My transformative experience was an accelerated Emergency Medical Technician certification course run by Cleveland Clinic Akron General. During the course I learned practical skills in prehospital care and essentials in healthcare basics, and got to implement them during clincal experience in the hospital and at fire stations.
I went into this transformative experience looking to experience a new application in the medical field to gain professional experience and pathways into a career in medicine. At the beginning of my project, I found my lack of knowledge in healthcare practices to be a point of interest in increasing my skill and ability. What I found and realized during my project was the all encompassing nature of healthcare, especially emergency healthcare. In any moment in time, something can go wrong for someone somewhere, and healthcare providers have to be ready to help deal with that at any moment. My world view changed in that, I realized that I want to be able to continue to help people beyond their hardest moments. I want to be able to see problems with the human body, and know the steps to take to fix them. Not just the simple steps in prehospital care, but all encompassing care that will allow me to see the patient outcomes to the end.
In the certification class, we worked closely with registered paramedics and fellow EMT’s to learn the skill of prehospital care. During the time we learned skills and applications directly from stories from paramedics and our own clinical experience time. The combination of both led to a very encompassing education on what working in these high stress situations entails.
The in classroom portion of the certification course entailed learning anatomy, medical terminology, vital signs, operations and different conditions that a basic EMT can deal with in the field. This began the first steps of my transformation.
Once I had acquired the knowledge of these skills I was able to put them into practical application in my clinical hours in the emergency room in triage. These patient interactions were I believe the most important and influential part of my experience in this project. I worked with preceptors on taking vitals, beginning heart monitoring lead placements, and determining patients chief complaints and what is happening as a result of the complains. I saw patients from all walks of life come in, not many people with the same issue but all people in need of care. While not being able to do much in a learner capacity, even just being able to see this care was a massive step, making my first patient interaction.
These clinical hours continued into the children’s hospital and at fire stations nearby. There I continued with an even more practical application of my skills, and the second part of my transformative experience. By this point I had learned most of the practical skills required for the certification, but seeing and using them in real life had not happened. So, I was able to begin utilizing my skills. In multiple occasions, I had very stressful circumstances happen with patients that I assisted in care with. I took them in stride and learned from each situation. These left me with a wish that I could’ve been of more care though, that I could’ve helped more in each situation. And so my transformative experience helped me solidify my continuing path in medicine, and has been a major impetus for me to work toward continuing with developing my skills in a career leading me toward becoming a physician.
My future plans of being a physician will easily be supported by this transformative experience. I now have experience in patient care and experiences that will help solidify my path toward a career in medicine, one of the most important steps in identifying the calling to do so. Additionally, I will have the opportunity to find work as an EMT locally to support my future endeavors while I begin my work. Therefore, this experience has provided innumerable opportunities to expand my career and experience going forward.
