Have you ever wondered what do to with your career as an EMT or paramedic? The obvious choice is to work on an ambulance, either for a fire department, private company, or government run entity. But not everyone wants to work on an ambulance, not all ambulance jobs pay enough to support you, or maybe you just want to do something else. That’s ok! There are countless other career options available to you.
I am someone who gets bored easily. I absolutely love being a paramedic, I love medicine, but I get bored! I don’t want to do the same thing all the time, so I am always looking for new and different career opportunities. You can work for private ambulance companies or government/ city ambulances doing 911s and inter-facility transfers. You can work in cities or remote. You can do tropical medicine, wilderness medicine, tactical medicine with a law enforcement/ SWAT team or in war or conflict zones. You can do flight medicine on a helicopter or plane. You can also work on cruise ships traveling the world. You can work on oil platforms and pipelines. You can do research and write medical journals or articles.
You can even do rescue medicine in a variety of different scenarios… such as high angle rescue, hostage rescues, active shooter situations, or after man made or natural disasters in any state or county. There are a lot of organizations and companies that pay good money, or let you volunteer to deploy and provide medical aid. They usually cover all of your expenses; you just need to have a valid medic variation and possibly a passport.
Don’t forget about movie sets! Movie sets are a fantastic way to experience something new and exciting. Movie and television sets always have a set medic, either EMT or paramedic, doesn’t matter. They also have a medic with their construction crews. This can give you a great chance to travel and meet some famous people worth writing home about.
Don’t think you’re up for the physical demands of working in the field? That’s ok too. You can work in clinics, hospitals, and even dispatch. In a clinic or hospital, you can be a tech, do telemetry, phlebotomy, and countless other things. Most dispatch centers will hire EMTs and paramedics because you can understand the medical nature of calls, making sure the patient gets the most appropriate ambulance response. Don’t forget about teaching. We always need qualified medics to teach the newer generations. You can teach in person or online. You can teach the official EMT, AEMT, and paramedic classes, or even others, like CPR, ACLS, TCCC/ PHTLS, and many more.
There are countless jobs out there for anyone who wants to get involved in medicine, not just your typical ambulance jobs. If what you’re doing or where you’re working isn’t fulfilling you like you want it to, there is no harm in branching out and trying something different.
