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Book Review: My Ambulance Education by Joseph Clark

As a college student Joe Clark worked on the ambulance in New York City on nights and weekends to pay for his college and graduate school education. [amazon-product text=”My Ambulance Education” type=”text”]1554074479[/amazon-product]  is Joe’s stories of patient encounters, relationships, and events on the streets that shaped him as a person and guided his career choice to become a medical researcher of the causes and treatments for stroke.

About the Book

As an EMT in New York City Joe saw it all. He organized the book into thematic  chapters around themes like drugs, drunks, suicide, birth, and death. Each chapter is a combination of his parallel worlds – patient calls and college studies. The book is a chronology of his time on the ambulance and Joe shares his thought process of first striving to become a paramedic, then becoming a pre-med student, and then deciding to become a medical researcher. He writes:

“I realized a successful physician could treat only one patient at a time … I wanted to do more. I wanted to help people, but a lot of people.”

This realization led Joe to pursue a career in neurology and become a leading researcher in the causes and treatments of stroke. Listen to Joe talk more about the book and his research as a guest on the Medical Author Chat podcast.

The writing in [amazon-product text=”My Ambulance Education” type=”text”]1554074479[/amazon-product]  is excellent. The details are vivid and as a reader I could feel his stress and increasing burnout. By writing My Ambulance Education Joe brings the challenges and rewards to a lot of people. EMS professionals toil in relative anonymity. Joe brings the world of EMS to a general audience that is captivating and respectful.

Still Involved with EMS

Joe’s research keeps him connected with EMS professionals and educators. Joe was a panel member for the EMSEduCast Journal Club, has been a guest on the EMS Garage Podcast, and is presenting the EMS Boot Camp session: A Google Search is Not Research. Premium attendees of this EMS Boot Camp session will receive a signed copy of My Ambulance Education direct from Joe.  Visit JosephFClark.com (bio, blog, and more).

[amazon-product]1554074479[/amazon-product]

By Greg Friese

Greg Friese, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, is an author, educator, paramedic, and marathon runner.

Greg was the co-host of the award winning EMSEduCast podcast, the only podcast by and for EMS educators. Greg has written for EMS1.com, JEMS.com, Wilderness Medical Associates, JEMS Magazine, EMSWorld.com and EMS World Magazine, and the NAEMSE Educator Newsletter.