Paramedic Preparation and Eligibility

[Whirling Snow]

Hello,

Many paramedic programs have a required prep course, such as UCLA. The description sounds like you are required to take their specific prep course, which is 64 hours, to apply to their program. If you apply to multiple college programs, does one have to take all their prep courses as it does not seem transferable between institutions? Maybe this is more of a vetting class then a class to better prepare the student as claimed.

 

[VentMonkey]

It varies by program; Mt. Sac's precourse was some medical terminology, college algebra, and basic A&P*. You had to pass the precourse with a certain grade to be eligible for one of however many seats they were accepting for that particular semesters program/ class.

And yes, every program that has some sort of precourse as a prerequisite will want theirs specifically.

*this is by no means as in depth as a full semester of college-level A&P.

 

[Whirling Snow]

Thx.

 

[VentMonkey]

Thx.

Wlcme.

 

[joshrunkle35]

I applied to 4 programs. The pre-req courses at one school met the requirements for 3 of the schools. I dropped the fourth from consideration. I got accepted to all three and then chose the right fit for me.

I would recommend taking whatever pre-reqs are the hardest.

1) They will probably be accepted by all schools

2) It's way easier to learn info now while you're getting adequate sleep than later during paramedic school

3) The more info you learn beforehand, the easier it will be to understand concepts as you come across them in school.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Whirling Snow]

Rep from UCLA PM program also emailed me a response today:

That is a good question first off, and the answer has two parts. If you were to take a PM Prep program elsewhere that would be fine, BUT in order to not have to take our program you would need to take our PM Prep Final exam and getting a passing score (Cost: $95, Passing Score of 80% or higher) for that to not happen. If you would like to do this, we can try and set up a day for you to come in and take the exam. I hope that this helps and please don't hesitate to ask more questions if needed.

 

[Whirling Snow]

thx joshrunkie35.

 

[DrParasite]

So I looked up the UCLA paramedic prep course:

https://www.cpc.mednet.ucla.edu/course/paramedic-preparation

TBH, it looks like a proprietary course designed to weed out people who aren't ready for the paramedic program, who had very week EMT programs, and a hint of what the paramedic program requires (and it keeps their 80% retention and completion rate up).

Doubt they are transferable, as each school wants to make money off of you.

I am curious why both the traditional and hyrid are the same number of hours, but the traditional is $10,000, while the hybrid is 16,000.

 

[VentMonkey]

I am curious why both the traditional and hyrid are the same number of hours, but the traditional is $10,000, while the hybrid is 16,000.

I thought the hybrid was the online version, so perhaps there's some hefty "convenience" fees. That, and anything they do is hardly cheap.