viewpoint on ems\Paramedic

P

potentialemt

Forum Ride Along
Messages
2
Reaction score
1
Points
3
Hi everyone! I'm 18 and interested in emergency medicine. Here is a little background. Im going to college in the fall to major in biology \pre-med. I'm currently a certified lifeguard (basic first aid, CPR with AED machine and water park safety). I thought i wanted to become a physician and work in ED. But I'm also interested in becoming a paramedic. Can you give me some pros and cons of your job. What kind of city do you live in? What level of trauma is the hospital you work with? If you don't mind...what kind of salary do you get? Any and all kinds of info would be great. Thanks in advance for your time to answer my questions, i really appreciate it!!
 
If i were you, continue down the MD route. But I'll answer your questions.

I live in a college town, with very rural surrounding areas up in the mountains. A lot of our calls come from the rural outlying areas.

I don't work in a hospital.

My salary is comical.

I love what I do, but it just typically doesn't pay the best. Even the better paying EMS systems don't pay anything brag worthy. It's fun, it's always something new, you get to work with some great people. But if having money and more then 3 hours of sleep a day if important to you- I would look elsewhere.
 
I am only a little older than you, but if you want to be a doctor, be a doctor. Paramedic just adds 2 years of school and another few thousand in debt if you are only wanting certification and you will have enough of that anyway.

I thought I wanted MD until I researched the time involved to get to that point. I started looking at PA after that, but I was just hating my math/science classes in school. I jumped ship to my schools Fire/Paramedic program and have loved it. On the other hand, I plan on enlisting after college and have my whole life, so my pay is going to not be the most exciting no matter what side (mil/civ) fence I'm on and I have always known that. I do plan on PA school down the road, but I just got burnt out with struggling in school and all the useless stuff I am required to take and this major finally gave me something I am actually good at and that I love doing.

Honestly though....you're 18. That was 3 years ago for me and a lot has changed in my life in just 3 years. I've had a lot of good things happen and things I partially wish I could just forget. I've moved states, almost gotten married, lost some pretty important people, and just done typical college stuff. A lot of this stuff has changed what I thought I wanted to do, I never would have guessed I'd be taking Paramedic classes even just 2 years ago. You have 2 years of (I'm biased since I don't like most of them) useless classes ahead of you. Plenty of time to get some experience of what lies ahead of you and you might find what you want changes.

Just go into college knowing that what you want could change. Be a good student, work hard and don't be an idiot. Once you get close to the point your classes are more focused, evaluate where you want to end up. If it is MD, then charge on and kill it. If you decide that isn't for you and Paramedic is what you want to pursue, sign up. For now, enjoy your first year of college as you learn to adjust to the changes it brings, you will get you answer soon enough.
 
I say this as a paramedic who is in pre-med: go be a doctor. Don't waste your time with something else.
 
Thank everyone for the great advice..my college has an emt program im going to try and see what i think. Thanks again!!
 
Blowing this out my ear, I could be completely off...

But can't MDs challenge the Paramedic license? So do med school if that's what interests you, and since your interests are in emergency, I'm sure you could end up in an Emergency Room or Trauma Center. After that if you really want to do the ambulance, you can challenge and get your paramedic license and do that as well...

As long as we're pipe dreaming...
Become the medical director and get a nice car with lights & sirens that you can rush to calls and use your full knowledge.
 
RedAirplane said:
As long as we're pipe dreaming...
Become the medical director and get a nice car with lights & sirens that you can rush to calls and use your full knowledge.
Click to expand...

This.

Take EMT and play with that while you are in college.

Go to medical school, and if still love EMS at that point, do an EM residency and then an EMS fellowship.

Be the medical director of a HEMS program and/or a progressive EMS service.
 
*Go to college and do all the normal pre-med things

*While at college, become an EMT-basic and get a job on an ambulance. This will both show you what EMS is all about, and also look good on your med school application if you want to go down that path.

*Finish undergrad - at this point you can either continue to medical school, PA school, nursing, or breeze through paramedic school in 1 year if that's what you want to do.

I can't imagine an MD ever working as a paramedic on an ambulance, if only because they wouldn't want to take a 90% pay cut to do so. However, a friend of mine is an EM resident and makes crazy amounts of money moonlighting for a critical care transport company. So if you really love working on an ambulance, you can still do that and even get paid doctor money while you're at it.
 
Just remembered our medical director was a paramedic, and got his MD and MBA at the same time. Talk about over achiever.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top