counting HCE hours as an army medic?

[68whiskey]

My husband has been a medic in the army for just over a year and he has another 21/2 to go. How will schools count his HCE as a medic? He doesn't see patients every day and sometimes he just sees one or two. However, when he was deployed, people would come to see him at all hours of the day or night. I read on here, I think, that some schools don't count all of the hours for an EMT and my husband also worked as an EMT before he joined the army. Should my husband start counting all his patient contacts individually? I know all schools are not the same, but I'd hate for my husband to get ready to apply and have a problem with the HCE.

[Lemon Bars]

They will surely count it, but they may not count all of it, like you said. Try calling some PA schools directsly and asking them.

[mktalon]

Yes, the best thing to do is make a list of potential schools and call them or visit their info sessions to ask these kinds of questions. But honestly, being an Army Medic and a previous EMT, I don't think your husband is going to have any issues meeting HCE requirements. I wish you guys the best!

[IdahoPA]

I was an Army medic, as well. I was in the National Guard for 9 years and deployed for OIF III. I didn't keep any kind of record of hours until I started to fill out the CASPA so my "record" is actually a conservative, best estimate. I counted my 12 hr days as 12 hrs. If he's doing sick call or whatever, then it's highly likely he is seeing patients that entire time. (We sure did!) I wouldn't count days where he was actually doing something different like gate guard or weapons qual. For drill weekends when our patient contact was limited to soldiers who were sick or injured while at work, I counted that specific time since it wasn't an actual shift but I was treating patients.

 

I'll also reiterate that your husband should really be the one asking these questions and getting this info since he's the one who will be applying and then attending school. And don't take that the wrong way. I am also a military wife now and I get that you want to help him, but he should be responsible for his own career. Encourage him to use his resources; he is undoubtedly working with fine Army PAs who would be a huge source of information. Every PA I've ever met has been more than willing to not only talk about the profession, but to help teach medic skills, too.

[LESH]

Depending on the program it won't be an issue.

[Ernie]

Just take your best guess. It won't be an issue. How can anyone possibly prove you wrong? I divided my annual pay as a Paramedic by my hourly rate, and counted every hour worked as an hour of experience. (I know this doesn't work for military, because you aren't paid by the hour.) What this part of the application is designed to do is to keep people from working one day a month for 10 years in a part time position and claiming 10 years experience.

 

There are those who say that I shouldn't do that because a paramedic isn't seeing patients every working minute, but so what? Nurses aren't doing patient care every minute either, and neither do doctors or any other medical profession. It isn't like anyone expects you to walk around with a stop watch and time your patient contacts.

[EMEDPA]

I think the plan above makes excellent sense. value your work time as a medic, it is just as good as any other applicants.