Backup Plan

[track_star_x]

hey all,

I was just wondering what kind of backup plans people have. I am just curious because many applicants are smart, highly qualilfied people that would excel in many high level careers, however, are still rejected. So what kind of jobs/further education are people applying to outside of med.

Thanks and good luck to everyone in these last couple weeks of OMSAS apps!

[a1b1]

A lot of people have back up plans that tend to be related to the medical field in some way or another. For example ; nursing, physio therapy e.t.c.

Others may want to do a masters or phd's in their programs as there back up plan. It is defenetly a good idea to have a back up plan incase Plan A doesent work.

[Prothrombin]

Dental School or Pharmacy

[DOC_Ma]

Dental School or Pharmacy

 

dental school is something I might have to look up

[Jochi1543]

Don't back up with paramedicine like I did...because the average EMS career lasts 4 years. And for a good reason, lol.

[Prothrombin]

I may also go into Clinical Psychology, or get my PhD and do teaching in Psychology.

[Mourning Cloak]

There are lots of great medical-like things that you can do outside of medical school:

 

Cytogeneticist (PhD)

Molecular geneticist (PhD)

Microbiologist (PhD)

Biochemist (PhD)

Epidemiologist (PhD)

Genetic counsellor

Physician assistant

Pharmacist

Speech-language therapist

Occupational therapist

Respiratory therapist

Physiotherapist

Perfusionist

Technologists of all descriptions (imaging, MRI, lab, phlebotomists)

 

Hint: if you think, gee, I REALLY like surgery, but I can't get into medical school, try to find a friendly surgeon to ask about all the people who work with him but aren't doctors or nurses. For example, perfusionists work alongside CV surgeons in the OR to manage the heart-lung bypass machines. If you really like orthopedics, see who else is working in the ortho clinic: there are orthopedic technologists who are experts in casts and splinting. Like power tools? Maybe autopsy technologist (denier) is the right job for you - depending on the environment you work in, you can pretty much do the big autopsy stuff while the pathologist oversees. Like pediatrics - what about being the nutritionist who makes sure that the sick babies are receiving appropriate nutrition?

 

So, try to go to the environment you'd like to work in, and pay attention to the legions of people doing interesting jobs who AREN'T either the MD or the RN.

[rmorelan]

Don't back up with paramedicine like I did...because the average EMS career lasts 4 years. And for a good reason, lol.

 

ahhh, I can probably guess, but why exactly is that??

[AndreaM]

ahhh, I can probably guess, but why exactly is that??

 

I don't know about Jochi, but I have friends in the BC ambulance service and from the sounds of things there are many reasons, including the fact that the stress and responsibility level to pay ratio isn't very good.

 

Right now in BC the paramedics are being royally screwed by the provincial government and are on strike, but can't picket or take any job action and are being forced to do a minimum of 60 hours per week due to chronic understaffing that is being exacerbated by the strike (lots of paramedics are quitting and going into other emergency services).

[Rayven]

ahhh, I can probably guess, but why exactly is that??

Along with what Andrea said, there's also the heavy lifting that's involved. People are getting fatter. Paramedics aren't getting stronger at a fast enough rate... lol

 

Throw out your back and it's over.

[Jochi1543]

Let's just say it's a job that requires a very particular type of personality, just like police. If you don't have that type of personality (I don't), you will clash with many people in the field in addition to not really enjoying the work environment an awful lot.

 

It's also very hands-on, so if you are the thinking type, like I am, you probably won't enjoy it. I didn't mind the actual medical procedures (which you will do very rarely, maybe 10% of your calls will involve a procedure or a medication administration), but I loathe tasks that are more towards the firefighter side of things such as extricating somebody from a vehicle, helping dig up someone who's buried under rubble, etc. My favorite type of call is the LOLNAD (Little Old Lady, No Apparent Distress) one that allows me to sit next to my patient, conduct a bunch of surveys, a physical exam, ponder some nice data from my various monitors and take a 30-minute history. I found that nearly all of my EMS coworkers strongly prefer the moose vs. motorcycle types of calls where you have a critical patient, screaming bystanders, sirens everywhere, dirt, blood on the pavement, etc. So like I said, it requires a certain type of personality, just like psychiatrists and trauma surgeons tend to have different inclinations.

