Basejumper.com - archive

sorry, that was meant to just say doctor!

I'm curious to see how many people have medical training, and to what extent.

Doctors:
As a side note, and possibly another thread altogether: Do your colleagues or patients know of your BASE jumping? Would you consider it a possible liability if you got sued ie- chances of a lawyer pulling it up as reckless activity and therefore indicative of the type of doctor you might be?
- Thoughts on the counter argument that your patients could be more comfortable trusting themselves to your hands given that you're willing to put your own life in your own hands?

Hey Hey,

I am a paramedic and will be going to med school in the next few years (Either MD or PA, unsure at the moment.) In the ER I work, pretty much all of my co-workers know that I BASE, as well as the docs. At first I kept it pretty quiet but realized it’s not a big deal. Just don’t share where your objects are.

Co-workers and patients pretty much just think you are a nut until you explain it fully, that is what actually goes into making a BASE jump. Then they understand how technical it is and are quite fascinated. WS BASE amazes people.

As a doctor, it is extremely unlikely that personal recreational activities have any bearing in court if you are being sued for malpractice. You won’t get disability insurance though if you make it known. This is straight from two ER MDs a few minutes ago.

I can not see any patient being MORE or LESS comfortable with their treatment because you take part in a high risk activity. However as a doc, you really don’t have time to chit chat about your personal life with your patients. If you do, you more than likely are familiar with that patient and know it wouldn’t be an issue. For example the suicidal patient in bed 4, I’m not gonna share with him that I like to jump off buildings. You learn to read people and know who would and would not appreciate it.

I’ve said this before in past posts but it can never be said enough. I suggest everyone in BASE at the least take an EMT-B or First Responder course. Bleeding control, shock management, splinting and many other basic skills are extremely important and easy to learn.

And remember everyone, “At a cardiac arrest (BASE injury situation), the first procedure is to check your own pulse. Rules of the House of God in, “The House of God”

L8er
Coco

Those results are quite positive,
80% have at least some training,
that is very cool!

I just finished the halfway point in medical school, so I chose doctor, you know, rounding up to the nearest whole. As far as I know you wont get denied a medical license for a misdemeanor, but im not sure how a NPS type arrest would look on your record. As for getting messed up jumping while being a doc, I know theres someone who will read this thread who could comment on that.....V

On the other question, I think that some aspects of base jumping can make you a great doc, especially a surgeon. Im not reckless throwing myself off a cliff (sounds like a bad idea) im very meticulous, know what could go wrong, the outs, and the consequences. When I am cutting someone open while still alive (also sounds like a bad idea) I am equally meticulous, planned, know the traps and the outs.

From what I have researched, it only becomes a problem when a felony is the charge. For FFs and Paramedics, having a felony means you are not permitted to push (give) drugs/meds across the board. Hence you more than likely will loose your job or would not get the job. Might be different in other states though and/or dependant upon the type of felony.

As a doctor, I’m not sure. I will find out though. May not prevent you from going to med school but will definitely make it harder to get in. Depending on the felony, while practicing, I can imagine the ability to write orders for narcotics would be hindered. If that is true, I cannot see a doctor being able to work. Whether it’s Emergency, Cardiology, Ortho or other… they all write orders for narcotics. And pain is not the only reason we give narcotics. Chemical restraints for one.

Plain and simple don’t get a felony. But looking at my BASE history, the only felony I can see getting, is being caught with my lock pick kit. Other than that it’s all misdemeanors.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I believe an NPS charge at Yosemite is not a felony, just comes with some hefty penalties.

Charley, have you read the House of God? Being a med student, if you haven’t, you really should. F***ing GOMERS!

It’s pretty hard not to become cynical in this biz...

Coco

How about getting caught in NY? They were trying to put something through to make bandit BASE a felony? How'd that one turn out?

Thanks all for your input, keep it coming.
dmcoco & hjumper, thanks for the extra details, glad to know I'm not the only one interested in med school who has also has an affinity for freefall...

I'm an ED doc.
Better doctor than base jumper though as my ankle fracture and neck injury attests...
Just started back to work. All my co-workers have been incredibly supportive though several think I'm insane.
Most of my patients are so pre-occupied with their own problems (which is to be expected) none seem even to notice or care about my broken leg, much less my hobbies.
Avoid felonies - you still can get licensed but you'll regret the major pain in the ass theses will be for your entire career. Avoid anything that makes you sound sketchy - resisting arrest, lock picks, evading arrest, breaking and entering, etc. trespassing on a bridge or aerial delivery into a national park ( yosemite, misdemeanor) are more likely to be viewed with amusement than anything, but try to avoid a pattern of such behavior (ie try not to get arrested more than a couple of times).
Do get good disability insurance. Don't lie to get it, or its worthless - you can get group policies with your employer or speciality society that won't ask about hobbies.

2nd year in med school here, although i'm on the long track with a few years of research still to come. I initially made a big secret out of BASE, but after a while I realized I couldn't hide it and no one cared anyway. i work hard to keep out of trouble with the law, though, as that'll hurt on the way to residency.

