Which is better? Hospital based or College Paramedic Courses

[Just Plain Ruff]

ok, I agree with the go to medic school right after completion of emt school.

I do remember my medic school and the first 2 weeks was spent reviewing what I learned in EMT School such as Oxygen admin, splinting and all that. Then we got into the nitty gritty of medic work.

I had spent 2 years between emt and medic and it did me ABSOLUTELY no benefit to do that. I spent my time working as a dispatcher and a transfer jockey. What kind of experience was that?????

Get your emt then go to medic school

Guys, EMT school presented the basics and medic school expanded on the basics and then got more indepth.

If you have a hard time with the basics then you are going to have a hard time wiht the more advanced prospects of EMS.

EMT school is not rocket science - I scored 100% on nearly every single test and I passed the EMT practicals and the EMT written with a very high percentage. If I remember right, my emt written score was 99% or maybe 98%. I was definately not the brightest bulb in my class yet I scored the highest except for 2 or 3.

EMT school is a 4 month program that teaches you 25% of what you need to know in emergency care. The rest is taught in medic school. Hey my figures may not be totally accurate but you get my drift.

As for the college versus hospital courses. Both are good but the college courses you get will lead to a degree while hospital based courses usually only lead to a certificate. Whichever you wish to pursue is fine but anyone with a college degree has a leg up over someone who does not. Trust me, I know this for a fact.

Plus you can always leverage your way up in the world with a college degree and a certificate you might not be as successful.

Just my 2 cents and I'll give you some change.

[tamaith]

i know this is a discussion board but thanks for the reminder. i don't claim to know everything by any means there is a ton of info i need and want to learn in this field but yes i can honestly that as an emt b i do have a little not a lot but a little insight of prehospital care there are 4 levels i recall to prehospital care in ems first responder, emt b, emt I and the third emt p.

[tamaith]

sorry the fourth emt p

[JPINFV]

That's interesting, because Pennsylvania actually has 5 levels, first responders, EMT, EMT-P, prehospital-RN, and health professional physicians.

https://ems.health.state.pa.us/emsreg/Activ...ctitioners.aspx

[tamaith]

ok well tell me this is emt b one of them? just a simple yes or no?

[JPINFV]

EMT-B would be there under the title EMT.

[tamaith]

thank you so i guess i do have some insight of prehospital care after all. good night.

[Cheshire]

Oh dear, I did not intend to get this thread turned into another flame way of experience vs education priorities!

Honestly from the folks I've talked to who work at the various schools around here, and from looking at existing job openings for EMT-B's, it looks like you're not going to get any serious experience anyway when you're still green. I didn't see any evidence that you could get hired for ALS or 911 work as an "basic" anyway.

But what you DO need coming out of medic school is SOME real work experience (and the clinicals count for zip). The transfer work or volunteering does count, even though it's not nearly as useful.

So in the best case scenario - for someone with the luxury of not having to work an unrelated job to make ends meet while in Paramedic school - seems to be getting in that part time work experience while both in school and between the 2 levels of EMT (as there is almost always either a gap due to scheduling or as required by the school itself). That way you're not graduating with ONLY the education (and any relevant clinical time), but you've not wasted too much time between getting certified and medic training.

[Cheshire]

We have college and hospital paramedic classes. One of the best (not an opinion) classes offered is actually college based through Capitol Community College in Hartford. They have tough standards and generally anyone who dosnt give it the best they have usually fails or drops out. The second best is a hospital based class put on by Yale (as in THE school of medicine) and St Rapheal, both in New Haven. They are a little more lineant but put on a good class.

Thanks for all the advice, Tamaith and Christopher.

My boyfriend is actually looking at New Haven and Boston as well for the Paramedic training (and yes, I know he would have to re-take the state exams to get recertified). I wasn't aware of the Yale program yet - so I will have to look up its requirements. As his dad works there, it would provide some added financial convenience. ;-)

As for Boston, we simply know folks who live there. Their system looks hard to break into though, and I noticed that Bostom EMS just had a recruitment drive in December... might be a while before it reopens. However, we *need* to be in a sufficiently urban setting or I won't be able to find work in my OWN profession (IT).

[Christopher.Collins]

This is the link to the site.

http://www.sponsorhospital.org/

Its a joint class between Yale and St. Rapheal Hospital. My mentor took it as did a few other peers. Most everyone else I know takes the Capital Community College class. I spoke to the director of the sponsor hospital class on the phone, you see my finances really suck and I cant even get approved for a loan, a few thousand dollars is a lot of money even broken up and he said that they could try to help me by allowing payments.