 

ETA: going into someone's house is also something that makes the job difficult, IMO. As a physician, you won't be crawling under a bed at 4 am to pull out a drooling diabetic covered in urine as her 10 relatives look on and either don't help you at all or simply get in the way, and then trying figure out how to get the stretcher with her 200+ lbs body around 12309840235846 cans of beer strewn around the apartment as her 3 dogs are running around and biting you and your partner.

[rmorelan]

Ok, but why so short a time then - one would hope all of this would be made clear at the application/initial level.

 

Kind of worries me that a major section of the health care system has a huge turnover. Doesn't sound particularly stable (avg of 4 years, with a 2 year training program before that?).

 

Let's just say it's a job that requires a very particular type of personality, just like police. If you don't have that type of personality (I don't), you will clash with many people in the field in addition to not really enjoying the work environment an awful lot.

 

It's also very hands-on, so if you are the thinking type, like I am, you probably won't enjoy it. I didn't mind the actual medical procedures (which you will do very rarely, maybe 10% of your calls will involve a procedure or a medication administration), but I loathe tasks that are more towards the firefighter side of things such as extricating somebody from a vehicle, helping dig up someone who's buried under rubble, etc. My favorite type of call is the LOLNAD (Little Old Lady, No Apparent Distress) one that allows me to sit next to my patient, conduct a bunch of surveys, a physical exam, ponder some nice data from my various monitors and take a 30-minute history. I found that nearly all of my EMS coworkers strongly prefer the moose vs. motorcycle types of calls where you have a critical patient, screaming bystanders, sirens everywhere, dirt, blood on the pavement, etc. So like I said, it requires a certain type of personality, just like psychiatrists and trauma surgeons tend to have different inclinations.

 

ETA: going into someone's house is also something that makes the job difficult, IMO. As a physician, you won't be crawling under a bed at 4 am to pull out a drooling diabetic covered in urine as her 10 relatives look on and either don't help you at all or simply get in the way, and then trying figure out how to get the stretcher with her 200+ lbs body around 12309840235846 cans of beer strewn around the apartment as her 3 dogs are running around and biting you and your partner.

[Rayven]

Ok, but why so short a time then - one would hope all of this would be made clear at the application/initial level.

 

Kind of worries me that a major section of the health care system has a hugh turnover. Doesn't sound particularly stable (avg of 4 years, with a 2 year training program before that?).

I think there's starting to be a push for 4 year programs now too. UofT for example is doing joint degree programs for paramedicine with Centennial college. You use to be able to become a PCP with just a 1 year cert in many provinces (especially BC). But that's quickly changing. =/

 

I still the main reason for turnover is because it can be a very physically demanding job depending on the call. That.. and that there's very little room for vertical career growth.

[AndreaM]

Ok, but why so short a time then - one would hope all of this would be made clear at the application/initial level.

 

Kind of worries me that a major section of the health care system has a hugh turnover. Doesn't sound particularly stable (avg of 4 years, with a 2 year training program before that?).

 

Longer training won't change the turnover rate. Like Jochi said, it takes a certain personality type and you can't really train a person to have the right personality for the job. It's not until you're in the field that you really understand what you've gotten yourself into when you go holy sh!t and realize this isn't what you want to do with your life. So longer training ahead of time just wastes training money. It's better to get them out there right quick, weed out the ones who won't make it and then train the heck out the ones that stay.

