DwayneEMTP Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 Medical Terminology may help you as well. Tabers medical dictionary is a good investment. I found that learning the parts of words previous to their combined application (They are listed in the front of each chapter in my A&P text) makes all the difference! If I was going to start over I would begin with the terminology before ANYTHING else as it applies to everything you will touch upon. Knowing that myo-=muscle, osteo=bone, cardi-=heart, -logy=the study of...and on and on....It just seemed to open the material up to me. Anyhow, it's just a thought. Most here are smarter than I am..this is just my .02. Dwayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NREMT-Basic Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 Just a quick note of correction about subsidized student loans having "little or no interest to them." This is not correct. They do accrue interest at a variable rate (since the government lifted the interest cap on student loans.) The only time that subsidized stafford loans do not accrue interest in when you are in school, or have applied for and have been given a financial hardship or other type of deferrent. As long as the loan is in the repayment stage, it draws interest just as any other loan does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustdevil Posted December 3, 2006 Share Posted December 3, 2006 If the lack of time and money to get a proper education is really such a problem for you, I would very seriously consider choosing another field altogether. EMS will be a total waste of your time. If you can't get well educated, you'll suck. And even those who do not suck still make no money. Have you done any serious job market analysis in your area? Do you even know if there are EMS jobs available there? Do you know what the hiring requirements are? Do you know how much competition there is for them? Do you know how much they pay? Chances are the answers to all of these questions will deeply disappoint you. So, you go to a nice little 6 week school to be an EMT and make just over minimum wage, IF you are lucky enough to get a job (which will more than likely be an actual EMS job). And between your enthusiasm and your need for money, you work 80 hours a week to make ends meet. Now, tell me, when do you expect to find time to go to paramedic school? And where do you intend to get the money to go there for the next two years? And after all that time and money invested, what do you do when you can't find a job, or can only find a low paying job with a non-EMS provider? Lights and sirens don't pay the bills. The advice given by others above is on-track. Forget about the drug books. You need to learn years worth of anatomy and physiology before you pick one of those up. But even better than that, do some serious research and soul searching to determine if this whim is really such a great idea in the first place. I don't know you or where you are, but if I were to say it's a stupid idea, I stand about a 90 percent chance of being right. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreaminrabbit88 Posted December 3, 2006 Author Share Posted December 3, 2006 Dustdevil: First of all, thank you for your opinion, as that is what I did ask for. That being said, if you're comments were meant to try to scare me out of getting into this career or hit me over the head with a dose of reality, I'm sorry to say you've failed. The issue of a lack of money is only temporary, and the issue of lack of time that you seem to have thought that I mentioned does not exist. I wouldn't call the lack of money a huge problem either, just a minor set back. At the moment, I am working together with my local fire department to possibly be able to enter into their cadet program, in which, not only would they send me to the fire academy, but also provide EMT-B training, along with continuing education so that I can eventually become a paramedic, all at the fire department's expense. All I do is come to work for them after the completion of the academy, which is part of what I want in the first place. As far as my knowledge of potential job outlooks, competition, availablity, ect., I have already researched and gained information pertaining to these areas. The bit about having a low-paying non-EMS job is where I am right now, so I'm not concerned about that, because, while I'm not exactly thrilled about it, it isn't horrible and it works for the time being. If you think that this is a whim, you are sadly mistaken. The process of deciding to enter into a career of EMS/Firefighting has been going on for the better part of the last two years. I've had time to back out, to weigh the bad with the good, to go over how I might handle different road blocks, and yet I am still completely decided that this path is the one that is right for me. I know that this will be anything but easy and I understand your point of view, but this is what I'm doing. Thank you again for your comments, as they have only given more fuel to my drive to pursue this career path. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustdevil Posted December 3, 2006 Share Posted December 3, 2006 Sounds like you are putting all your eggs into one very small basket. Determining that one fire department has a cadet programme that *might* pay for your training (as opposed to an education, which means you'll suck), and then *might* hire you afterwards, does not sound like a very serious or thorough job market analysis. I truly do wish you luck. But in the meantime, don't piss off daddy. You're going to be living with him (and off of him) for a very, very long time, even if your plan goes as you want it to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreaminrabbit88 Posted December 3, 2006 Author Share Posted December 3, 2006 I'm not counting on anything. The fire department is just a possibility that I'm hoping for. The whole, lack of money thing is just going to slow me down, not stop me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustdevil Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 The whole, lack of money thing is just going to slow me down, not stop me. LMAO! You say that as if you think you'll actually be rolling in the dough once you become an EMT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becksdad Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 Dreaminrabbit, much good advice and good wishes here so far! I also wish you well, and congratulate you on planning ahead. Several things I see here that you might wish to consider. First, don't discount Dustdevils input as negative. It is not. It is part of reality. I had to redo EMT school in Florida to obtain state certification, and had to plan ahead both financially and logistically (time-wise). I left a fairly well paying job and went to cleaning and maintaining swimming pools to get through school. That job offered the flexibility I needed to devote a lot of energy to classes, ride times, and clinicals. Coincidentally, one of the local trauma Docs ended up being one of my customers. You can bet his pool always sparkled! Hahaha! Anyway, that's irrelevant. What is relevant is the fact that once you complete school, and obtain employment in the field, you once again find yourself in the position of time and energy constraints. I don't know of anyone who gets rich in EMS, and when you have a family and bills to pay, and you're working 24 hour shifts, and needing overtime shifts for the money, and wanting to go to school - where's the time and energy coming from? I do not say this to discourage, but to let you know that real comittment is needed. I am a firm believer that where there is the will, there is a way. It can be done, but it usually takes creativity, comittment, and some sacrifice. Just be prepared. A second point worth considering is training through a Fire Dept. Let me pre-qualify what I am about to say that I have no intention of p!ssing off fire medics, I know lots of them, some good, some not so good. And different areas have different systems. Where I live, EMS is a 3rd service - all we do is EMS. The fire districts here also train (as opposed to educate) their people in EMS (some BLS, some ALS). What is very common in this situation is that a lot of people certify because they have to, not because they want to. It can be difficult to wear 2 different hats, and it is easy to allow one field to suffer because it is diluted by the main interest being somewhere else. Personally, I have no interest in firefighting, and many firefighters have no interest in medicine. Some are good at both, most aren't. I say pick one. Whatever you do, don't allow one to be half-a$$ed. If you aren't commited to give EMS the full attention it needs, please reconsider. If you want to strive to be the best field provider you can possibly be - welcome!! Along with many others, I wish you success! Your success is our success. I hope you find many excellent mentors along the way, and continually learn more. The field is almost infinite! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreaminrabbit88 Posted December 4, 2006 Author Share Posted December 4, 2006 Point taken. Thanks for the heads up, but I know what I'm getting into. No, I don't know everything, but everything that's been mentioned about the down sides, I've had drilled into me by EMS/FF in my area in person. Thanks for all the tips, though, as a lot of them have been helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustdevil Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 Okay, now that we've got that straight... are you hott? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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