Medical Technician Question

[Neil12345]

Hello,
I am currently taking a college course in Ontario to become a civilian paramedic. Upon completion of the course and successfully passing the provincial exam to certify me as a primary care paramedic, I was considering joining the forces as a medic for a few years to gain experience as I am only 18 at the moment. My instructor has told me that CF recruits visit annually and accept any graduates interested in becoming medical technicians. On the bottom of Medical Technician training outlines it states; "On completion of this stage of training, Medical Technicians receive the professional credential of Primary Care Paramedic Level I." If i am already certified as a primary care paramedic, do I still need to complete the entire training process? It seems kind of a waste to spend all this money to certify myself as a paramedic, just to join the forces to re-certify myself. Anyways, if anybody knows how this process works I'd appreciate it, thanks.

 

[aesop081]

and accept any graduates interested in becoming medical technicians.

Lets be clear here. We do not accept "any gradute" just because they have some education and are interested. We accept the number of peope we need out of those who meet ALL of our selection criteria.

 

[brihard]

Hello,
I am currently taking a college course in Ontario to become a civilian paramedic. Upon completion of the course and successfully passing the provincial exam to certify me as a primary care paramedic, I was considering joining the forces as a medic for a few years to gain experience as I am only 18 at the moment. My instructor has told me that CF recruits visit annually and accept any graduates interested in becoming medical technicians. On the bottom of Medical Technician training outlines it states; "On completion of this stage of training, Medical Technicians receive the professional credential of Primary Care Paramedic Level I." If i am already certified as a primary care paramedic, do I still need to complete the entire training process? It seems kind of a waste to spend all this money to certify myself as a paramedic, just to join the forces to re-certify myself. Anyways, if anybody knows how this process works I'd appreciate it, thanks.

I would imagine that by now the process of equivalency between Ontario PCP curriculum and that of B.C. (where, to the best of my knowledge, C.F. paramedics are trained and are provincially certified) has been pretty much figured out. I expect that in fairly short order one of our currently serving medics will be able to fill you in.

 

[Neil12345]

Sorry about that, all I meant was that recruits come by the school every year looking for applicants, and my instructor who is in the Forces, told me that with the education they were likely to accept you. I was just going by what he told me so my apologies. Anyways, if you do gain acceptance into the forces as a primary care paramedic, do you still need to complete the entire training process?

 

[PMedMoe]

Sorry about that, all I meant was that recruits come by the school every year looking for applicants, and my instructor who is in the Forces, told me that with the education they were likely to accept you. I was just going by what he told me so my apologies. Anyways, if you do gain acceptance into the forces as a primary care paramedic, do you still need to complete the entire training process?

IMHO, it would depend on whether you had the training deemed acceptable by the CF.  If all the other Med Techs are doing PCP in BC, you may still require that course.  Check about a PLAR.

 

[mariomike]

Hello,
Upon completion of the course and successfully passing the provincial exam to certify me as a primary care paramedic, I was considering joining the forces as a medic for a few years to gain experience as I am only 18 at the moment.

I joined Toronto EMS when I was 18.

 

[medic_man17]

As far as paramedicine is concerned, so long as the program completed has a Canadian Medical Association (CMA) accreditation, it will be the equivalent as that offered at JIBC and Ahuntsic college where the forces currently trains it's medical technicians.  The CMA currently is the governing body which certifies any institution's program to attempt to make certain that training received will be universal regardless of where it is received.  Essentially, this will ensure that a person trained anywhere in Canada will receive a minimum standard in training, and that this training falls in line with the National Occupational Competency Profile for the level of Primary Care Paramedic.  That being said, I believe you will still have to complete a PLAR to ensure that this is acceptable to the CF standards for a Medical Technician but assuming that it is a CMA accredited program (which most are nowadays anyways), I don't believe that this should pose any problem. 

 

[mariomike]

The CMA currently is the governing body which certifies any institution's program to attempt to make certain that training received will be universal regardless of where it is received. 

Paramedicine is provincially regulated. Requirements and issue of a licence to practice are set by the provincial regulators. This has been discussed in other threads.
If you are a qualified paramedic in another Province or Territory of Canada, there are steps that must be taken before you can be employed as a paramedic in Ontario.

"While most Canadians can now benefit from full labour mobility, there are a small number of professions for which additional requirements are needed when moving to another province and/or territory. These exceptions have been established as necessary to meet a legitimate objective, such as the protection of public health or safety.":
http://news.gc.ca/web/article-eng.do?nid=511429

 

[medic_man17]

Paramedicine is provincially regulated. Requirements and issue of a licence to practice are set by the provincial regulators.

This is true.  I fully agree with the fact that he practice of paramedicine is provincially regulated, but what I was referring to was the instruction of paramedicine in an educational institution.  In order for an institution to offer a program to instruct up and coming paramedics, it must have CMA accreditation.  This is what ensures that a paramedic student receiving the training from a college in one province will achieve a minimum standard of training and be equivalent at a base level to any other institution in Canada.  This minimum must be met, however so long as this minimum amount is training is met, the institution may choose to offer supplementary training which may benefit the individual WRT the provincial standards.  Standards which I know from first hand experience (having received my training in Saskatchewan, maintained a license in Saskatchewan, and moved to Manitoba and re-licensed myself) can differ quite significantly from province to province, despite it being the same qualification level. 
    As well back part of the OP questions.  If I'm not mistaken, as long as the PLAR deems that your PCP training is adequate, you will not be required to do that portion.  But you will be required to perform all the other training required to be a medical technician in the CF including BMQ/SQ, and all the other portions of a QL3 medical technician course.

 

[Neil12345]

Thanks for the post medic_man17, I appreciate it.