Rinny

Thanks for the replies! I just got my EMT cert in the mail from homeland security this weekend, but I'm still taking classes for my psych degree (don't have it yet). I do seem like a completely different person after I get to know someone, I was just thinking about at first with people and being around new patients all the time I'd probably feel more uncomfortable than the average person. I know this just needs practice. I also know I'll probably mess up a lot, but I feel like I can be a bit of a perfectionist sometimes haha. When I was with a paramedic transporting patients he was trying to help me get used to taking vitals while moving and i was having a lot of trouble with all the bumps from the road and I felt really embarrassed. I guess I won't really know until I get out there and again, just need to practice. The volunteer thing sounds like a great idea though. I also had been worried wondering if I might just be put with people who don't care about helping me learn and instead are harsh, which will get to me. So maybe the volunteering could help. I am by no means doing this for the money!! I'm doing it because I for some reason loved the course when I hadn't even taken it to work as one. I actually have had an EMT say to me "why in the world would you want to get into this?" and was talking about how stressful it is. I just love the medical aspect of things though (which was why I originally was thinking about being a PA) and I'm a blood and guts kind of person :] I find it fascinating and nothing bothers me or makes me squeamish. I guess basically I'm more of a "books smarts" kind of person so I'm stressing about actually doing it now :\

Hi guys! My name is Erin, I'm 23 and from Indiana. The summer between high school and college I ended up taking a quick EMT certification course (which didn't really teach me very well) because I was going to go to school to be a PA and it gave me "health points" to help me get into the professional program. I ended up hating what I went into and ended up switching majors around and schools and right now I'm finishing a Psychology major, but just don't know what kind of career I will end up having with it. So I decided to take a course to certify as an EMT again while finishing my degree because I actually loved it when I had taken it before. To sum this up, I feel completely unprepared for it. I just finished all my state testing so I'm hopefully going to be working soon. If I love doing this I want to go on to be a paramedic- I just have reservations because I'm naturally a shy person at first and hate to mess anything up. If anybody has any advice on something that will help me prepare for what I'm getting into that would help me a lot. I feel like if someone threw me out there right now, I would not be confident at all. Thanks!

I wasn't quite sure where to post this, so sorry if it's a little off topic. I live in Indianapolis and in 2006 I completed classes and got my certification during the summer before I started college. I was going into the PA program, and they had a certain number of "health points" you would need to earn. Obtaining an EMT certification would give you the most points. I ended up changing my major and since then have been thinking about actually working as an EMT. I'm not sure about the rules for renewing my certification... I know you can take a test, but I'm not sure if that's only for if you do it before the expiration date? Since it's been over a year I'd think I might have to do more, but was hoping I wouldn't have to retake the course all over again. Please help!!