The NREMT-B exam looms near like a ravenous vulture

April 16, 2007

The NREMT-B exam looms near like a ravenous vulture

Ok, maybe it isn’t that dire of a situation, but it does seem like the NREMT-B exam is a vulture that seems to circle overhead. I imagine that until I take the test, the NREMT-B exam will probably not appear as anything else other than a vulture or some other scavenger ready to pick my eyes out once I die. It’s not that I have anything against national registry; it’s just that I hate standardized tests because they’re a pain in the ass. Do I view it as a chance to show off how much I’ve learned in my EMT class? Well, maybe. Considering the timing, and the fact I won’t get my EMT certification number (providing I pass) until probably too late to apply for AMR in Sacramento county since they’re starting their next academy in June, yeah I’m not exactly pleased with national registry. The fact that they switched over to CBT (computer-based testing for the few of you who may not recognize that abbreviation) doesn’t bode well either, because usually when you introduce something new or upgrade something where computers are involved, everything gets clusterfucked beyond recognition. I’d have to say the only time I saw a computer upgrade take place without any major complications is when Blue Shield upgraded our computers (not that I work there anymore, thank goodness) from Windows 2000 to Windows XP. And the only reason there weren’t any major complications is because the damn thing was down/crashed/screwed up half the time anyway so I just didn’t really see any significant difference to be perfectly honest with you.

 I digress. I plan to take NREMT-B hopefully on May 25th; that’s officially when the semester ends and I’ll have officially completed my EMT course. It’s kind of ironic how little you’re required to know about medicine though to apply to medical school. Sure, they teach it all to you, but I ask you this: will you learn the same amount of material better in 4 years or say 5 or 6? 8? My point exactly. And then you have to add the obvious fact that you /will/ learn more inherently if you take it upon yourself to do something such as EMT-B or maybe even EMT-P (Paramedic). Of course you’ll learn everything you need to know to be a doctor in medical school. Will you learn everything you need to be a good doctor? In my opinion, no. Will being an EMT or paramedic beforehand mean you will? Not necessarily, but I think the experience will help you become a good doctor.

Honestly I think all pre-meds should, at the bare minimum, be an EMT-B with a certain amount of experience before they’re allowed to apply to medical school. Why? You’re going to get the clinical experience they so desperately chant is crucial (even though if it was, then they would require you to have some sort of patient care position beforehand like an EMT or nuse anyway), if you volunteer as an EMT or medic then you get your volunteer experience down as well, and you get first-hand, real exposure to patient care at the basic level (or advanced if you’re a medic). Now that being said, for any pre-meds reading this, I should say this very clearly: you do NOT need to be an EMT, paramedic, etc. before you apply to medical school. However, it is my personal opinion that it would behoove you to get some sort of job where you provide patient care so, when you start your third year in med school, you don’t look like a deer in the headlights when asked to do a task as simple as writing a H&P or SOAP note on a patient. I would think it’d be advantageous to already know something about medicine. When I first started my EMT course, I didn’t know shit about medicine. Hell, I still don’t know that much, as my best friend eloquently put it, the EMT-B course teaches you how to keep the patient alive. Knowing something is a lot better than nothing, however. And once I gain experience as an EMT, I’m sure H&Ps and SOAP notes will come relatively easy to me. I’m not really content to stay at the EMT-B level though; if nothing changes, I’m going to apply to the paramedic program in Sacramento next year after getting some experience as an EMT first.

Hopefully I’ll be able to get a damn job since I think AMR is out unless I get that EMT cert quite swiftly, and considering national registry is a government entity, I’m not going to hold my breath. In the meantime though, I started studying today for the exam and my first practice test was 126/150 which amounts to an 84%. I wouldn’t exactly call that ideal, but considering it’s a standardized test that is notorious for tricky and difficult questions, for the first time around I’d say that’s pretty damn good.

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