Any 'Docs' out there who can give me some insight?

[Steadfast]

Yeah, Happy New Year Dragon Ninja.

Whats this question of yours? You mean to say you haven't bothered to search this forum for the answers you seek. RngrDoc75 would be right pissed you didn't bother to look around. Man up and look.

Do yourself a favor & always capitalize the "R" in Ranger or you will draw unnecessary heat.

And one last item - get rid of RLTW HOOAH in your sigline, you haven't earned the right to use that.

[panthersix]

Signed the contract huh? Congrats! I was a Ranger Medic before they got reclassed into the high speed emergency medicine gurus they are today. But even then we did clinical and ambulance rotations. It was a nice break from humping a medic aide bag. Back in the day, it was only Rangers and SF that wore berets and wore cammies. At 1st BN we did not wear the regular Army "white" uniforms while working at Tuttle clinic.

I have fond memories of a lot of things in Bn, but humping a ruck full of IV bags, ammo, c-rats, drinking water, and socks is not one of them I hate the big green tick with a passion! My second unit after Bn was Medevac! Now that was the fashizzle my nizzle!

The coolest thing about being medical is that you can go to any unit in the Army, just about any post in the Army! All that is made easier by doing your time in BN. It's almost like a reward for putting in the suck time.

One more thing, if you're thinking of making the Army a career, be nice to all the other Ranger Medics as a bunch of them will become doctors, PAs and other high speed and upwardly mobile men that you might need later to get an assignment or to get out of trouble. Medics usually help medics with STDs without putting it in their medical records ;) Not that I know anything about that...

[Sleepy Doc]

RngrDoc75 would be right pissed you didn't bother to look around....

And he, young padawan, is one cat you don't want to get pissed at you if you are a Ranger Medic.. or even thinking of becoming one.

Just by your question, I can tell that you have done absolutely no searching on your own whatsoever. Bad form.

Try again.

[K.Ingraham]

Everything you need to know before you don the uniform is already on this site.
Do more PT. A medic has to be able to summon up that little bit more strength & guts to be able to do their unique job.
No one is respected more than a good medic with balls. There's never enough of them - you will be the only limit on your opportunities in the special operations communities.
But right now, you need to worry about the basics so go do more PT, whatever you're doing now is not enough.
Oh, make sure you can stand the sight of blood. Funny how many people embark on careers in nursing or EMS and can't handle their first call.

[Jim]

Welcome...

[panthersix]

Must like needles too! We used to stick each other all the time for practice :D Those butterfly catheters in the hand veins used to make some feet tap!

[K.Ingraham]

Must like needles too! !

yeah, the other obvious one!

Got 14 consecutive sticks from a trainee medic who couldn't find my 'rollers'; Why'd I put up with that you ask? You know, he's got to get it this time...
"the line between hard & stupidity is a narrow one"

[Sleepy Doc]

It ain't being able to handle the blood and guts that makes a good medic, young grasshopper..

I dare say it isn't even the amount of medical knowledge (or lack therof..) that one has, for I'm sure that many here can back me up on this. I've met some guys who are trauma surgeons and are the biggest wankers.. (although being smart helps a lot.. )

No, my friend, I submit that there are three main qualities that all great medical practitioners share, whether they are MDs, PAs, Medics, what have you... And I think my fellow medics will agree.

1st-Empathy. You gotta have a good bedside manner. No book can teach you this. This you have to observe for yourself and figure out who is good and who is bad. You will know them when you see them. I'm not saying you have to kiss the patients ass, but don't treat them like a piece of shit either. Act like you are working on one of your grandparents... and do this at all times to every patient, whether you want to or not.

2nd- Passion for the work. This, by and large, is a thankless profession. People don't really give a shit until they need you.. and even then sometimes they treat you like an asshole. You have to want to do this shit. To be honest, I don't know why any one really wants to in the first place. As PantherSix said, you carry more shit and work longer hours. You have to put up with assholes whining about having a thorn in their paw, or some such shit. You have to deal with some nasty funk. You constantly have to be learning the latest and newest things. If you don't live, eat, and breathe medicine you may want to start looking elsewhere.

3rd- Be cool under pressure. You have to be the Rock of fucking Gibraltar when the shit hits the fan. The stuff you see on TV with people screaming and yelling?.. That shit only works on TV. You have to learn how to prioritize and treat things in a calm organized fashion, even when others are yelling and loosing their shit. See what you have and work the problem. I always tell the new paramedic trainees that a patient in cardiac arrest is very stable; i.e.-they aren't going to get any worse. A lot of experienced people think that they have to scream and carry on to get things done, or don't realize that they are doing it. Ask everyone you know who works in an ER or in EMS which they would prefer to have with them. I guarantee to a man they would rather have someone who is calm and collected running the show.

If you have the first two, you can learn the third. Don't worry if you can't do it so well now. The Regiment will teach you because you will have to be able to function under the crappiest of conditions. It's like drinking from a fire-hose, but you won't come away thirsty. Even if for some reason you don't make it in the Regiment, your time there will be an invaluable lesson.

Focus on maxing PT right now and you should do just fine. Again, like PantherSix said if you leave the Regiment after a few years as a medic, you will be a rock-star no matter where you go.

Good luck.

[cback0220]

Just to add... SOCM is hard. Alot of good Rangers pass through there on their way to the 82nd, good luck!

[cback0220]

Just to add... SOCM is hard. Alot of good Rangers pass through there on their way to the 82nd, good luck!

How many 68W's did you say passed SOCM in your class?

Not very many, 2 or 3 out of 10 or 11 that originally started.

[68W Andrew]

I will see you at AIT. I start on 20090427, but i start BAT on 20090817 a few days earlier than you.

- Andy