Education Question

[uglyEMT]

OK let me preface this post by saying I am in a bassackwards State so going full Paramedic is not in the cards or my future.

Now here is what I want to ask everyone. I am looking at taking college A&P courses to at least get a better understanding of the human body to better help me treat my patients. What other courses would be good to get a better, more indepth knowledge of the human body and systems?

I know I know, why go through all that and not just get into a medic program. Well in my State I would need a "sponsoring" hospital to get enrolled into a program. I asked around and the few ALS hospitals want work commitments from perspective students after they become certified. Well I do have a full time career that has good benifits and job security so I will not be leaving that anytime soon to persue a paramedic liscense. Secondly with a P cert any rig I would ride on unless I am hospital based I would only be allowed B level care, go figure, so thus reverts back to reason one.

I want to provide the best care I can and to me the only way is by knowing the human systems better then the miniscule pages or so in the basic text book (more pages are dedicated to attaching a regulator then to WHY we need oxygen ) Just like I took additional CEUs for trauma specifics and peds specifics I want to learn the human body and why things do what they do thus why we do what we do to correct the abnormality.

I guess the question is vague but I dont know how to ask it any better, sorry about that.

[fiznat]

If you are up for taking some college level courses, I would do that. Take classes that will also serve as prerequisites for nursing (or whatever else you might be interested in) so that this isn't "just for fun." Use your time and money wisely, and understand that doing this stuff a la carte is never as good as just sucking it up and doing it all together at once. If you don't have a BS/BA or AS degree, give that some serious thought.

[uglyEMT]

Thank you fiznat.

No I have no degree other then high school. I was attending college but due to family issues never finished and moved on with my life. Now after a time in the EMS field I realize I would like more education on the human side other then whats in the 120hr class but can't go all out for the Medic as stated above. I understand you hurt yourself by doing it al carte but being it will just help me understand more and doesn't effect my SOP I don't see a problem.

It sucks that I am in an environment here that doesn't allow for doing it the right way and just getting my Medic and be done with it but I work with what I got.

So besides anatomy and physiology what else should I look at to better help me understand the systems?

[paramedicmike]

Here's what I think should be prerequisites to an EMT-B program:

Bio 101/102

Chem 101/102

College level algebra

English

History

Composition/writing

World Religions

Philosophy

Anatomy & Physiology

Microbiology

Organic chem

Nutrition

Sociology

Psychology

Well, at least that's what I can think of off the top of my head.

Good luck.

[emtannie]

Ugly, I can see your dilemma. And, as much as I like to see everyone achieve the highest education they can, I can see why you aren't going for your medic. I like that you are still willing to learn more, so you can do more for your patients. And, although a la carte isn't a perfect situation, it is better than nothing.

I teach EMR (which is our equivalent to your EMT- and one of the biggest frustrations I have is exactly what you have already stated.... students don't learn WHY we do the interventions we do. Your example of giving a patient oxygen is a perfect example.

I think taking a Human Anatomy course is a very good start. If you do end up taking A&P, you may also want to consider purchasing the Anatomy coloring book. Sounds silly, I know, but it is a good learning tool.

I don't know what meds your units carry, if any, but you may also want to consider a basic pharmacology class. If you can't access a class, a textbook that is very useful is Dr. Jeffrey Guy's "Pharmacology for the Pre-Hospital Professional." He also has podcasts on iTunes (they are free!) related to the book, but the podcasts make sense even if you don't have the text, so you may want to just listen to a few of those and see what you think before buying the book.

Do you do 12 leads on your patients? Maybe consider more education in cardiac dysrhythmias - you may not be able to treat en route, but you may be able to give a clearer picture to the ER staff. There are a lot of good references on line for this.

Just a few thoughts....

[uglyEMT]

Mike if that was the prereqs you would see alot better caliber Basic and also alot fewer wackers out there.

Annie thanks for understanding. Yes it does stink they (students) are not taught why. I sickens me to arrive at an ED and overhear another rigs transfer to the nurse for a panic attack and notice them on a NRB w/ 15 flowing. Talk with them a little and ask why the mask for a panic attack, "well O2 can't hurt" Then ask if they know what a panic attack is, "yea she got nervous." Ask if they realize that the panic attack causes an over abundance of O2 or lack of CO2 in the bloodstream and get the deer in headlights look. Then asking them why didnt they just talk to the patient to calm her down instead, "I dunno, O2 seemed right, it kept her quiet being in the mask" (Nod to my paramedic friend for teaching me that one about the O2/CO2 cycle w/ respect to a panic attack)

ok back on track.....

Only meds we have onboard and are allowed to administer is Epi Autoinjector. We can "assist" patients with their Nitro and "advise" asprin for chest pain. I use the quotes because to me its BS, we should be allowed to administer per a standing order. So pharmacology is always taken care of by ALS but I would like to learn a little because it may help if we have an OD of prescription drugs (far too many in my response area) in that I would be able to understand what systems could be affected and what i would have to look out for because of it.

No 12 lead, again ALS, but I have already been learning ECG and cardio related information. One because I would love to understand what the Medic is seeing on the screen and how it relates to what I am seeing on the patient. Again to have a clearer picture before ALS arrives or is met to know what to watch for. Two because of family history of cardiac events and helping my parents understand whats going on when the doctors talk to them.

Thanks for taking the time to give me some ideas.