Clinical Experience

In the world of emergency medical services (EMS), future EMTs and paramedics accept the reality that their immediate future includes hundreds of hours of lectures, extensive bookwork, and plenty of written tests. 

Each of these students has an objective in mind for taking EMT training courses, and their reasons are many. Some are looking to start careers in the EMS profession. Others plan to use their EMT certification as a stepping stone to medical school or physician assistant (PA) school. And there are those who are uncertain about what direction their future might take, so they’re exploring their options. 

Regardless of the reason why,  there are a number of things that simply can’t be “taught” in the classroom. Equally important as “book learning,” and perhaps more vital, is clinical and field experience. What is clinical experience? In the real world, clinical settings feature healthcare providers conducting actual exams and procedures on real patients. Physical examples might be a bustling hospital emergency department, a crowded local health clinic, or finding yourself hovering directly over an (more…)