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Any E.M.T.'s in here went to UNITEK College for certification?

SUMO

SUMO

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Joined
Sep 29, 2003
Location
Walnut Creek
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04 Yamaha R6
Im thinking about enrolling and was wondering if there was anyone who has been through this program.

Was the training sufficient enough to be well prepped in the working enviornment?

Would you recc. anyone to go to this college or should i save the money and go to a CC based course?

How hard is it?

Thanks in advance!

Chris
 
i went to mission college (a cc down in santa clara) and got my emt training there. all in all i think i forked out about 300-400 in fees and got GREAT training by SJFD firefighters.

I'm not sure how much UNITEK charges, but if its any more than say 500, you might as well go to a CC. All courses are taught out of the same textbook anyway...

pm me if you need any add'll info.
 
Go to a cc based course. Did mine about 10 years ago. Like creamygoodness my class was taught by firefighters and some er nurses. Lots of great stories as well as field experience.
The classes aren't hard, it'll suprise you how easy it is to get your emt cert. As an emt, you are basically there to stabelize and transport.
Getting your paramedic cert is a whole new ballgame.

Good Luck!!!
 
I would be willing to wager that there is no course available anywhere that will give you all the skills you need to be comfortable out in the real world. That is where your real training will begin. Find a reputable class/group, and double check to make sure that the fire dept that you are going through has a cpr course that is recognized by either the AMA, or the AHA. If you get hired by a large corperation like where I work (AMR) they will probably not accept anything else.(that was fun to find out after the fact). I went through a fire dept localy up here, and wish that I had spent more time/money on a longer, more thorough and detail oriented class. (Junior college for exaple). Good luck, and you will love the program for sure! Ryan
 
**YOU THREAD IS NOW HIJACKED** =P

hey instance, what are some of the ways in which getting the paramedic cert is harder the emt? i know that paramedic school is about a year long and costs lots of $$$... any suggestions on what to do, which school to go, etc? do they have financial assistance at paramedic schools?
 
NCTI Is probably your best bet as far as Medic school goes. I have at least 3 friends who just graduated yesterday. The differences are HUGE! Your didactics will consume your entire life, and then you have to Intern w/ either a FD or through like AMR, all of which is Volunteer. It's not just the incurred school costs, it's the cost of working full time all over the place w/o pay! Expect to intern in random ER's all over the northern part of the state etc... The pay diffrence at a place like AMR is not magnificent either, AT FIRST! You get a 7year medic @AMR w/ union Representation, and you aren't doing so bad... Lemme know if you want me to hook you up with someone who can answer more qestions if you'd like...
 
creamygoodness said:
**YOU THREAD IS NOW HIJACKED** =P

hey instance, what are some of the ways in which getting the paramedic cert is harder the emt? i know that paramedic school is about a year long and costs lots of $$$... any suggestions on what to do, which school to go, etc? do they have financial assistance at paramedic schools?
Click to expand...

I think monkey answered that question pretty damn well. :)
 
Thanks for the replies...

The only thing thats kind of holding me back from doing a CC Course is that it requires a prereq of a lower health class and also a CPR Certificate prior to taking the main course for getting ready for the EMT Certificate. Thus, it would take me one full semester to do 1 class and then another semester for the primary class.

If I do decide to do UNITEK it is a course of 6 weeks covering everything. They even pay for your testing for the EMT Cert. It does cost 1600 and some change.

All in all, its the time factor. I dont wanna spend almost a full year getting this done. Cost for gas and parking fees at a CC + books would be somewhat close to all the tuition for UNITEK.

I would like to talk with you monkey of possible. Seems as though you have some info that might answer some of my Q's....

Chris
 
i went to Mission College too. Yay! it's like an EMS alumn meeting over here :) I wonder if anyone else had Peggy the crazy deaf ER nurse beat them over the head with the "you can't be an EMT and ride a donor-cycle" lecture...?

That said, i might be the only one here (i hope not!) who did her EMT cert in order to get her Firefighter I cert and go into fire... I found the EMT program at Mission to be very well-taught and I would have to say, pretty dang good as far as prepping you for real-world EMS experiences.

IMHO, if you're going to be doing training to save lives and deal with the public at their absolute adrenaline-drenched worst, you should probably be less concerned about getting through your course in record time and more concerned with true quality of education. I'd like to think the EMT's out there are most concerned with saving lives and helping people. Not meant to be a flame, just saying, it's a hard profession on many levels, and perhaps the training is so extensive for a reason.

-jen:ape
 
Its not about trying to get through it quickly. Its time being wasted in the first semester for some stupid basic health class such as what is a heart and where is it located (just for example).

Its a prereq. i need to take before taking the main course.

Nowhere did it seem like i wanted to fly through the course. I was stating it was not time consuming as far as what i need to do to actually start taking the correct courses.

Thanks for your input jen... but i feel time is much more at stake than money.... money is time/time is money....

If you read my concerns carefully you will realize what i was trying to rationalize.
 
SUMO said:
Its not about trying to get through it quickly. Its time being wasted in the first semester for some stupid basic health class such as what is a heart and where is it located (just for example).

Its a prereq. i need to take before taking the main course.
Click to expand...

Have you actually spoken with anyone at your local community college about the courses and their prerequisites? In reading the Mission College catalog, it looks to me like you can do all of the required training in a single semester... Some places are more flexible about prerequisites than others! Given how cheap CCs tend to be, I'd probably give someone a call and see if there's any way to make it work.

BTW, can people who have gone through the Mission College program comment on the time committment? I'm interested in the program, but it seems like you have to take everything at the same time. Seems like you could easily chew up 3-4 nights a week. How bad is it, really? 4 nights/week plus 8 zillion hour of homework? Just show up for class and don't worry about additional reading/study? Just wondering if I can work a full-time job, attend the classes, and still have time left over for anything else...
 
I live in Walnut creek and the local CC's around that offer these programs is Chabot & Los positas.

Mission is Kind of out of the way to go 4+ days for these classes...

Based on Uniteks course layout, everything is covered in steps so there is no massive amount of info all at one time.

Both Las Pos/chabot requires you to take a basic health class before you even think about doing the main course. And no they will not let you take it without the prereq's
 
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