I figure by the time I reach a point where anyone would care that I'm BASE jumping, I'll have moved on to some more socially acceptable way of risking my life, like flying a beech bonanza or drinking heavily.

Respiratory Therapist & Paramedic working Rotor & Fixed Wing transports.

hmm lots more medical students than i expected. surprising? i keep to legal stuff because i don't want to worry having to answer questions when i apply for residencies, etc... don't want to have to check that box on the form, "have you ever been arrested blah blah blah."

plus i am dragging out my prior career and they keep tabs on that kind of stuff. i dont keep BASE a secret, but i try to be discreet about it.

not sure if i'll go into clinical medicine or research, but i've worked as an ER tech and have always tried to maintain a good repertoire of first aid skills. its hard to use on yourself tho

Just goes to show that base jumpers are more intelligent than many other sports on average. I try to avoid the higher bust objects as much as possible, but some of them are just so fun to jump. Step I is on april 10th, so I havent gotten a ton of jumps lately. I am heading to the bridge the day after boards go get myself back in the game. Id be more discreet about my jumping, but the second floor of my school has a perfect packing area! No one seems to care, so long as I stay away from the helipad.

Now if only that could stop me from doing stupid things....

Good luck on step I

A friend of mine and myself are just getting into base jumping. he is in med school and i am a paramedic. I have found that there is a lot of intelligent people in this sport. not what most people think of when they hear base jumper... but im contributing the kind of people we have in the sport to the price. we all know it takes a lot of cash to get to this point. more cash then what a looser has.
stay safe and dont get caught i know i dont want a felony on my record!

I like that you're discouraged from being near the helipad. Its like they're worried you might jump off between landings or something...

this is amazing. I don't know anybody else that wants to be a surgeon like I do, and I'm pretty much the only one that is willing to try to skydiving and base jumping in the future. Why is it that doctors or people in the medical field are so willing to try these things?

Skydiving, base jumping, and being a surgeon will be very very very difficult. In my experience, a lot of surgeons dont have a lot of activities they are passionate outside of surgery (until they are later in their careers). Its kind of a life you have to accept. My boards are thurs, so im going to get off basejumper and go study.

Just say NO to surgery!!!! Seriously it actually would be cool to be a surgeon in many ways, but the average work week for a general surgeon (after residency, ie out in practice for the rest of your life) is 50+ hrs per week, plus being on call (ie no drinking and no jumping) 2-3 nights per week, all for not too much pay.

Stick with something like ED, radiology, anesthesia or maybe derm. then you can keep jumping...

Okay. now I am waiting for all the surgeon base jumpers to respond...

Anyone???

Anyone???

......

well I'm not a drinker and I'm going into surgery (heart surgeon) out of real interest in the job, not money or easy of life. An yes, surgeons do work insane hours but that doesn't mean they never have time for themselves. I personally know of an orthopedic surgeon that lives in a mansion but takes at least a 1 month vacation every year. Anything is possible and I just want to live life to it's fullest.

Talk to me after your third year of med school, and see how surgery is looking. I know plenty of every type of dr who can take a ton of time off and lives in a mansion. Its called private practice, and you get that around 40 or 50, depending how early you started. You cant make a lot of money, but you will sacrifice your youth and some of your life. Im more in the camp of doing the things that I can only do when im young while im still young. You want to take up base jumping and skydiving when youre 50 and have the time? More power to you, but its not going to be quite the same as when you were young and carefree. Im glad you have true passion for cadiology, but thats got to be the number one passion in your life, bar none, possibly even your significant other and or family, to make it really work. ... plus dont you know that cardio is dead? Cath labs are the wave of the future, go into IR if you really want to deal with hearts. I know this ER doc who gets a lot of time off, unfortunately he spends it busting his dumb ass while base jumping... but thats a whole nother story.

Cardiac will never die as long as there is coarctation of artery, tetralogy of the fallot, transposition of the great arteries, and not to mention transplants. That is why peds heart surgery interests me the most. Yes it is my number one passion. Yes I know that I chose one of the most intense fields in terms of schooling and hours. If you can jump during med school, then so can anyone else. I don't plan on doing any base jumps during college anyway, that's reserved for surfing and some skydiving haha (will be living by the beach for the 4 years). I live once, so this is my last chance to do what I love. And don't worry, I do plan to work my butt off to get to where I want to be, but I'm going to make sure I enjoy the journey while I get there. call me a masochist if you wish.

btw, are you happy with your decision to go to med school?

