3 Quebec PCPs looking for ACP preceptorship opportunities in Eastern Ontario
Hey everyone, kind of a Hail Mary post but here we go.
I’m posting here hoping this might reach the right ACP, PCP, preceptor or someone involved with an Ontario paramedic service who could point us in the right direction.
Myself and two friends are Quebec PCPs currently completing the Advanced Care Paramedic program at La Cité in Ottawa. We’ve now successfully completed the entire classroom portion of the ACP program, and the only thing standing between us and completing the program is our on-road ACP preceptorship.
Unfortunately, we’ve run into a pretty significant placement problem.
All 3 of us live and currently work as PCPs in Montreal. So far, two of the Quebec students in our cohort have managed to receive placements that are reasonably accessible from Montreal, one with Cornwall SDG and another with Prescott-Russell. For the rest of us, the available options have been much farther away, including Renfrew County and Belleville.
We genuinely appreciate those services being willing to take students, and this isn’t meant as criticism of them or of the college. The issue is simply logistics. Completing hundreds of hours of preceptorship several hours away from Montreal while still trying to maintain our employment and shifts as PCPs back home becomes extremely difficult.
So we figured it couldn’t hurt to reach out directly to the Ontario paramedic community.
There are 3 of us looking for ACP preceptors/placement opportunities somewhere in Eastern Ontario, or really anywhere that would be reasonably feasible to travel to from Montreal. We absolutely do not expect anyone to circumvent their service’s placement process or the college.
We ARE allowed to find our own preceptors and get the program in contact with them to get the preceptorship rolling. Any actual placement would still need to be formally arranged and approved through La Cité and the respective paramedic service, but we can get the ball rolling.
We already have all of our requirements to start preceptorship completed (background checks, RPPEO Certification, N95 fit-test etc…).
We’re simply hoping this post might reach an ACP who enjoys precepting and would be willing to take on a student, or even a PCP who reads this and thinks, “I know an ACP at my service who might be interested.”
A little about us: we’re already working paramedics with 4 years of experience in Montreal’s busy EMS system AND we’re fully bilingual (I’ve heard that’s a bonus in some services). We’ve put a lot of work into getting through the ACP program and are eager to get on the road, learn from experienced ACPs, and finish the final stage of our training.
We also don’t necessarily need to be placed together. Three different ACPs at three different services could solve this problem for all three of us.
If you’re an ACP somewhere in Eastern Ontario who might be interested in taking one of us, know someone who could be, or even just know that your service may have capacity for ACP students, please comment or send me a DM. Even pointing us toward the right person within your service would be hugely appreciated.
We’re ready to work, ready to learn, and just need the opportunity to get on the road.
Thanks for reading, and if you work with an ACP who loves having students, please feel free to send this their way.
TL;DR: A Hail-Mary post for 3 experienced Montreal PCPs that need ACP preceptors in Eastern Ontario, preferably closer to Montreal than Renfrew/Belleville.
Thanks in advance!