9 Month Medic Program

[Jayy]

Is 9 weeks a common length for a medic program? The academy I'm at now for EMT is offering the course beginning in October, and am considering going right into it.

The academy itself is legit and has a great reputation, I'm just wondering how accelerated the course will be. Aren't medic programs usually 18-24 months?

 

[OnceAnEMT]

I personally have never heard of a 9 month one. My only thought is that its an advertising scheme to say they are a "short" program. That's probably the length of their academic portion when totaled up, then you have to throw in the clinical hours.

Remember to make sure it is accredited.

 

[DesertMedic66]

9 week or 9 month? (Your post says two different things).

Our full time medic program is 10 months and part time program is 12 months. Those are very common paramedic program lengths in SoCal at least. We do have some programs that are 14, 16, 18 months long.

 

[Jayy]

I personally have never heard of a 9 month one. My only thought is that its an advertising scheme to say they are a "short" program. That's probably the length of their academic portion when totaled up, then you have to throw in the clinical hours.

Remember to make sure it is accredited.

Correct, I believe it does NOT include clinical/field hours. That would be in addition to. I'm pretty sure it is accredited as well.

9 week or 9 month? (Your post says two different things).

Our full time medic program is 10 months and part time program is 12 months. Those are very common paramedic program lengths in SoCal at least. We do have some programs that are 14, 16, 18 months long.

My apologies, I meant 9 months. Thanks for the info.

 

[Angel]

depending on how they break it up, i know of one school that has ~5 months of classroom time, either 2 or 3 days a week. then clinicals then internship...the part that sucks is, once youre assigned your clinical site, you are pretty much on your own. by the time internships roll around they already have a new batch of students (and $$) to keep them occupied.

the students who went to the "shorter" programs had to (and some still are) wait over a 1.5 year to be placed with a preceptor. so be careful, obviously skills and knowledge degrade putting you at a horrible disadvantage.

9 weeks for a medic program is just absurd, i dont see how anyone could get a quality education like that.

 

[Carlos Danger]

Is 9 MONTHS a common length for a medic program?

Yes

Aren't medic programs usually 18-24 months?

No

 

[Chimpie]

Aren't medic programs usually 18-24 months?

If a medic program is 24 months long, it's usually part of an AS degree.

 

[Jayy]

depending on how they break it up, i know of one school that has ~5 months of classroom time, either 2 or 3 days a week. then clinicals then internship...the part that sucks is, once youre assigned your clinical site, you are pretty much on your own. by the time internships roll around they already have a new batch of students (and $$) to keep them occupied.

the students who went to the "shorter" programs had to (and some still are) wait over a 1.5 year to be placed with a preceptor. so be careful, obviously skills and knowledge degrade putting you at a horrible disadvantage.

9 weeks for a medic program is just absurd, i dont see how anyone could get a quality education like that.

Sorry, still green in this business. What do you mean exactly by waiting to be placed with a preceptor? My plan is to attend this program, and then find some part-time private work to gain experience while working on my AS in Fire Science, before attending a Fire Academy and trying to get hired on with a department.

 

[DesertMedic66]

Correct, I believe it does NOT include clinical/field hours. That would be in addition to. I'm pretty sure it is accredited as well.



My apologies, I meant 9 months. Thanks for the info.

Let me clarify the post on times. For the programs I listed the time frames are from they first day of class to the graduation date. So it includes everything.

Be careful when selecting a program. There are a lot of programs where you have to wait many months and even over a year after you finish the classroom stuff until the time you are placed in your internship.

 

[Jayy]

Let me clarify the post on times. For the programs I listed the time frames are from they first day of class to the graduation date. So it includes everything.

Be careful when selecting a program. There are a lot of programs where you have to wait many months and even over a year after you finish the classroom stuff until the time you are placed in your internship.

Ok thank you for the clarification. The academy is owned/operated by the city Fire Rescue, so I'm pretty sure as far as ride-time's go, it's well organized.

 

[Angel]

Ok thank you for the clarification. The academy is owned/operated by the city Fire Rescue, so I'm pretty sure as far as ride-time's go, it's well organized.

again, not necessarily. one of the fire depts where i went to school opened up a medic program and their students have not and can not do their internships with that fire department because they are already contracted with other schools. they put through 2 classes a year and none of those students have had internships yet. a couple just keep going to clinicals even though they are done to keep up on skills.
it might not ever apply to you, but internships in this state are really hard to come by.

the loophole around this is, per title 22, you [should] be placed in an internship 3 months after your program has ended, but your program hasnt ended until you finish your internship (pass or fail) so you wont get a course completion and they can still keep you on the hook for as long as needed. (if that makes sense)

 

[Jayy]

again, not necessarily. one of the fire depts where i went to school opened up a medic program and their students have not and can not do their internships with that fire department because they are already contracted with other schools. they put through 2 classes a year and none of those students have had internships yet. a couple just keep going to clinicals even though they are done to keep up on skills.
it might not ever apply to you, but internships in this state are really hard to come by.

the loophole around this is, per title 22, you [should] be placed in an internship 3 months after your program has ended, but your program hasnt ended until you finish your internship (pass or fail) so you wont get a course completion and they can still keep you on the hook for as long as needed. (if that makes sense)

Makes total sense thank you!