AnthonyM83 Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Hey guys, I'm emailing some of the medic schools in my area to ask if I could be put in touch with an instructor to ask them questions, possibly sit through a class, and basically find out if the school's a good match for me. So far I've only gotten one email back asking me to call him and mentioning that there's no sitting in on classes. So, I was wondering what would be good questions to ask him when we talk. Questions that might help me compare the different schools I research. I was thinking: -What kind of homework assignments do you have? -How many instructors switch off teaching class? (I've heard of classes with so many instructors, they never know what the other instructor's taught already) -What kind of extra projects do you have the students do (not sure if this the best way to ask this...but I've heard mention of student research papers etc on this site) -What's your national registry 1st time pass rate? -What's your drop out and fail rate for the class? -How many students get jobs as medics within the first 6 months of graduating? -Where do students do their clinicals? Ideas on what kind of things to ask or talk about on the phone with them? I guess I basically want a school that will teach me this in-depth and also see the big picture of medicine. This is especially important b/c in LA medics do so little. I feel they might not cover a lot of things well b/c it's not even in our scope down here. Thanks, Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FormerEMSLT297 Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Sounds like some good questions. What do you mean that LA medics "do so little" do you mean they have few standing order? or that they don't carry a lot of medications? or theat they can't do many advanced procedures? or that they don't have a lot of calls ? Please clarify. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickD Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 California is set up on a county by county basis . . . In Los Angeles County the FD paramedics get the initial call and I believe that's what Anthony means. I'd imagine if the call is something hairy the FD transports, and if not they pass the Pt off to a private service. On calls I've passed in the street here, it's a fire truck, a FD ambulance, and a private agency ambulance. I'm in LA county right now because I'm taking an EMT course here, but in Riverside County (just east of LA county) where I'm from, when you call 911 you get a fire truck and something like AMR with two EMTs on board. And then they upgrade to ALS if necessary. It's funny, but in my class, where everyone is half my age, they all think they are going to be in the thick of it right off the bat. It's like they didn’t do a lick of research beforehand. We had a little bull session with one of our instructors after class the other night and all most of the class is asking is how much money are they going to make. It was kind of embarrassing. The topper though was before class when one fellow student looks over at me and says, "Cool, you read the bible." And I said, "No, you dope, it's a medical dictionary . . ." I'm actually thinking of staying around here for a year after I finish this course, and maybe this sounds weird, but I've already had a lot of thrills in my life, and while I will be good enough for the exciting EMS stuff one day, right now taking Uncle Joe for his dialysis sounds hairy enough for me . . . NickD EMT Student Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPINFV Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 ^ LA county is like Orange County with EMS. Private companies (Care, AMR, Gerber, and a bunch of others that I really don't care to remember) provide transport with the paramedics from the fire department on board. It's a big tax dollar scam. The fire department gets to send an engine and an ambulance to every call, but in most cases they pass off the transport to the private company and jump on board with them (*cough* OC Fire Authority*). Personally, I like Riverside's system a lot more, especially since there is a list of complaints that the non-911 companies HAVE to turn over to AMR/911. Less fun for the basics, but better for the patients. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustdevil Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 So, I was wondering what would be good questions to ask him when we talk. Questions that might help me compare the different schools I research. Number one on that list would be, "Why no sitting in on classes?" Unless this guy just thoroughly blew me away with a dazzling and ingelligent answer, my immediate follow-up would be, "What are you trying to hide?" I'd be interested in their national accreditation status. I don't think they will get near that without an examiner "sitting in" on some classes. Are they accredited? If not, why not, and are they working on it? If they weasel word about how accreditation doesn't really matter, laugh and walk away. At least get a tour of the facility. What do their skills labs look like? Are they well stocked and organised, or are they barren and a totaly unorganised wreck? Do they have the latest equipment, or is the place jammed full of foam cervical collars and Thomas Half Ring splints gathering dust? If the place is a mess, that means that not only do the instructors not care, they also don't expect professionalism out of their students. Walk away. What are the qualifications of their instructors? What is their education? Are they true educators, or just moonlighting firemonkeys who never set foot on a college campus before taking this part-time gig? What are their prerequisites for entrance into the programme? I believe it was George Carlin who wisely said he wasn't interested in being a member of any group that would accept him. Similarly, anybody who goes to a school that