Paramedic school in Missouri?

[word2yamutha]

Hey! Well I havent even started the emt basic course but I figure I should look for paramedic school in the mean time so that way I have an idea of where Im going. My friend who is a paramedic recommended a school in Columbia, MO. I was looking for a school in the Missouri location. If anyone is from that area let me know some recommendations. Oh I also forgot Im from st. charles, MO area

 

[Cam984]

There are several good Paramedic schools in the area and almost all of the those schools also offer the EMT-B class as well (If you aren't signed up yet of course). There are three main schools with in the metro St. Louis area they are:

IHM Health Studies: I myself have nothing but postive things to say about program and highly recommend it. I am of course a recent graduate of the paramedic program. The directors and instructors of the program are on the top of there game. If you do go there I would take the night class with Chief Yancie, he is a one of a kind instructor.
http://www.ihmhealthstudies.edu/

St. Charles County Ambulance District: Great district, have heard nothing but good things about the program. Does cost a little bit more out of all the programs, and is the newest program of the three. Getting a spot in the class is the hard part because the process is very very competitive.
https://www.sccad.com/

St. Anthony's Medical Center (St. Louis Comm. College): Only heard good things about the program and instructors. There are the a few college classes such as reading, math and science that need to be done before entering the program.

Sorry for the long post. Hope this helps!

 

[word2yamutha]

Thanks for the great information Yes Im registered for EMT basic program at st. charles ambulance district. Is there like a waiting list for there paramedic program?

 

[Keeven83]

Yeah I hear SCAD has a good program. I took my EMT through St. Louis Community College and my medic at Mizzou's UMHC in columbia. From what I remember Mizzou didnt require any A&P prerequisites like a lot of the other schools because they include that in the program. (But my program was 16 months vs the usual 12). Also remember it is what you make it!

 

[word2yamutha]

How much did the paramedic school cost in columbia? Yeah I already did all my general ed courses. I went to forest park community college for culinary school.

 

[Cam984]

Thanks for the great information Yes Im registered for EMT basic program at st. charles ambulance district. Is there like a waiting list for there paramedic program?

I'm not to sure if the medic program has a waiting list but it wouldn't surprise me at all considering the EMT-B class has a very long list.

Also just for your information I believe both SCCAD and IHM cost between $7,000-$8,000.

 

[word2yamutha]

Yeah I checked scad out and its about 8,000. Im not sure if it would be cheaper to just go to st louis communtiy college and finish the paramedic school there or just go to scad. The only bad thing is Im missing a couple of gen ed classes at st louis community college so it would take longer.

 

[Cam984]

Yeah I checked scad out and its about 8,000. Im not sure if it would be cheaper to just go to st louis communtiy college and finish the paramedic school there or just go to scad. The only bad thing is Im missing a couple of gen ed classes at st louis community college so it would take longer.

Personally if I were in your situation I would finish my EMT-B at SCCAD and then apply for there Paramedic program whenever your ready. The cost is just a bit higher, but it's an excellent program that you'll be some what similar with, also it's a lot less driving.

 

[word2yamutha]

Your right. Id rather have a better knowledge of what Im doing compared to paying a little less because Im cheap.

 

[ah2388]

I just pm'd OP, but I wanted to chime in on this.

Im a current student in the EMT-P program there and I think its absolutely phenomenal. I'm sure that clinically all of the programs are fairly similar, although I do think the instructors at SCCAD achieve a higher level of professionalism than in some other places. I also think this translates to the students in the program.

HIGHLY recommended

 

[word2yamutha]

Yeah the only bad part is its hard to get in. I talked to a student there that just finished his clinicals and he said there's only 24 spots and 84 people applied. I was hopeing to get accepted there in the fall

 

[ah2388]

if you have aim or something, get at me

 

[emt_angel25]

st. johns in springfield has a great program....

 

[N2B8]

Im about to finish up the program at Columbia through the University of Missouri in December. I can offer up some pros and cons about the program

Pros
Cost is $3900 (includes books and uniforms, there is also a payment program)
one day a week
self study
small classes (around 10-15)
tuition includes BDLS, PHTLS, ACLS, and PALS


Cons
the only hospital site for clinical use in STL is St. Johns and it is always packed (this is why I've taken time off of work and stayed out here in Columbia and used the UM hospital which is GREAT! that is if you have the luxury of taking leave)
not a lot of hands on practice until the end of the program (you will learn to intubate and start an iv before going to clinicals, all of the nremt practical stuff wont really get practiced until the end)
WAY more clinical requirements than other programs (like almost 800 hours and 20 INTUBATIONS! where most programs only require 5 or 6 I think)


All in all I would do the program again for the price alone. It's a good program and I do recommend it to a lot of people after giving them this same pros and cons speech. There are certain things about every program that appeal to everyone. My suggestion would be to call up the schools and visit, talk to the instructors, look at the books, ask questions.

I did start out at IHM in STL but the way it was set up just didn't work for me, not to say it's a bad program, I just didn't care for it. If you work for Abbott EMS (as an EMTB) they will pay for your medic school through IHM but you have to be contracted to them as a medic for a year after your school is complete. I worked for Abbott for over a year and never took advantage of this just because I didn't want to be contracted. I now work for STLFD and they have been pretty good about working around my schooling (they need medics really bad).

Hope this helps, feel free to ask me any questions!

 

[word2yamutha]

Yes I have heard of the columbia paramedic program. A good friend of mine went there and said the program was excellent and it was like half the cost of st charles medic program. The only problem would be is the face that I live far away from it. I don't think I could afford to live down that area

 

[N2B8]

I live about two hours away myself. Luckily I carpool with 4 other people so since it's once a week I only have to drive every fifth week. Even still it's a bit of a drive. I'll be glad when I'm done in December.

 

[word2yamutha]

Ill have to visit columbia in the summer when I'm finished with basic first. How long are the classes? Is this program a year long? Is it hard to get into?