What don't they teach you in paramedic school?

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PacMan2006

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Hey all,

I'm new here and have been digging through lots of threads and read an interesting topic about jumping from basic training right into medic school. It sparked an interesting debate, where one poster replied that in medic school, there are simply things you're not taught (or taught well, I suppose).

It got me wondering...from your experiences, what are some things you've realized paramedic school actually didn't teach you? What are some things in hindsight you wish could've been taught to better prepare you for what actually occurs on the job?
 
Respiratory and IFT stuff such as vents and pumps. The IFT class my company had me sit through was incredibly lacking. I spend most of my post-school study time on this.
 
Situational awareness.

Verbal Judo.

Going hands on with a pt.

More pharmacology.

More on street lingo and drugs.
 
That's going to be dependent on the program you go to.

Mine would be vent settings and modes, psychs and I should have paid better attention during pedis.
 
Strategies for dealing with/extracting information from difficult/elderly/poor historians.

Primary care medicine of many kinds.

The practical implications of the pathophysiology of aging. We learnt the pathophys. But it was never meaningfully connected to our actual practice. Eg why I shouldn't leave elderly people at home with gastro when I do it all the time for middle aged people.
 
Vents, pumps, drains, different kinds of access and equipment you'll see in the hospital, anything really about dialysis patients, trach care...

Really how to work at a legit IFT company and not just to do renal roundups.
 
Melclin said:
Strategies for dealing with/extracting information from difficult/elderly/poor historians.
Click to expand...


Do you have any medical problems? - Nope.

Have you ever spend the night in the hospital? - Oh yeah quite a few times.
What were the stays for? -- xxx
 
exodus said:
Do you have any medical problems? - Nope.

Have you ever spend the night in the hospital? - Oh yeah quite a few times.
What were the stays for? -- xxx
Click to expand...

More like this:

"Do you have any medical problems?"

"Nope."

"Heart problems?"

"Nope."

"Cancer?"

"Nope."

"Asthma or COPD?"

"Nope."

"Do you take any medication?"

"Oh yeah, lots of them."

"What are they?"

"Oh I don't know..."

"What are they for?"

"I don't know, my doctor tells me to take them and I take them."

"Do you have any allergies?"

"Yes... But I can't remember. I think it starts with a C"

Thank god for patient charts.
 
EMS Politics in different agencies.
 
Just the general how to be a paramedic. Every program has topics they are lacking in, regarding the basic knowledge you need to get started. For me, it was vents and other medical equipment.
 
Sasha said:
More like this:

"Do you have any medical problems?"

"Nope."

<Edited to shorten quote.>

"Do you take any medication?"

"Oh yeah, lots of them."

<edit>

"What are they for?"

"I don't know, my doctor tells me to take them and I take them."

<edit>
Click to expand...

But Sasha, don't you know that if you are taking a medication for a chronic illness, you no longer have that problem because the medication helps to control it and relieve the symptoms? If you no longer have symptoms, you are obviously cured and it is no longer a problem you have.

Actually, I have tried to get around that sort of thing by asking if they have a medical history or anything they have seen a doctor for. The problem with phrasing it that way is they want to tell you about everything from the athlete's foot they had when they were 16 to the wart they had burned off their big toe last week - and they are 87.
 
Epi-do said:
But Sasha, don't you know that if you are taking a medication for a chronic illness, you no longer have that problem because the medication helps to control it and relieve the symptoms? If you no longer have symptoms, you are obviously cured and it is no longer a problem you have.

Actually, I have tried to get around that sort of thing by asking if they have a medical history or anything they have seen a doctor for. The problem with phrasing it that way is they want to tell you about everything from the athlete's foot they had when they were 16 to the wart they had burned off their big toe last week - and they are 87.
Click to expand...

I also love the

"Nope. No medical history. I'm healthy as a horse." And that's because they haven't been to the doctor in 20 years. Just because you've been ignoring your body and skipping out on your Dr visits doesn't mean you're not sick.
 
Biggest recommendation I can make to anyone before thinking about medic school is to work (ideally full time) in a 911 system as an EMT for at least one year. In fact, I know of a program near me that actually requires this now.

One of the hardest challenges is just general scene management. Don't get waylaid by the fire captain who wants to give you a 10 minute report on the patient, learn how to re-direct the patient's ramblings to things that you actually want to know, and learn better ways to ask questions.

BEST LITTLE PIECE OF ADVICE GIVEN TO ME BY MY PRECEPTOR: "Do you have any medical problems that you take medication for regularly?"

This gets rid of any confusion about them telling you about their broken toe in 1956 or the fact that the "don't have" hypertension because their medication is taking care of it
 
I wish they would have at least briefly covered the fire service a bit. I know that its not their job to do so, but EMS is fire based here unless you want to do IFTs. It would have been nice to get a little bit of info regarding the fire service since almost every graduate finds work with an FD.
 
ceramics.

my paramedic school did not teach me how to be a filmmaker.

Never covered public relations.
 
Chief Complaint said:
I wish they would have at least briefly covered the fire service a bit. I know that its not their job to do so, but EMS is fire based here unless you want to do IFTs. It would have been nice to get a little bit of info regarding the fire service since almost every graduate finds work with an FD.
Click to expand...
That's odd cause here they sorta merge Fire and EMS here in the classroom, but don't go over IFT at all, and most of us will never work in EMS and even less will ever get into Fire because it is so desired. It's sad cause it hits the students real hard afterward - they think all ambulances respond to 911, go lights and sirens, etc. They like to believe "if they work hard", they'll get into Fire and be set for life.
 
Aprz said:
That's odd cause here they sorta merge Fire and EMS here in the classroom, but don't go over IFT at all, and most of us will never work in EMS and even less will ever get into Fire because it is so desired. It's sad cause it hits the students real hard afterward - they think all ambulances respond to 911, go lights and sirens, etc. They like to believe "if they work hard", they'll get into Fire and be set for life.
Click to expand...

Part of the reason i wish that my program had gone more in depth on the topic of the fire service is that there is no mention that if you are out of shape, you will likely never get a job.

There were definitely some really fat/unhealthy people in my class. Its stupid to lead these people to believe that they will ever get a job in our field. I think they should have at least planted the seed in their brains to start thinking about fitness if they want to do this as a career.
 
Chief Complaint said:
Part of the reason i wish that my program had gone more in depth on the topic of the fire service is that there is no mention that if you are out of shape, you will likely never get a job.

There were definitely some really fat/unhealthy people in my class. Its stupid to lead these people to believe that they will ever get a job in our field. I think they should have at least planted the seed in their brains to start thinking about fitness if they want to do this as a career.
Click to expand...

Many fat unhealthy people work in EMS. Just not by you.
 
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