it wasn't hard to get into is probably screwing himself. Do they want you to have educational prerequisites (a good thing)? Do they want you to have a certain amount of BLS experience (a pointless thing)? Ask them why they believe you should choose their school over others. Their answers should tell you a lot about their priorities and philosophies. For even better insight, ask them what they can tell you about the other schools. If they don't know the competition, that is a bad sign. What are their strengths and weaknesses? What is truly superior about their programme? What would they like to improve on, and what are they doing about it? What do their clinical uniforms look like? There are some schools that I would never attend simply because they dress their people up like security guards and firemonkeys. And again, that says a lot about their professional philosophy. Speaking of clinicals, you'll definitely want to know where their clinical facilities are. Having some experience in the area, that should help you judge what kind of clinical experience you will get. Although, that is not an easy judgment to make. Small community hospitals aren't necessarily inferior to larger centres, depending upon the accomodation of the staff and, of course, your efforts to maximise the opportunity. I'm not so sure about the value of the employment question. It sounds like it might not be really relevant in your area for a couple of reasons. First, FD hiring stats will skew the relevance of the answer, unless becoming a firemonkey is your goal. Make sure you clarify that when they start spouting off numbers (which I doubt they actually have). Also of factor is, with all these private ambo companies around the area, I expect they probably hire anybody with a patch, regardless of where they went to school, making hiring stats sort of random. This has been covered here before, but it was a good while back. I'll think of more questions later. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMSm0nster Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 I don't want to sound bias, but have you heard of Steve A. Williams? He teaches EMT and Medics here at Mt. SAC. The college is located in SoCal. He has a great deal of EMS experience behind him and is a RN, MEd, NREMTB. I just completed his EMT program and is already dreeding the medic program with him... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnthonyM83 Posted January 24, 2007 Author Share Posted January 24, 2007 As for the EMS setup down here, like JPINFV said, 911 medicals are dispatched out to FD, but simultaneously forwarded to one of five private ambulance companies (each has a different geographical area). FD and ambulance (EMT x2) usually arrive on-scene within 1 - 2 minutes of each other. If it meets Paramedic/ALS follow-up criteria, they'll ride with us (squad/truck will follow to take back their medic). If not, they'll hand it off to us as a BLS code 2 transport. By "medics do little," I meant they carry very few medicines based on looking through their drug boxes (Albuterol, ASA, NTG, EPI, Atropine, Glucagon, maybe 2-3 others I'm forgetting), they don't do many advanced procedures (apparently, the big news was that we recently got subcutaneous pacing approved, wow), standing orders are pretty limited and they seem to have to check-in to base for everything (though I don't have means of comparison for this). Also, most FD medics seem to be medics, because they REALLY wanted to become FF...this increased their chances (and pay). I've been told my current EMTs that they hate the medical side of FF, but are still going to medic school. Also, heard some FF talking about how a certain school was good, because they really held your hand and wouldn't let you fail (FD sents a lot of medics to this school and I'm sure FD wouldn't like to see their medics failing out...though I heard they're now switching to an easier county-run school). I'm all for hand-holding and not letting you fail, as long as they don't dumb the class down at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnthonyM83 Posted January 24, 2007 Author Share Posted January 24, 2007 I'm actually thinking of staying around here for a year after I finish this course, and maybe this sounds weird, but I've already had a lot of thrills in my life, and while I will be good enough for the exciting EMS stuff one day, right now taking Uncle Joe for his dialysis sounds hairy enough for me . . .Eh, not that much thrill doing 911 calls as an EMT...take vitals, 20, load up, prep IV, stick electrodes. If you're first on-scene, you can start taking Hx and lung sounds etc, but medics will show up in 30 sec, take over, and redo everything. I actually enjoy when they hand-off BLS patients to us, b/c I can actually "play" EMT for a bit (actually it often leads to good new info). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnthonyM83 Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 Here are some current choices. I THINK these are considered the best 3 programs in the LA area (?): UCLA-DFI http://www.cpc.mednet.ucla.edu/SRRS/Progra...px?ProgramID=13 http://www.centinelafreeman.com/News/paramedicprogram PTI http://www.emsparamedicpride.org/EMS_PTI.asp Mt. San Antoio College http://www.emsparamedicpride.org/EMS_SchoolsMtSac.asp Mt. SAC and UCLA are seeming most promising, so far....umm especially that I just saw PTI requires you having completed a fire academy. I'm half considering trying to find one somewhere else, too, like: http://www.emsti.com/index2.htm or heck why not go to WA for a few months... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustdevil Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 ...or heck why not go to WA for a few months... I'd go anywhere but California. Or New Jersey. Or Massachussetts. :? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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