Where’s the link?
I know a guy who was a medic in the Air Force. He went into real estate for a while, but then he became a Physician’s Assistant. Of course he had to go to school for it, but it was a natural career progression for him.
“I suspect medical professional boards do this on purpose to protect their members from competition.”
After a conversation with an Emory University doctor who did something with their medical school application process, I can go further: The universities and the Boards work together to seriously limit the number of possible doctors.
These soldiers need some fast-track, low cost, avenue to bring their skills to the marketplace. I would create a Federal program for them and force the boards to comply.
The fact that military medics are not at least EMT-rated on the line, perhaps even after several years of duty, is totally pathetic. Motivated medics should know what to expect regardless and strive for that education. Sadly, it’s apparent most do not.
But this is what our military is transforming into: Apathy.
Brought to you by your federal military leadership (along with ROE)...
And soon our soldiers won’t have a grasp on the history they’re defending (if it’s not too late already)...
sorry... someone please explain how their skills wouldn't immediately apply to EMT style jobs
This unfortunately is not new.When I left the Air Force in 1980 it was the same way.Once you decide to leave at the end of you D.O.S. You’re on your own.
My nephew was a medic went onto get his nursing degree started out at over 30 dollars an hour.
When our boomer’s Navy Corpsman was discharged he was hired as a head nurse at the local hospital. Maybe because it was a navy town (New London) they had an understanding and appreciation for what an experienced Navy Corpsman could do. He also had done a tour in Vietnam.
Maybe things have changed, but in my unit back in the 60’s the medics were a joke. They were comprised of individuals that the other platoons didn’t want. Their training was minimal and I wouldn’t have gone to them for splinter removal.
pabianice I suspect medical professional boards do this on purpose to protect their members from competition.
This has absolutely nothing to do with medical professional boards.
The Army requires all Medics to be certified through the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians, which qualifies them to be EMTs on the street. That is the civilian equivalent.
Now the question is are there enough EMT jobs out there for the sheer volume of Combat Medics ETSing? Probably not. But that has nothing to do with the premise of the excerpt above.
The best Medics I served with had the goal of going to Medical, Nursing or PA school and during my 27 year career, retiring just a few months ago, I literally wrote dozens of letters of reccomendation for young "Docs" who were doing just that.
The real culprits are those in charge of the education programs. For decades they have voided past education and experience to increase the time and money spent on worthless, repetitive, and expensive education courses.
My wife is as she and other RNs call it the old fashioned 3 year real RN.
She had 45 hours of pre med at a major medical school in her 3 year program.
As an RN, she was a certified labor and delivery rn, and a certified ICU rn in a hospital affiliated with a major medical school.
She was in the top 5 % in her nursing licensing test in a major state. Her scores were so high, California and another state accredited her to be a RN in their state.
After two kids, she became a stay at home mother. She took the required ce courses to maintain her RN license including a couple of rigorous ICU courses.
Before she returned to work, she decided to a become an rn pa.
She had to take 60 hours of basic bs liberal courses, having nothing to do with nursing.
After about two years, she asked if her pre med courses would count.
She was told no, and she would have retake the basic courses that were the same.
She talked to some friends, who were also 3 year licensed RNs. All of them told her not to waste her money and years of her life.
So, she got a job as the lead RN in a busy FP practice for over 3 decades.
Medics in Vietnam saved John Kerry’s life 3 times.
Here is a good article on post service help for Special Forces (Green Beret) medics.
http://news.unchealthcare.org/news/2015/march/returning-the-favor
“We discovered there’s no better medic on the planet than the 18-Delta Special Forces Medical Sergeant,” he says. “It’s more difficult to become a Special Forces medic than it is to become an NFL football player – it truly is amazing. We are talking about the very best of the best.”
The first course at JSOMTC is the Combat Medic Course, which is taken over six months and is generally considered traditional military medic education. The second, much more selective and demanding course, is the Medical Sergeant Course, which requires an additional six months of training and includes elements of nursing, dentistry, surgery, veterinary medicine, public health, and health-care-related areas.
“You have to remember that these people are soldiers first, and under fire they have to be able to do a number of things quickly and decisively or the mission will fail,” says Cairns. “So, unlike medical school, these folks must train to achieve competence as opposed to be evaluated for performance or to get a grade. These soldiers must graduate from this program knowing how to do a tracheostomy, put in a central line, or stabilize a femur in a combat situation. It’s a different approach.”
As the group from UNC learned more about the level of training and the expertise of the Special Forces medics, they saw an opportunity to help JSOMTC instructors and medic trainees with education and career development. In collaboration with the JSOMTC, the School of Medicine, and UNC Medical Center, the Burn Center launched the Advanced Medic Instructor Training (AMIT) program.
AMIT provides Special Forces medic training instructors who have practiced skills in combat an opportunity to rotate at UNC Hospitals in any specialty they want, whether in the burn unit, the surgical intensive care unit, psychiatry, the emergency department, vascular surgery, or elsewhere.
I am an ex-Army combat medic. I served from 1985-1993 the last five years being inactive reserve. None of the schooling and hands on experience was recognized in the civilian world. I could only become an EMT with a little more school. I laughed and went back to my construction based job as I had performed prior to entering the Army. I do not fault the service by any means but it was my experience that medics are somewhat mislead as to the crossover of what is viable with your work performed while on active duty. Even back then under Reagan the Army was scalping money from those getting near retirement by penalizing for matters many years in the past, that was the reason I did not stay. If they were going to screw decent NCO’s who saw multiple live fire incidents why would I risk giving the bean counters who did nothing but see how best to hurt the soldiers as opposed to the big money contractors or ex-officers milking the system they used to be part of ? Same shit different arena for graft and working the system....anyone here who ever served active knows what I mean.
Navy corpsmen are not despite having the same training.
This is the fault of the Secretary of the Navy and Congress.
I sold a house in 2013, to a vet who was a medic, had deployed to Iraq, and was back home and employed by Los Angeles County, as a Fireman/EMT.
He was early in his career, but was working a lot of hours and making good money.
According to the 2012 National Salary Survey of PAs, the mean total income for physician assistants working full-time was $102,165. Physician assistants in emergency medicine, dermatology, and surgical subspecialties may earn $100,000 to $200,000 per year.