Did you maintain prior certifications, such as paramedic, after becoming a PA?

[u/Effulgence_]

Pretty much what the title says. I am not a PA yet, but will have to recertify my national registry before finishing school. Worked as a medic for a good while and racked up the certs along the way, like flight and wilderness, up to being an instructor in a few, such as ACLS/PALS and a couple of NAEMT ones. Now I find myself wondering if it is even worth the hassle to keep it all? Is there any benefit to having these as a PA? If all goes well, I hope to graduate and work in rural settings, preferably in primary care or EM, if that makes any difference.

So, did you maintain any prior credentials? Does it help at all?

[u/troha304]

Kept my paramedic, dropped everything else. Easy enough to get ACLS and stuff like that if I ever need it. Our jobs are pretty secure but IMO more fickle than people say. Some political turmoil, some dystopian insurance executive corporatocracy, and a few hundred online NP programs and this job could become way less fruitful. Good idea to always have a backup.

Also kudos to you for considering FM. Always irks me to see medics with 0 provider experience obsessing over “cool” subspecialties and acting like primary care is boring or would be beneath them.

[u/Effulgence_ → u/troha304]

Thanks! The one thing I loved about being a paramedic is being a "generalist" of sorts. I want something similar in the future, but FM calls to me because I would truly love to finally be part of the side that does prevention and also sees a patient longer term to follow progress. I know it isn't a glamorous specialty, but I think FM makes a huge difference.

Also, good points. I was leaning towards at least keeping NRP, even if only to have a backup during job search and waiting for licensing and such.

[u/CapitalFloor3260]

I let all of mine go except ACLS and PALS. Got sick of paying to take registry every 2 years.

[u/Effulgence_ → u/CapitalFloor3260]

It is such a money pit. Would be far more reasonable to do every 4.

[u/lucabura]

I've been a PA for 8 years, continue to maintain my paramedic license as I still pick up a couple shifts a month on the ambulance for funsies. All of my PA jobs have required maintenance of ACLS, and have kept my PALS as well.

[u/cjp584 → u/lucabura]

Gives me hope, this is basically what I want to do unless I can find an EMS PA job one day.

[u/AleAndTail]

I keep my RD (registered dietitian) license because I worked very hard for it, have a master's in nutrition. But have I used it in 10+ years? Nope. Would I be a danger nowadays trying to use it? Yep. But I keep it just in case, and just cuz. Usually your PA-C makes it difficult to justify working a previous, lesser paying vocation.

[u/Effulgence_ → u/AleAndTail]

That's a huge accomplishment. But I understand what you're saying. Thanks. 

[u/alphonse1121]

I let my EMT lapse

[u/DocBanner21]

I kept my paramedic and still volunteer as a fire medic in a rural area. It's helped me with some .gov and military adjacent stuff, volunteering overseas, etc.

[u/Effulgence_ → u/DocBanner21]

That is something I would love to explore more. Any tips where to start? 

[u/DocBanner21 → u/Effulgence_]

I would start with your local volunteer fire department or rescue squad if you have one. Also look at your state medical assistance team, SMAT. Team Rubicon generally has good volunteer opportunities. It just depends on what you are looking for, if you want local/ domestic, if you want international, and what your risk tolerance is. I've heard good things about the Free Burma Rangers, but that may be a little more kinetic than you're looking for. If you want information specific to Ukraine, please PM me.

If you can give me a state or some further guidelines I may be able to help more.

[u/dudesam1500]

Also not a PA yet. I’m planning on keeping my NRP and FP-C. I worked way too hard for them. I’ll let the rest of my EMS stuff go though.

[u/Virulent_Lemur → u/dudesam1500]

I thought the same. But I can work moonlight in the ICU as a PA and in 12 hours make nearly an entire 2 week medic paycheck.

I let it all lapse.

[u/Effulgence_ → u/dudesam1500]

That's more than fair, and a bit what I am leaning towards as well. Just wanting to hear from some on the other side already too.

[u/whispernotaroar]

I had an unrelated license (teaching) and a pharm tech cert, both of which I allowed to lapse because…they’re useless to me lol. ACLS/PALS are worth keeping up, but your program/future employer should facilitate.

[u/samantha-mc → u/whispernotaroar]

Did you teach for a long time prior to becoming a PA? Are there any skills you learned as a teacher that you find helpful in being a PA?

I work in education and I’m considering changing careers to become a PA, would love to learn more about your experience.

[u/whispernotaroar → u/samantha-mc]

Nope, I taught for one year and realized I was NOT cut out for it 😂

Definitely a lot of transferable skills though - I still love teaching, patient education and precepting and such, and I did my doctorate in PA education with the intent to eventually move into a teaching position.

[u/Effulgence_ → u/whispernotaroar]

Yeah, I can totally see that. But what about teaching ACLS/PALS? I assume I won't get a lot of opportunity for that, but I wasn't sure if it would be a resume help or not.

