to emt or not to emt?
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scuba_sean
- Posts: 272
- Joined: Sun Dec 08, 2002 8:41 am
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to emt or not to emt?
Hey guys, whats up? Not really a nissan topic, but you guys shoud have your input on this because i think nico had it's hand in raising me, haha. anyhow, im currently enrolled as a chemistry major, just coming to th end of my first semester, and I don't think it's for me. im really not enjoying it, and im doing really awful. my old man was a paramedic for a while, and Im thinkin about doing the same. what does everyone think?
I am a big advocate for a college degree in something, maybe you should switch majors. Take a few classes in other areas maybe something will jump out at you. I started as a biology major and realized it wasn't for me, next thing you know I have an undergrad in Poly Sci and am going to go law school.
If you want to be an EMT though, go for it. My ex-girlfriend was an EMT and actually still is. She loves it. The hours kind of sucked, 48 hours on, then 48 hours off or something like that. There is something really great about helping people.
It is a tough choice and ultimately your decision. I would work on an undergrad, not chemistry and finish and then if you still have the EMT bug, go for it. That way if the EMT thing doesn't work out or you get tired of it, you still have an education to fall back that will make you more marketable in some other field.
Good luck and let us know what you decide.
If you want to be an EMT though, go for it. My ex-girlfriend was an EMT and actually still is. She loves it. The hours kind of sucked, 48 hours on, then 48 hours off or something like that. There is something really great about helping people.
It is a tough choice and ultimately your decision. I would work on an undergrad, not chemistry and finish and then if you still have the EMT bug, go for it. That way if the EMT thing doesn't work out or you get tired of it, you still have an education to fall back that will make you more marketable in some other field.
Good luck and let us know what you decide.
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scuba_sean
- Posts: 272
- Joined: Sun Dec 08, 2002 8:41 am
- Car: snowboarding, sailing
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spec-v5150
- Posts: 1043
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:24 pm
My wife is an EMT B (for basic) and she loves all that crap. We are in the military and that was part of her training as a med tech (probably a CNA or LVN on the outside..sometimes you can challenge the baord to get your RN license depending n rank and time in service). She watches those shows on the discovery channel about the EMTs or whatever show it is. It is one of those jobs you do because you liek to. The pay is crap for the stress and hours you work, but if you enjoy it, the rewards are WORTH it as in anythign in life. LIke What I do could net me high 50 or $60000 with a degree and starting out at $30K just in militaryt experience butr I would rather be a teacher. Even if the pay is crap....doing what you love makes up for it. As long as I cna live nice and have a home and food and my daughter wants for nothing...what else do I need money for. So in short...if you like it...go for it.
well I'm an EMT-B in both CT and MA, and I gotta say I LOVE IT. Lemmie clear up a couple things some people have said here.
First, the hours are not crap. Depending on for what kind of company you work, you can work pretty much any schedule you want. You can work 9-5 just like any other job if thats what you want. I think the schedules are even better because you can work overnights or back to back days or whatever you want... You can get full time hours and overtime just working 2 days a week.... It's pretty sweet, especially for a college student like me.
That brings me to my second point- you dont have to have a college degree to be an EMT OR a Paramedic (note that these are two different things). The training for my EMT certification took place over a semester at school (from Sept to December), 2 days a week 4 hours each time, and then saturdays twice a month for 8 hours. It's a lotta hours, but the pay IS pretty good. The Paramedic certification, however, is MUCH more involved- I beleive it takes 2 or so years of training that involves classes, ride alongs, and an actual residency program in a hospital.
The pay for me is $13.50/hr, it's more for people who have been around longer (and more for paramedics too). I wouldnt consider that "crap" at all, although I suppose it's a different story for someone doing it as an actual profession.
That said, DO NOT even THINK about being a paramedic (or EMT) as a real lifelong profession. Trust me. It's very fun if you like health care and doing that kind of stuff, but it's an extremely low level job in the scheme of medicine, and EVERY older career EMT or Paramedic I know is extremely bitter about their position in life. I dont mean to say anything about your Dad, but dude-- this is not a career job... look for something better if you're thinking long long term.
Still though, if it's just for the interm, I say GO FOR IT! It's really rewarding if you can work for a company that has 911 contracts and actually runs priority calls, but understand that if you dont enjoy this type of thing then you're going to hate it. Somebody said it- it's one of those jobs that you have to enjoy to do. I love it though, and the only reason I did it was to see if I liked the feild (I'm applying to med schools right now). Not to say EMTing (or to a lesser extent Paramedic-ing) is like being an actual Doctor at all, but it's a decent idea.
Okay enough of my rambling-- If you want, feel free to IM me at foosternit, I'd be happy to talk to you about it!
First, the hours are not crap. Depending on for what kind of company you work, you can work pretty much any schedule you want. You can work 9-5 just like any other job if thats what you want. I think the schedules are even better because you can work overnights or back to back days or whatever you want... You can get full time hours and overtime just working 2 days a week.... It's pretty sweet, especially for a college student like me.
That brings me to my second point- you dont have to have a college degree to be an EMT OR a Paramedic (note that these are two different things). The training for my EMT certification took place over a semester at school (from Sept to December), 2 days a week 4 hours each time, and then saturdays twice a month for 8 hours. It's a lotta hours, but the pay IS pretty good. The Paramedic certification, however, is MUCH more involved- I beleive it takes 2 or so years of training that involves classes, ride alongs, and an actual residency program in a hospital.
The pay for me is $13.50/hr, it's more for people who have been around longer (and more for paramedics too). I wouldnt consider that "crap" at all, although I suppose it's a different story for someone doing it as an actual profession.
That said, DO NOT even THINK about being a paramedic (or EMT) as a real lifelong profession. Trust me. It's very fun if you like health care and doing that kind of stuff, but it's an extremely low level job in the scheme of medicine, and EVERY older career EMT or Paramedic I know is extremely bitter about their position in life. I dont mean to say anything about your Dad, but dude-- this is not a career job... look for something better if you're thinking long long term.
Still though, if it's just for the interm, I say GO FOR IT! It's really rewarding if you can work for a company that has 911 contracts and actually runs priority calls, but understand that if you dont enjoy this type of thing then you're going to hate it. Somebody said it- it's one of those jobs that you have to enjoy to do. I love it though, and the only reason I did it was to see if I liked the feild (I'm applying to med schools right now). Not to say EMTing (or to a lesser extent Paramedic-ing) is like being an actual Doctor at all, but it's a decent idea.
Okay enough of my rambling-- If you want, feel free to IM me at foosternit, I'd be happy to talk to you about it!