fortsmithman
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To all Alberta members which is better to do EMR and EMT courses at Portage College, AHASTI, or Canadian College Of EMS.
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Which is the better school.
- Thread starter fortsmithman
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I've heard not-so-nice things about CCEMS before. However, none of these people were close friends (mostly casuals at our station and the like), so they didn't go into detail and I'm not gonna go and say outright that it's a bad school or anything based on a couple of folks saying it sucks, but I think the rumours are worth noting. The one school with really atrocious reputation is not on your list, so I think you'll be ok at any one of your potential choices.
That said, I'm at AHASTI. Did my EMR and wrapping up EMT there. Can't beat the 99.5% ACP EMT pass rate for the last 2 years or so. I definitely feel prepared for work and ACP.
Why are you interested in those 3 specifically? What about SAIT, NAIT, PMA?
That said, I'm at AHASTI. Did my EMR and wrapping up EMT there. Can't beat the 99.5% ACP EMT pass rate for the last 2 years or so. I definitely feel prepared for work and ACP.
Why are you interested in those 3 specifically? What about SAIT, NAIT, PMA?
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fortsmithman
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I've made my choice for EMT school it will be Portage College. I came to this decision after looking at the Cdn Medical Association site. Portage was the only one of the three that is accredited by CMA. CCEMS failed their phase 1. AHASTI was only registered with CMA. Portage is listed as accredited. EMR training will be inhouse. My service as a member who is authorized by NAIT to instruct the EMR course. After I complete the course I'll have my certificate from NAIT.
Just an FYI, AHASTI is up for CMA accreditation in April, since they wanna start an EMT-P program sometime soon. That said, another school is accredited, but has a really bad rep, so I wouldn't put too much stock in all this CMA stuff. A coworker went there and said he was taught to do 1:10,000 IV epi push for cardiac - not even in our scope! Yet the school is CMA-accredited. A good chunk of accreditation issues is completely unrelated to the quality of education. Outside of personal preferences such as cost of attendance and schedules, I would focus on things such as the reputation of the school's graduates in the field and their success on the ACP.
That said, I've never heard anything bad about Portage, and I understand that they have a very work-friendly schedule, which is a bonus. One of my coworkers is intending on taking his EMT there this summer, you guys might end up in the same class!
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fortsmithman
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I hope AHASTI does get accredited. Too bad the Paramedics Association Of Canada isn't involved in accreditation. It would be better that way as it would be Paramedics accrediting the programs.
No school is perfect, but some are certainly better than others. I think you have a sound choice in Portage. I know a number of grads of Portage EMT and paramedic programs and I haven't heard anything negative about them.
As Jochi said, CMA accreditation is not everything; the only thing CMA accreditation allows for is your training to be recognized in other provinces, but that is not even a guaranteed thing... There are inter-provincial horror stories to say the least. Much better to go by the ACP pass rate as ACP is the ultimate hurdle you have to jump through to be able to practice in AB.
Thats sounds like a good thing that AHASTI is looking at doing a medic program; we need more good quality medic schools!
As Jochi said, CMA accreditation is not everything; the only thing CMA accreditation allows for is your training to be recognized in other provinces, but that is not even a guaranteed thing... There are inter-provincial horror stories to say the least. Much better to go by the ACP pass rate as ACP is the ultimate hurdle you have to jump through to be able to practice in AB.
Thats sounds like a good thing that AHASTI is looking at doing a medic program; we need more good quality medic schools!