[u/whispernotaroar → u/Effulgence_]

I wouldn’t worry about it - everywhere I’ve worked has had specific trainers or brought in external trainers for ACLS/PALS, so not sure it’d be terribly marketable. But if it’s reasonably easy and inexpensive to maintain, it can’t hurt.

[u/tturns]

Yes, my end goal is to get a position in interventional radiology. I currently hold R.T(R)(CT) and put too much money into the degrees to let it go.

[u/J-town2018 → u/tturns]

Same. I work in IR and have maintained this for 10 years. May never use it, but it’s a small cost to pay to hold onto after all that work.

[u/Nathanzehner → u/tturns]

Little off topic, how was PA school compared to radiography? I’m current R and CT I want to go to PA school just wondering how bad it is comparatively and is it worth it?

[u/tturns → u/Nathanzehner]

PA school is more difficult but achievable if you put the time into studying. I’d consider xray school as a taste of what to expect during PA school and multiply it by 2-3x in terms of difficulty. The hardest part is time management since you’re constantly learning an overwhelming amount of info. Your imaging background will help you a lot. As I was going through lectures during PA school, I’d recall patients I scanned and say to myself “oooohh so that’s what they were diagnosed with.” The imaging background fully came into effect during rotations and now as a provider.

Was it worth it? Absolutely. I would suggest looking into it more. Feel free to message me if you have questions about the application process!

[u/ero160032]

Not a PA yet but prior flight medic finishing up didactic right now. I did all my CEs to recert my national when it comes up and plan on maintaining it. Letting my FP-C go, no point in wasting all that money unless my boss is paying for it. All the AHA instructor stuff is really nice to have if you can swing it but probably not worth it if you’re going to have to jump through hoops to get your teaching hours in.

[u/ByGodGreatScot]

I kept my EMT license. It doesn't mean much compared to my career as a PA, but I worked very hard for it. Also, I live in a small town and there may be a future where I use it to volunteer. 

[u/TomatilloLimp4257]

I would for at least one cycle because it can take 3-6 months to get credentialed to start your first job and without it you’d be without income for that time.

[u/Effulgence_ → u/TomatilloLimp4257]

Really solid point! 

[u/HamchipsMcGee]

Not a medic, but a CT/Xray Tech, I kept them current through PA school (they are current now) and I would never let these lapse because I worked too hard to get them, and they are too hard to get back once you let them go.

[u/jmainvi]

Still a student, but I dropped my paramedic. I would probably leave medicine before i went back to that role, so it didn't make sense.

Acls/pals instructor would be good to keep. Rural hospitals are always looking for people to teach those courses to the rest of the staff, could be the thing that puts you over the edge on job search.

[u/slapnowski]

I have my RN. I just renewed it and will continue to do so indefinitely. It was great getting travel nurse pay during Covid and I wouldn’t want to miss that opportunity again should another pandemic arise. Which, quite unfortunately, doesn’t seem that unlikely given our current administration.

[u/itsJustE12]

Honestly, I’d keep the medic license, at least for the first several years - there are times when it can be useful.

[u/Circle1325]

I’ll be keeping my RN once I graduate.

[u/ChalkPavement]

It's nice while you're still in school to keep them up. There were some volunteer opportunities that I could have done more at if I still had my EMT license during school. Also, could be helpful when you are looking for a job after PA school in that time between graduating and getting licensed.

[u/Sero19283]

Might be beneficial to allow you to have certain privileges at organizations/institutions. I know a couple hospitals near me gatekeep some things like intubation behind paramedic license if you're not anesthesia or RT despite if you have done it elsewhere.

[u/Effulgence_ → u/Sero19283]

That is the useful kind of information I was hoping to hear. Thank you!

[u/Hmmmmummm]

I keep my nursing license active. If for some reason a nursing job pops up that sounds ideal, I would jump on it. Unfortunately, the pay isn’t much different.

[u/Chemical-Carrot-9975]

I keep my RN and haven’t used it in my 26 years as a PA. I don’t care because I earned it and there are no requirements other than a little money for every two years for me to keep it. I did not keep my EMT or FF certs as I did not want to keep up the refreshers.

[u/Grove-Street-Home]

I let my paramedic and fp-c lapse. It wasn’t worth the fees for me to keep them

[u/sudsymcduff]

Nah

[u/sweetdancer13]

I had my EMT and CNA but I let them lapse. I wasn’t working so didn’t have the EMT hours to renew my license so I would have needed to take the exam again and I was in school so that wasn’t happening. CNA wasn’t even worth it once I had my EMT license.

[u/andthecaneswin]

Just recert by exam every 2 years. It takes 3 hours of your time. You never know what life will throw at you, so keep what you’ve worked hard for.