I'll second that.
Cardiac Surgeons 'here' ( as in UK/Europe) are struggling like they never have before.
CABG numbers dropping like flies....thanks to multi vessel procedures with coated stents.
Percutaneous/minimally invasive implantable valve technology moving on very rapidly ( we routinely implant PV's into kids in Cath Labs now)
PFO's , ASD's and PDA's all closed routinely in Cath Labs.
etc etc ( and theres alot more)
I work in the business but am not a medic......but If I was advising anyone interested in getting into this side of Cardiology it certainly wouldnt be as a Surgeon.
( they queue up and compete against each other like never before for available work)

Cath Lab Cardiology ( inparticularly Electrophysiology) is the future...
(And thanks to your wonderful FDA laws we are about 3 years ahead of you in terms of practice and technology ;) )

Dont worry, we'll catch up, but in true american style nothing will change until everything goes to complete shit, which isnt that far away. As for medicine, I love it, couldnt see myself doing anything else.

heh
almost every surgeon i've ever shadowed was either totally neurotic, or straight up told me, "this field sucks, go into something else."

then again if you love it, it's not work. i like the ER but i'm also a big fan of stable circadian rhythms. Kusgra.. what's your take on it?


i'm pretty laid back. gimme a lifestyle specialty. unfortunately i'm also a slacker so i dont know if i can get into one of those fields haha

ok some dude up front is talking about rhodpsin and phosphodiesterase and some calcium whatever exchanger. later,
colm

Where are you at in your education right now. If you are serious about medicine, feel free to pm me with questions. I got into a good med school doing things that were enjoyable and looked kick ass on an application as well. Ill warn you there are a lot of pretenders, so just stay focused if its what you really want to do. You really need to love it, cause its a long road. I went to a big school for undergrad, and the first day of freshman bio, the prof asked for a show of hands of who wanted to be a dr. Id guess 600 hands went up in the 800 person class. Maybe 20 of them are in med school now. Get some experience shadowing docs, see what its really like, and if you could do it for your whole life.

I am so going to make Cheri read this thread.

I'm starting to think I really am insane in the membrane. Or "neurotic" as the other dude said. Anyways, I'll be starting at a top fifty university in the fall and yes I'm serious about medicine. I'll pm now actually.

Haha, Tom ill be out at the bridge next weekend, id love to meet up and discuss some stuff with Cheri if she has time.

ED has its pluses and minuses. The night shifts are definitively minuses, though it occurs to me if you did straight nights, and jumped at night on your 'days' off...

Anyway PM me if you want to chat about med school, residency, etc.

Just say NO to surgery. Oh, wait I already said that...

Seeya

V

I'll be here. Hell, I can't leave--I'm on call 24/7/365 (366 this year) unless I beg for coverage. So much for PM&R being a lifestyle specialty .

I've got plenty of time to talk, though. See you next weekend!

I'll second that!

I joined the Army for the medical training

I'm an EMT-B and a Combat Medic.

Wow! I feel humble listing my medical training. Boy Scouts with all the merit badges, Mom & Grandmom nurses and my military first aid training (CPR, etc.). Definitely more than the average Joe... but not up to what I've seen here. Kudos to you guys and gals.

I gotta coment on the brains/intelligence part. Most BASE jumpers I've met are very intelligent people. More so than skydivers as a whole. Though not quite up to the medical expertise of most posters here, the average BASE jumper is probably more heads up in an emergency than the average Joe Citizen. It doesn't mean he/she doesn't need the training.

Just my .02 cents.

well i am guilty of a little bit of hyperbole, but not much!

I could probably be accused of some neuroticism myself. i just wanted to say that this thread rocks. Kusgra i will PM ya... just swamped at the moment. thanks for the offer.

Colm

Wow, I'm pretty impressed with the number of med students/doctors on here. I actually thought there would be more who were surgeons, as I figured the anal-retentive detail oriented packing of a base rig would benefit from surgery experience.

So are there any surgeons on here? Or are all of them on call...

Surgery's actually one of my interests - preferably orthopedics, maybe trauma. I'd probably fall into the neurotic category as well, as I'm a little on the OCD side. I figure that's something that might be a plus in BASE.

Then again, I have to take my MCAT & do apps this spring, so I've got plenty of time to figure it out before residencies.

Med school sucks a fat one. Be sure you know what kind of shit fest you are getting into. PM if you want my take on it all.

That said, if you must go, give EM a nice long look. It kicks ass.

Cheers,
e-
Soon to be EM PGY-1

Primarily interested in neurosurgery here, not too much else really gets me going. The other possible career I've debated is being a stay-at-home dad, without the children or really the staying at home part.

Med school itself isn't that bad, on average I go to about 10 hours a class per week. It's all what you make it, though. The part that does suck is the debt- most anywhere you're looking $150K-200K+, which will kill you when you start at $45K/year as a resident and are struggling just to pay the interest.

MD/PhD is the money route for anyone thinking about medicine. Free ride + stipend. After Step1, I'm heading off to 4-5 years of low-stress research during the day and jumping at night.

Ah boards are over and on to third year and actually doing something semi useful. We'll see how much the jumping goes downhill. Good thing there are quite a few objects very close by. Honestly, 1 or 2 a month and id be perfectly happy.

haha yes- if you're not nearly 30 already! i would like to start a career sometime before i'm an old man.

And I wouldn't agree with the guy who said med school sucks... it totally depends on your school and your classmates. honestly i have rarely been this happy, and i'm surrounded by awesome people. i'm not goofing off as much as i used to, or jumping as much, but i have time to work my old job and make some $$, and life is pretty good.

but man, neurosurgery vs. stay at home dad? that's kind of opposite ends of the lifestyle spectrum there, isn't it? :)