 

In some ways residential care for people with disabilities is the same way. Lots of people come into the agency that I work for thinking "oh I want to help people" and that it will be an easy job and then quickly realize that they don't like poop or spit and they can't handle having someone take a swing at them (because in the field of disabilities you generally either need total personal care or have behaviour issues). Those people who don't have the right kind of personality quit quickly and those that do have the right personality tend to stay forever.

 

It seems to be similar with the ambulance service, those that can't take it quit soon and those that can, do it for life. My friend who's on strike here has been with the BCAS for over 15 years and will probably do it until he retires. My parent's friend in the BCAS has been at it for over 40 years.

[Jochi1543]

I agree with AndreaM - I personally am not a fan of the 4-year programs (they are called "zero to hero" among EMS folk, by the way). I DO think that there should be an option to spend 4 years training and get a BAppSci in paramedicine; however, it should be an option and not a requirement. I find the current track - get your primary care paramedic, put in a good amount of time in patient care (some schools go by years of employment, others by hours of direct pt care), and THEN go do your advanced care medic - quite efficient, actually. You have to remember that there is a LOT of industrial medics out there, and PCP is sufficient for most locations. So people who want to make a quick buck before they settle down and start a family, buy a house, etc can quickly do their PCP in a year and then make $100,000+ a year doing an incredibly depressing job for a short amount of time.

 

 

Turnover is high because of ALL the reasons mentioned above, both by myself and by others, not just one. Turnover is still going to be high with a 4-year degree, but people will be wasting that much more time training.

[Jochi1543]

It seems to be similar with the ambulance service, those that can't take it quit soon and those that can, do it for life. My friend who's on strike here has been with the BCAS for over 15 years and will probably do it until he retires. My parent's friend in the BCAS has been at it for over 40 years.

 

3 out of 17 people in my class quit during their practicums...there were 3 more people who were very clear that they were in this for a year or two until they could go on to their preferred career (police, fire, business owner).

[Halcyon]

Ok, but why so short a time then - one would hope all of this would be made clear at the application/initial level.

 

Kind of worries me that a major section of the health care system has a huge turnover. Doesn't sound particularly stable (avg of 4 years, with a 2 year training program before that?).

 

Any field that involves front-line work with people in crisis or difficult situations generally has a high turnover. Read up about vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue - you will quickly learn why. These concepts apply to any health-care or allied health-care profession.

 

Years ago, one of my supervisors said to me that if I made it past the three year mark, I was a lifer, haha!

[Jochi1543]

Any field that involves front-line work with people in crisis or difficult situations generally has a high turnover. Read up about vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue - you will quickly learn why. These concepts apply to any health-care or allied health-care profession.

 

Years ago, one of my supervisors said to me that if I made it past the three year mark, I was a lifer, haha!

 

What do you do, Halcyon?

 

 

I should note that paramedicine also doesn't have very many non-front line opportunities for people who don't like the field work. While nurses have so many things to choose from - work in the OR, nursing home, do home care, work in schools, do research, etc, paramedicine doesn't have much beyond ambulance work. Yeah, there is a handful of research, hospital-based care, teaching, or community opportunities but they generally are not full-time and there are SO few of them compared to what you would find as a nurse or physician. I think U of A hospital has one paramedic on staff in the ER, lol.

[Rayven]

lol.. at least though with a degree, paramedic grads can apply to other grad schools after the 4 years. =p

 

I wonder if there'll be a rise in paramedic students if that new show "Trauma" ever catches on... hahaha

[Jochi1543]

lol.. at least though with a degree, paramedic grads can apply to other grad schools after the 4 years. =p

 

I wonder if there'll be a rise in paramedic students if that new show "Trauma" ever catches on... hahaha

 

Yeah...then when they go on their practicum and realize approximately 5% of your calls are trauma and out of that 5%, 10% are serious trauma, we'll have a bunch of unemployed medic dropouts...hehehe.

 

I saw more "Third Watch" during my practicum than I think any healthy person should ever be exposed to.