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Paid Education: General Questions

Hi.

I recently discovered that CAF will pay for you schooling.

I want to go to British Columbia (10 months) to train as a Medical Laboratory Technologist. Does anyone have any information on this? Is it true you get paid a salary on top of your tuition? Also, how do you train to stay in shape? Is there some sort of military base there?

Thank you.
 
Hi.

I recently discovered that CAF will pay for you schooling.

I want to go to British Columbia (10 months) to train as a Medical Laboratory Technologist. Does anyone have any information on this? Is it true you get paid a salary on top of your tuition? Also, how do you train to stay in shape? Is there some sort of military base there?

Thank you.
You likely won’t get that paid for. CAF pays for university or college education under various entry plans. College level stuff is usually tied to a specific CAF occupation. Note that all of these mean actually joining the military for a certain length of service.

If you want to be a medical lab tech, CAF has a trade for that. Talk to your nearest recruiting centre, or look for a contact link on the recruiting website.

 
As noted in the link above, Med Lab Tech is eligible for NCM STEP (the subsidized entry plan for certain NCM occupations)

Non-Commissioned Member Subsidized Entry Training Plan (NCM-STEP)

Since this position requires specialty training, the Canadian Armed Forces will pay successful recruits to attend the diploma program at an approved Canadian college. NCM STEP students attend basic training and on-the-job training during the summer months. They receive a full-time salary including medical and dental care, as well as vacation time with full-pay in exchange for working with the Forces for a period of time. If you choose to apply to this program, you must apply both to the Forces and the appropriate college.

For further information, please contact a Canadian Forces Health Services Recruiter: HealthSvcsRecruiting-RecrutementSvcsdesante@forces.gc.ca

Learn more about our Paid Education programs here.

As you are already in the program, the specific path you would follow may be diffferent from the one described above. Contact the recruiter at the email address above and they will be able to give you better, more up to date information.

Good luck!
 
The recruiting page lists the occupational training as being a preceptorship at a Canadian Forces Base- that suggested to me that it’s done as on the job training. Could be that that page doesn’t fully reflect the training? Best bet would be to talk to the recruiters.
 
I think that the on the job training is after the College program has ended, at least from the video I watched on the recruiting page.
 
It says under the Canadian Armed Forces Paid Education plan that the school and program is covered.

Browse Directory - CAF-ACE (page 15)

https://forces.ca/assets/brochures/paid_education_programs.pdf (page 36)

Please explain why this wouldn't be paid for
In the website the directory says the BCIT program is Not Suitable under NCMSTEP which is the program where you enlist, do basic, and go to school. It is suitable if you've already done it on your own and want to join.

In the PDF it says it is.

Due to these discrepancies you should talk to a recruiter to find the truth.

Also decide if you want to be Met Tech, Lab Tech, or Fire Fighter. Do not base this decision on where you get to go for training, it is a very small part of the job. If you really want to ensure you are on a RCAF base become tech or a pilot.
 
1641433619892.pngAlso, you are right. I need to figure out what I want to do. I just see a Medical Laboratory Technician as being a really good option.

Sorry if I am missing something, what do you mean by it is not recognized or suitable? The BCIT is not the school I meant, I would like to go to the college of New Caledonia in Prince George. I should have a meeting tomorrow over the phone with recruitment. This would be my first option to do if I were able to attend school. I would like to do basic, go to school, do a year of the training, spend a few years serving, and then leave with a civillian equivalency of BioChemistry Technologist and Microbiology Technologist.


Thanks for your time.
 
The recruiting page lists the occupational training as being a preceptorship at a Canadian Forces Base- that suggested to me that it’s done as on the job training. Could be that that page doesn’t fully reflect the training? Best bet would be to talk to the recruiters.

MLAB Techs are required to be Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science (CSMLS) certified and have an unrestricted license or registration from a province to practice (civvy requirements). The educational requirements to be so qualified are through civilian schools. The preceptorship is to introduce Lab Techs to the military medical system. The CAF hasn't trained Lab and XRay Techs in-house for a long time. We used to run our own programs at NDMC.


A brief description from another thread
I will give it a stab as nobody else has. I am not a MLAB TECH but I have had a number work with/for me in the past.

1. You need to do the Basic Military Qualification and the Primary Leadership Qualification to be a substantive Master Corporal which is the working rank of MLAB TECH. There will be additional training in blood banking, parasitology and military lab topics. There is also exposure to field lab set ups and common field equipment. Both of these are part of a one year mentorship program you complete in your first year. You will have the opportunity to conduct maintenance of clinical skills in civilian hospitals for those skills you do not use regularly in your day-to-day practical (such as transfusion services and micro) . You will also occasionally (but infrequently) be able to deploy to the field with a field ambulance or the Field Hospital during larger exercises. In some units there will be a requirement for deployment readiness which means yearly shooting and solider skills training / verification.

