Caduceus

There's a public college in Washington state that offers a bachelor's degree in paramedicine. I had a friend go through the program a couple years back and I was kinda jealous; she got to do cadaver labs. 

The county I live in requires medics to go through their specific program or your cert doesn't count, or else I'd love to get my B.S. through them. 

All of the (decent) EMS books I've read were done by those in the service. 

I don't have any stories for you, unless you're interested in a fire call that's still embarrassing for me. I am curious how you are planning on publishing it though. Self-publish? E-book form? Planning on doing any cover art or illustrations inside? 

Why is this posted twice ._. 

Or come to Seattle ??? it's not that far out

I'm still alive. Not sure how or why but

Nice to meet you! I'm a broke-ass college student. Not in EMS or anything. 

Probably best if you put your questions in "Patient care" questions under the question section of the forum. 

Hi y'all, it's been a couple of years since I posted. I doubt anyone remembers me (I was the annoying kid who posted drawings & pretended that she knew things! :D). I have a bit of a long story for you though! 

I'm currently a freshman at university and a student police cadet with my university PD. I'm also a volunteer firefighter when I'm home. I'm really enjoying it. 

Here's the catch! A couple of months ago I became depressed & have been diagnosed with depression. I am trying antidepressants. The first meds I took (lexapro) made me feel suicidal so I had to stop taking them. I've never really had an issue with depression, but back in high school I cut myself a few times and thought about committing suicide a lot because I had a family member check out. 

My high school stuff is a major red flag for law enforcement hiring, but luckily it's not on my medical record, I've never been involuntarily committed, and I haven't self-harmed in ~3 years. No scars either, they all faded w/ time. (My cat gave me a few on my wrist that look suspicious, though :P) I did get put on leave from my cadet program because I'm going on meds & they wanted me to take time to balance everything out & get healthy.

My questions: 

1) will this come up in EMS/fire hiring? 

2) will it keep me from getting hired? 

3) Any cops on here with advice on how to handle these issues in the hiring process? 

To be blunt, I'm not looking for people to tell me whether or not I should go into this career. I know it is stressful. I'm aware of what you guys go through. However I don't have suicidal tendencies or the urge to self-harm. When I am not depressed I handle stress pretty well. Unfortunately, at this point, I need medication in order to function, but I'm confident I can get back on my feet with meds and to a place where I can handle the stress. 

The medic program I am looking at is close to home and either two-year (for the degree) or one-year (for the certificate). I talked to a local medic and he said that most of his college classes transferred to his medic degree. So even if I go for an associate's in paramedicine, I should be done in a year with all the transfer credits. I had thought about going to medic school at the same time as I'm getting my bachelors, but I didn't know if that was realistic...now that you mentioned it I will check out the logistics again.

Hi all! It's been forever since I've been on! I hope you haven't forgotten my face!! 

I am seeing that there is a problem with my future goals and I'm not sure if they're attainable. 

I want to 1) get my Bachelor's degree in Pre-med by the time I'm 20 (I'll graduate high school with my associate's, so I can do this!). During that time I want to do a fire department residency or work as an EMT for AMR.

 2) immediately after getting my bachelor's, I want to go to paramedic school (be done with that by the time I'm 21)

3) I want to be a fire/medic for a few years! on a fire department. Mostly I want to get on my city fire department because there's no women on it! And that upsets me! It's a personal challenge.

4) I want to go to medical school. Say I start applying earlier than I'm ready to go because chances are I won't get in the first go-around.

5) Actually go to medical school by the time I'm 23 or 24. 

I've heard people say that I'll fail this because no one goes back to school after taking a break (for me, being a fire/medic is a break). I've heard people say I can do it. I think I'll be 23/24 when I go back, ideally, and I think i can do it. Am I being unrealistic? Is this even possible, or do I need to choose one path or the other? If I have a plan, and am aware of the pitfalls (like having kids!), I think I can make it. What do I need to watch out for? 

Thank you all for your time and help,

-Mia

That would not be the smartest thing.  If making money was important to me, I'd be a politician. 

To answer your question...I'm a banker

Just kidding. 

I'm so glad you actually brought that to my attention. I got a good laugh when I went to read the ACTUAL meaning of the Caduceus and saw that it was used incorrectly as a symbol for healthcare. It's kind of terrible, when you think about the cost of healthcare in the US. 

But something can be said for EMS, which properly used the Rod of Ascelpius.  So now I'm stuck with this username. I'm just going to assign another arbitray meaning to it to render the original meaning completely moot.

Thanks for the advice all...I didn't do so hot on my first exam (89%) but I'll do better the next time around. 

I'm taking human anatomy and physiology right now and I need some tips for studying! The methods I used in gen. bio. aren't working for me with this class, it's much harder. Does anyone have some advice for succeeding in this class? (not just passing, but getting an A.)

I am truly sorry to hear this. He offered me some great advice and was very supportive. I am very sorry for your loss, Mrs. Sparks.

I will do this and then post back in here to let you guys know the results!! Thanks very much!!

I live in a pretty rural area and the local FD is pretty small. I'm thinking about calling and seeing if I can volunteer even though I'm only 17. Obviously there'd be a lot of restrictions in what I might be able to do, but does anyone think its possible that they'll take me even tho they don't have a cadet program (or anything else for minors)?

And if so, what would be the best way for me to contact them about it? See as the station is unmanned.

Sweet! I might get my doctorates later on. If I actually have money. Maybe I can ask you for advice on that Doc?

Just understand that with a bachelors, you will pretty much be a lab scut monkey.

It's all cool. After all I'm planning on being a hose monkey anyway

Unless you are Raj, Leonard, Sheldon, Leslie, Kripke, and Dr. Gablehauser from the Big Bang theory, then you need advanced degrees.

Okay, Ruff, that made my day! Read it before class.

I would go for undergraduate because I can't afford a doctorate like most researchers have.

Thanks again!

Okay. I'm also thinking about majoring in physics. All you need to be a physicist is a bachelor's degree, so I might use that as my fall back for if I get injured/don't like the fire service or EMS.

Thanks for the help!

And, break.

Do a Running Start college program if you can!! Free college and graduating from high school at the same time. The more education you have the better.

I'm going to be transferring to college next year. I'm planning on majoring in business administration and operations management and I want to get a minor in physics for the hell of it.

Will either (or both) of these be useful when I am working as a fire/medic? or even just getting a job?

I think people are getting burned out from forums. Even forums I go on that aren't related to EMS are slowing down. I think people are just bored with it. Since most everyone has facebook/twitter now, and they're a little easier to communicate on.