Should an EMT gain experience on the street or go straight to paramedic school?
On one side, there are those who insist that EMT education is inadequate preparation for paramedic school, that the true ‘street smarts’ of EMS can only be learned in the back of the truck, and that one should only consider going to medic school after x years’ experience under one’s belt.
On the other side are those who insist that leaving school disrupts academic momentum, that expertise will come in its own time, that ‘experience’ may teach bad habits, and that much of the information absorbed in the back of the truck gets misinterpreted and misapplied without an academic guide.
All of these points are valid.
I want to take a step back, though, and look at this issue from the point of view of EMS as a profession. EMS is developing rapidly, and one critical step of this growth is the linking of the paramedic credential with a two-year degree. With this will come a paradigm shift. Dare I say it?
Paramedic is an entry-level position.
Over the years, we have seen the advent of First Responders/EMR, EMT-D, Cardiac Techs, Intermediates, Advanced, etc., etc.—pick your flavor—but through it all, we have maintained paramedics at the top of the heap. The pinnacle. The end all, be all, of EMS, so much so that we complain (and rightfully so) about a lack of upward mobility.
But in order for EMS to grow, to fill the niches of prehospital critical care specialists, community health medics, Bachelor, Master, and Advanced Practice primary care medics (I can dream), we must view the paramedic level—as important as it is—as a beginning, the first step in EMS.
Oh, I’ve heard the complaints. “The Zero-to-Heroes don’t know anything! New medics might kill someone! You can’t let them out on a truck!”
No one expects a new paramedic to have all the answers. But if EMS students cannot go all the way through two years of education and function satisfactorily on a standard truck, then our problem is with the education system, not the newness of the medic.
EMS professionals claim they want equal pay, equal respect from similar professions. If that’s the case, then we need to view these positions in a similar vein. We need to train the young sufficiently and then trust them to hold the anchor position while the more experienced advance beyond.
So, my answer to the question above is: go on! Though individual circumstances will obviously vary, for the sake of the profession, go straight to paramedic.
And keep going.
No one expects a new paramedic to have all the answers. But if EMS students cannot go all the way through two years of education and function satisfactorily on a standard truck, then our problem is with the education system, not the newness of the medic.
EMS professionals claim they want equal pay, equal respect from similar professions. If that’s the case, then we need to view these positions in a similar vein. We need to train the young sufficiently and then trust them to hold the anchor position while the more experienced advance beyond.
So, my answer to the question above is: go on! Though individual circumstances will obviously vary, for the sake of the profession, go straight to paramedic.
And keep going.