2. Travel is not overly frequent. No more than anyone else.

3. When we have field hospital deployed we always have at least two lab techs deployed. Lab Techs generally work in a two person (Jr Lab Tech - MCpl / Sr. Lab Tech - Sgt) team. It is a small trade and the rotations to the deployed setting matches demand versus supply. Right now we do not have a field hospital deployed. There is little chance at deployments outside of this. There is also a Lab Tech assigned to the Disaster Assistance Response Team, which is a humanitarian standby capability on a shorter notice to move.

4. All most all MLAB TECH work in Canadian Forces Health Services Centres around Canada. Think of this like a walk-in clinic with between 1-5 primary health care teams. It is generally a blended civilian / military / contracted workforce. Work for a Jr. Lab Tech involves running labs ( mostly hematology, and chemistry - nothing sexy), calibrating machines, reporting results, drawing blood, dispatching labs and receiving results, keeping the lab clean and well functioning. Expect occasional secondary duties in most units.

Good luck and I hope you apply or at least visit a recruiting centre to check us out!

MC
 
Thanks for this,

I understand that "MLAB Techs are required to be Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science (CSMLS) certified and have an unrestricted license or registration from a province to practice (civvy requirements). The educational requirements to be so qualified are through civilian schools. The preceptorship is to introduce Lab Techs to the military medical system. The CAF hasn't trained Lab and XRay Techs in-house for a long time. We used to run our own programs at NDMC." is from the entry plans, under required education. However, if I look at the other tabs, there is one called 'Paid Education Options', this is the one I am referring to.

This thread is also very insightful, I am curious what the person means by being a Master Corporal, also the Disaster Assistance Response Team and little deployment is exactly what I am looking for.
 
A Master Corporal is an appointment. Corporal is (barring exceptional badness on your part) a guaranteed promotion after four years in the CAF (and can be accelerated to three years in certain circumstances). A Master Corporal is a Corporal given additional leadership responsibilities, normally after a formal course and several years as a corporal.
 
My apologies for injecting the junk info into the discussion. Blackadder, thanks for the correct steer.
 
A Master Corporal is an appointment. Corporal is (barring exceptional badness on your part) a guaranteed promotion after four years in the CAF (and can be accelerated to three years in certain circumstances). A Master Corporal is a Corporal given additional leadership responsibilities, normally after a formal course and several years as a corporal.

Although I am not the most up to date person (read: call a recruiting centre) but in MLAB TECH world you are a Cpl on graduation of BMQ and then after your one year of "preceptorship program" (if successful) are an Acting/Lacking Master Corporal waiting for your Primary Leadership Qualification (PLQ) to be substantive. This means you can be a MCpl in a little over a year after joining. MCpl's in the MLAB TECH world are considered Juniors and have no real leadership responsibilities. Within the medical community everyone is aware of the fact they are really "technical" MCpls and are not assigned leadership duties (or planning the unit Christmas Party) at least until they are PLQ or ideally a Sgt. This whole direct to MCpl process is part historical and part due to pay I am pretty sure.

Here is information on the DART: Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) - Canada.ca

This humanitarian task is on a "short'ish" notice to move so it can be "rapidly" deployed.

Be careful about thinking this is a job "little deployment". There are few deployments right now and you might not go anywhere, but with such a small MOSID, if we become committed somewhere you will deploy potentially frequently if the commitment has any depth to it in terms of size or especially length. A MLAB TECH who cannot / does not want to deploy is of no use to the CAF and likely should employ their skills elsewhere. I know I heard people in the know talking about the desire to get into the business of Rapid Deployable Outbreak Investigation Teams -- this sounds like something a MLAB TECH might be part of and rapid and deployable are in the title.

MC
 
So I spoke with a recruitment officer today. He said that there were 3 places for NCMSTEP and 1 position left. I thought to myself that it was too big of a gamble and that I would like to be secure. So even though a Medical Laboratory Technician would be my favourite, I have to accept that it is never going to happen.

There is currently a halt on the testing process due to the number of rising cases in Canada. I chose Meteorological Technician, Water, Fuels and Environmental Technician, and Imagery (meh). Currently Meteorological Technician is in demand.

Just waiting to be tested in person, could takes months

:unsure:


Thanks for the help everyone!
 
Yep, missed the Prince George one.

One question, why would you not apply for STEP if there are still positions available and instead chose a trade you are "meh" about? You still have two other choices. What would reaction be if you wait a year for a job offer and have Imagery offered? I applied for Crewman, Weapon Tech, and Ammo. I knew nothing about Ammo apart from what someone who had failed off the course 20 years previously told me. It was a trade of 120 that ran one or two initial trade courses per year and that was what I got called for after 11 months. If you want to do the STEP thing, apply. Worst is you don't get chosen this year and get another trade you are somewhat interested in, or you wait a year and try again next year.
 
There is 1 spot left for STEP and it seems like a gamble. It would be in civillian school and it doesn't seem secure. The recruiter told me that if I went into another trade and applied for STEP that there would be a possiblity that I wouldn't be able to leave it because I would be needed.
 
So you'll take a trade you don't like rather than maybe get what you want because you might end up in a trade you think is ok?
 
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