"I get more homework done [at the ambulance garage] than in my room," he says.

Many volunteers say their experiences as third riders are nothing like the popularized "ER" and "Rescue 911" images of the emergency medical profession. Long hours are often spent transporting patients from one hospital to another or waiting in the ambulance garage.

"It's not really what I expected," Lukasewycz says. "I thought there'd be a lot more trauma."

Other students agree that their real-life experiences are less dramatic than the TV shows.

"I've been working for the past two summers at home in the biggest trauma center in the state, so I guess I was kind of spoiled," says Alden J. "Chip" MacDonald '00.

Despite the time commitment, most of the third riders express satisfaction with the program.

"It was kind of shocking at first," says Kristen E. Radcliff '00. "We picked up this mental patient and I got in the front of the ambulance. Then I thought, if I want to do medicine I'd better get in the back. [The program] not only showed me what helping people really means, but I also found that that's what I want to do."

Cambridge Perspectives

Tripp says Harvard students tend to possess little perspective on the Cambridge community outside the Square, and his experiences working at Pro have shown him a side of Cambridge that most students never see.

"I think that a lot of people at Harvard go through their four years thinking that Cambridge doesn't go beyond the Square," he says. "They look at things with a sort of tunnel vision. I've been thankful enough to have a job that exposes me to all sides of Cambridge."

Tripp says riding on ambulances exposes students who might be interested in medicine to the realities of the profession in a way that Harvard classes never could.

"It's kind of hard to come back from a night-shift dealing with people that can't even pay the rent and feel bad for the people that are upset about a late problem set," he says. "Just because you get an A in orgo [organic chemistry] doesn't mean you're going to be a good doctor. I think that's why the third rider program is so good."

Tripp, who worked as a volunteer EMT at home in Maryland before working in Boston, stresses the differences between professional and volunteer organizations.

"The volunteer service I worked for in Maryland catered to bankers or lawyers who wanted to dress up and play military," he says.

Tripp plans to continue working at Pro after graduation, but says he'll probably go to medical school sooner or later.