number.

Figure out what works for you, what works for me may not work for you and vice versa. It's ok to take a few weeks of actually having to go to class and study to figure it out, and if that turns out different than what you have planned now before the actual stress of school, that's ok too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top