nts19 Posted July 9, 2017 Share Posted July 9, 2017 I'm an upcoming junior at the University of Delaware and I'm trying to plan out my next few years leading up to PA school. I'm currently volunteering at a hospital and will be doing some shadowing hopefully in the next few months. Ideally I'd like to only take 1-2 gap years, so I'm looking for a way I can earn a lot of hours, possibly get paid, and get the best experience that will prepare me for PA school. For those of you who have experience, would EMT or CNA be a better way to go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moorecarson121 Posted July 9, 2017 Share Posted July 9, 2017 I'm an upcoming junior at the University of Delaware and I'm trying to plan out my next few years leading up to PA school. I'm currently volunteering at a hospital and will be doing some shadowing hopefully in the next few months. Ideally I'd like to only take 1-2 gap years, so I'm looking for a way I can earn a lot of hours, possibly get paid, and get the best experience that will prepare me for PA school. For those of you who have experience, would EMT or CNA be a better way to go?EMT hands down. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted July 9, 2017 Share Posted July 9, 2017 EMT if there are positions in your area.Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCHW9076 Posted July 9, 2017 Share Posted July 9, 2017 EMT without a doubt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustleforthePAC Posted July 9, 2017 Share Posted July 9, 2017 EMT Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldarmst Posted July 9, 2017 Share Posted July 9, 2017 Honestly, it depends on the demand in your area (getting your EMT is great... unless you are stuck flipping burgers cause there are no jobs open), and also where you see yourself working in the future. My passion is in emergency medicine and trauma, so I went through Paramedic school. If family practice and/ or geriatric populations is more your speed, I would go CNA. I think both have a variety of experiences you can use to market yourself, but it really all depends on you. I would see if you can do a few ride-alongs with your local fire/ EMS agency in addition to maybe shadow a CNA and gauge which avenue suits you best. It would suck to do the school not knowing what to fully expect and get out hating yourself for not going the other direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maynard Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 What UGoLong said. I wanted to go the EMT route, but ended up doing CNA simply because there was no reliable way to get a job in my area with an EMT-B license and I couldn't afford to work for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panglossian Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 I am an EMT-B and love it, but it really depends on your interests within medicine and what you want to gain through HCE. Also I want to add that not all EMTs work on the road. You can also get hired as an EMT in an ER or Urgent Care. Best of luck! Sounds like you have a solid plan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oolivia1 Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 I would suggest EMT as well. Starting pay can be higher for CNA, but if you are looking to really commit I think you can learn more and go farther with EMT. I have my CNA and have been working in urgent care for almost 2 years. I was lucky to be trained a lot on the job and a lot of the duties I perform we did not learn about, (for example, EKG lead placement, phlebotomy etc.) in CNA school. CNA school is more based towards geriatric care and I found we focused on learning a lot about that. I love working in urgent care and with a CNA you do not always work in nursing homes etc., but I think you may learn more going for EMT-B. I am actually taking a EMT-B course in a few months. I am hoping to learn more and work with more patients in more settings before I apply to PA school. The area I live in does not always have great availabilities for EMT jobs but I am happy with my current job. Perhaps, I will volunteer and work when certified to gain some experience. Feel free to direct any CNA related questions to me. Any EMT questions I can't help with yet. Best of luck with what you choose! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lfenio Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 On 7/8/2017 at 8:22 PM, nts19 said: I'm an upcoming junior at the University of Delaware and I'm trying to plan out my next few years leading up to PA school. I'm currently volunteering at a hospital and will be doing some shadowing hopefully in the next few months. Ideally I'd like to only take 1-2 gap years, so I'm looking for a way I can earn a lot of hours, possibly get paid, and get the best experience that will prepare me for PA school. For those of you who have experience, would EMT or CNA be a better way to go? I'm sure EMT would teach you a lot. I had a similar dilemma and I went to a physician assistant program fair at my university. I talked to a lot of program representatives and they all said that they see CNA as more valuable patient care experience. The rationale behind this was that because the programs are only seeing a number of hours on your application, there is no way for them to know how many of those hours you are actually working with patients. It is well known that EMTs spend a lot of their shifts waiting on calls and the programs can't differentiate the actual amount of hours you are spending providing hands-on patient care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajames Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 I wanted to go EMT, but I ended up doing CNA over the summer due to job demand. It was a very short course and I received a job by the following semester at the hospital. I work in neuro med/surg and have been exposed to a lot of different medical cases. There are also positions here, such as emergency department technician (EDT), that only require a CNA or EMT license. Both CNA and EDT are paid the same here in AZ, but I'm not sure about EMT. Additionally, I wish I would have gotten my MA license because I want to work in primary care, and right now I'm more specialty and yearn for a clinical setting. Then again, as a CNA at the hospital, I work 12 hour shifts 3x a week so I have a lot of free time on my days off. There are a lot of things to consider when choosing which path to decide, including what is available at your community college and how long each pathway is, especially if you are taking pre-reqs for PA school on top of that. There is also the option for PCT which is patient care technician and they do more such as foley inserts, minor iv starts, and some lab draws and can also work in the ED. Ahhh, when you really get into it, there are so many choices! Just know that no matter what you choose, you will learn so much and will gain valuable experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nts19 Posted July 15, 2017 Author Share Posted July 15, 2017 Thank you everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted July 15, 2017 Moderator Share Posted July 15, 2017 cna or medical assistant if you are interested in primary care. EMT if you want em, surgery, critical care, etc ortho tech if you want ortho see this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaylee272 Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 I think it really depends on what kind of setting you want to work in and what the scope of practice is where you work. I have a CNA cert and work as a PCT at phoenix children's. At PCH CNAs and EMTs have the same scope of practice as a PCT! However, this is just one example. I did my CNA in four weeks because that was the best option for me! However, if you have the time to get your EMT cert (not that its long) I agree that overall EMT will give you a much larger scope of practice and therefor give you the opportunity to learn more! Best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ket131 Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 I got my EMT couldn't get a job other than the very rare opportunity to volunteer due to the volume of those with the EMT-B. Got a job as a dialysis technician and that got me loads of patient care experience and you get to stick needles in patients and start IVs something that an EMT-B you can't do, from what I understand anyway. Bonus is you don't need to spend money to get a certification until you are 18 months working as a dialysis technician. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiggySRNA Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 I know it was already said EMT....so EMT lmao. The training is pretty easy and the amount of knowledge you gain (book wise) allows you to start thinking like a provider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmergencyMedicine Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 On 7/8/2017 at 11:19 PM, UGoLong said: EMT if there are positions in your area. This. In my area EMT jobs are hard to come by and if you do get one, in the beginning you may just be transporting patients around the county. I got my CNA and couldn't be happier. I was hired with no experience at the county hospital in a float pool so i get to see all parts of the hospital. After a few weeks of kicking butt and getting to know people, the supervisors ended up putting me in my favorite parts of the hospital +80% of the time. I get to work in emergency department all the time and even get to help with traumas when they come in, an invaluable experience that i could have never planned. It all just worked out. That being said EMT for sure, but ask around(literally just go to stations, they'd be more than happy to talk to you) and see how hard it is to get hired on with just a BASIC. Also, a lot of EDs high basics as techs also, all just depends on your area. Also important to note, I got into PA school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meumitsuki Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 I'm a PT aide in a rehab hospital which required no certifications or training. At our hospital we have patient care techs and unit techs that are involved in all sorts of post injury/surgical cases and those jobs had 1 week of on the job training, no other certificates needed. You might want to look for those search terms in your area to see if that opens up more opportunities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.