What makes combat medics stand out?

Competence and confidence

I think attitude comes into play, somewhere.

EFMB. Expert Field Medical Badge

A good medic is worth theirweight in gold. Stays sharp,always check on the troops, ask questions, be an integral part of theteam!

Lifesavers! And for sure 18D also.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUIteLeJ7HE

"Know your stuff", our feild MEDICS had our respect.

This first part applies to any MOS, but I'll detail it as 68W:
Never stop learning; approach every day of the MOS-T course as if anything below 100% is failing.
And then understand that MOS and MOS-T schools for the most part just give you the tools to learn your job on the job.
Learn from your other medics, and the BN surgeon/PA.
Learn from everyone around you during TMC or hospital rotations.
Learn every day.

Also, most days as a line medic, you will not be carrying the whole aid bag; but you should carry the simple "return to duty (RTD)" items like motrin, tylenol, aspirin, antacids, antihistamines, bacitracin, an assortment of small bandages and trauma shears in a small pack or camelbak. Just for problems that don't require sick call or elevated care. You win, your troops win, and the line at sick call wins.
Be the best medic at sick call, TMC, hospital, and just everyday walking around your company.

Something I wrote awhile back;

ANGEL IN A STEEL POT

Corpsman Up comes the call
Or Medic is another’s cry
Either call has the same result
A Warrior is about to die

You could see him crawling through the bush
Under the enemy’s fire
To reach and help a wounded man
To aid was his desire

You open your eyes and see him
Checking you over with care
You’ve never been happier to see someone
As he administers to you there

A field dressing, a quick compress
A shot of Morphine for pain
Then a call from another wounded man
And he moves off once again

Most called him Doc or Bones
Some didn’t even know his name
He was just one of the squad
He wasn’t there for fame

He was there to do a job
To help out if he could
When the call came to him for help
You always knew he would

He wasn’t there to fight the war
Just to help those who fell
He had his own worries and fears
But on those, he could not dwell

He had to keep his head clear
For if there came the need
He had to be ready to move ahead
And he had to move with speed

He carried all which he could find
Supplies at times were thin
He scrounged and sometimes even stole
What was needed to help his men

Any soldier or Marine knows
As they put their lives in harm’s way
Medics are the unsung heroes in war
Regardless of what they say

Though they could never save them all
The Medics and Corpsmen saved a lot
They put their lives on the line everyday
To me each ones an Angel ,, in a steel pot

Stan H
7/11/2001

How do you want to stand out, as a soldier, as a medic? The Army has a bad pattern of hiring you for a job and once you are in long enough, being good at it is not so important. EFMB is a perfect example. The medical on the EFMB almost anyone that has done basic training can learn to pass yet we use it as a marker of a good medical soldier. People will brag up on how good our medics are and while the training is great, the opportunity to practice at a high level is generally not there for enlisted. You want great medical skills, go find a civilian ambulance company to work for or a busy volunteer fire department. The ambulance company must have the 911 contract for the county you are in and hopefully, it has both urban and rural environments. I started as a 91B medic and did not make it past major because being a good critical care and ER RN was more important than being an office dweller. Now that I am retired from the Army I can run circles around most of my civilian peers.

SPC Gooldrup,
HEART. To be a standout combat medic, you need to have all the Army Values BUT you also need to have heart. Your soldiers, and as a combat medic, you have to look at them as your soldiers, they need to know there is NOTHING that will stop you from being there for them when everything goes sideways, and the World will go sideways if you are in the combat arms long enough.
You are wise to ask the question but be careful what you ask for because you will get it.