Paramedic Career Path

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The Exploration of the Career path for a Paramedic As long as I can remember, I have always been interested in the unpredictable and fast paced nature of emergency medicine. So when given this assignment I knew that I wanted to find out more about a profession in this field of medicine. I found the idea of becoming a paramedic especially intriguing and wanted to find out more about the profession especially since I know several people who are in this profession already. I had the pleasure of being able to talk to Bobby Horn who has been in the EMS field for over 20 years, including working as a paramedic. I plan to look into several aspects of what it means to be a paramedic which include the overall work environment with responsibilities, …show more content…

Therefore it makes sense that the education required to become a paramedic is quite rigorous as it contains classroom work, working on practical skills, and field training. In general, in order to start becoming a paramedic a person must first receive a high school diploma or GED which can be completed at any high school or education center in the United States. In order to get accepted into a paramedic program, it is likely that the program will also want the person to have already received their EMT-Basic certification, be fully licensed and has generally one to three years of experience working in the field. A person can generally get certified at any adult career center that offers a …show more content…

(Learn.org 2016) they begin an extensive training course that can range from 800 to over 1,500 hours. The course allows for a person to significantly increase their mastery in basic skills learned during the basic EMT course as well as increase knowledge in Advanced Life Support (ALS) which include topics such as pharmacology and toxicology. Lectures will generally be presented by the medical director in charge of the particular institution teaching ALS or possibly a doctor, nurse, or paramedic instructor. Clinical sessions are conducted in a similar manner with the student being supervised by a doctor or nurse generally in a hospital setting. Once a student completes the necessary coursework they must pass a practical and written exam in order to become a certified