#MedicLife

Yes, I’m a paramedic.

Yes, I’m 22.

Yes, I’m female.

Yes, I have a bachelors degree in Emergency Medicine.

Becoming a paramedic is one of the best things that have happened to me. At first I thought I wanted to be in Athletic Training. I absolutely love the field, and I love sports, but that wasn’t in the cards for me. I stumbled into the EMS field after taking an EMT class at the University of Pittsburgh. From there I learned more about the Emergency Medicine program Pitt has through the Center for Emergency Medicine from one of my favorite teachers. I decided that I need to apply because it couldn’t hurt. At Pitt people say that the EM major is for people who can’t cut it as a bio or chemistry major, and they’re right. I can’t be a bio or chemistry major, but I didn’t want to be. When I graduated, I wanted to leave with a skill that I could get a job in. I also knew that if I wanted to pursue other healthcare options, I needed something that taught me how to deal with patients.

So, joining the EM program was what I decided. Through a whirlwind of Junior year classes, crying, and still trying to be a typical college student I made it through paramedic school, and passed the National Registry. For all of you nursing students out there paramedic school and nursing school are no where near the same thing even at a great program like at the University of Pittsburgh.

Being a “baby Medic” as I like to say has shown me a lot. I’ve learned it’s rare to be this young and a paramedic, even though I graduated with a whole class of them, and I’ve also learned it’s possible to look decent and be a medic. One of the hardest things I had to get used to becoming a paramedic, was not the long hours, the weekend shifts, the overnights, and the no holidays, it was realizing I was back to being in a uniform.

For all of my schooling before college I was in a uniform, and I loved them, and then in college I got to dress however I wanted to. Through that time I got to learn my personal style, my makeup likes, and my shoe likes. Being a paramedic I don’t get to wear nice clothes, and make my hair all pretty. I do try not to look like a slob though, put on a touch of makeup, and try to control the mane that is my natural hair. This is only the beginning on what I want to talk about being a new medic because when I was trying to figure out what to do when I was starting and pressing google wasn’t working, I at least had a lot of friends to help. So this one though frivolous was something that I needed to remember. Make yourself look decent, even in uniform. Until next time,

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