Canadian Health Care Academy Good or Bad????

Posts: 10 Join date: 2010-06-16

I live in the Okanagan but am thinking of moving to the coast to do my schooling, as my family lives there. I looked into Colleges and found there is a 2 year minimum waiting list for VCC. Also that there is no other government funded facilities that offer the LPN program. So, in that case i looked into private colleges and found the Canadian Health Care Academy being the cheapest. It is $20,500 for the year, but i don't want to waste anymore time trying to get into schools. Has anyone hear any feed back on the school? Positive or Negative?! Any information would be great! Its a lot of money to put into one corse and i want to make sure im making the right choice in schools.

Thanks!!!

Posts: 199 Join date: 2009-05-09 Location: viha

ladypeace88, it does seem difficult at this time to seek advice. I think most are tired, certainly not at answering questions but with work and life in general. As nurse8 said he/she wanted to know if any adviced helped and has gotten no responce.
In regards to your question about CHA there is a thread under the student section that tlks about CHA and other private schools.
Als look up the CLPNBC and check out the pass rate for that school and others you may be interested in.
Cheers,
John

Hi there,

I would recommend that you steer clear of private schools. I have posted a few replies regarding potential students on the fence about which to go to.... In all cases, they already had their minds made up about the 'wait list being too long' for Vancouver Community College.

All I can say is, good things ARE worth waiting for. If you read up on the threads regarding jobs you will notice that there is an over saturation of LPN's in the lowermainland. The difference in education IS apparent, and any LPN that begs to differ is an LPN that went to a private school and is defensive of the critisism (read the threads, you will see). The thing is, there is a wait list for a reason, the reputation of VCC is outstanding, and the tuition is reasonable.

VCC has sponsers and donars such as Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health that helped to pay for the new health sciences building that opened in 2009..... the reason being, they hire VCC grads! VCH and FHA also recruite new grads on the last day of school... you WON'T find that at any private college.

Best of luck!
-Noobie

Posts: 168 Join date: 2008-09-20

Also, as I have mentioned, many, many times on this forum...

Okanagan College DOES NOT have a wait list. You apply with your prerequisite scores. If they are high enough among the applicants, you get in. If they are not, you may still get in for that intake if others drop out. If you don't get in, you reapply for the next intake.

I got in on my first try. No 2year wait list there.

Posts: 10 Join date: 2010-06-16

Thankyou for all the information! I understand VCC is a great school and i am on the waiting list. I am curious to the person that got accepted into OC. What was your grade average?
I have an 81 in bio and 82 in english. I am challenging the OC math nursing test in a week. Has anyone taking it? Do you know if its difficult?

Posts: 168 Join date: 2008-09-20

ladypeace88 wrote:

Thankyou for all the information! I understand VCC is a great school and i am on the waiting list. I am curious to the person that got accepted into OC. What was your grade average?
I have an 81 in bio and 82 in english. I am challenging the OC math nursing test in a week. Has anyone taking it? Do you know if its difficult?

I challenged the OC math test and got 91%. It was no more than grade 10 math overall. You can get a practice copy to see what type of questions they will ask you.

My overall average was 86% and I got in on my first try, first "round" (found out I got in March for September intake.) A lot of my classmates got in after this---they were given the seats after those who were intially offered the seat turned it down. One or two even got in a week or two before the program start. So it is possible. But it all depends on how many people apply and what their averages are. If 200 people apply and the top 26 have averages over 90%, then 85% won't cut it. If 100 people apply and the top 26 have averages of 82% and higher, then that is what will get you in. Never know until you get the letter in the mail.

Best of luck.

Posts: 10 Join date: 2010-06-16

OgopogoLPN- Did you find it hard once graduated to find a job? I heard their is a hiring freeze right now and full time work is almost impossible, not to mention even finding part time. But they are adding onto the hospital so thats gives me hope. But i plan to move to Vancouver once im done.
Does anyone in the lower mainland know how the job market is down there? And if its hard switching a job from Interior Health to Coastal Health?

Posts: 168 Join date: 2008-09-20

ladypeace88 wrote:

OgopogoLPN- Did you find it hard once graduated to find a job? I heard their is a hiring freeze right now and full time work is almost impossible, not to mention even finding part time. But they are adding onto the hospital so thats gives me hope. But i plan to move to Vancouver once im done.
Does anyone in the lower mainland know how the job market is down there? And if its hard switching a job from Interior Health to Coastal Health?

No, it was not hard for me, or any of my class of 26 to find a job. But, that was in August 2008. Then the recession hit. Lots, and lots has changed since then. There is virutally no LPN hiring in IHA right now. Some, but very little. And all of it very, very causal in LTC, no acute care.

Check out the thread under the general forum about the job situation in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. There is absolutely NO hiring of any type. There are at least 3-4 poster who post here who have been looking (one for over a year) with no luck. It has always been very, very tight there. Even in early 2008, I know a girl who graduated here, moved there and couldn't find a job for months and months.

If you are able to get hired in IHA (I'm assuming were talking about early 2012 since you havn't even started the program), things could be different then. Hiring does go in waves. You wouldn't be able to "switch" to Coastal Health. You would just have to apply like every other outside candidate. Your IHA hours wouldn't transfer. You would have work experience though.

Best of luck. It is a very tricky time right now. I hope it all works out for you.

Well, I never went to CHA, but according to CLPNBC, CHA's pass rate for the January 2010 exam was only 87%, and 57% in May 2009...

Posts: 10 Join date: 2010-06-16

yikes, thankyou!

Posts: 10 Join date: 2010-06-16

Does anyone have the link to see the CLPNBC pass rate for all the colleges? I cant seem to find it on their website anywhere!

Click on 'registration exam' on the left hand side of the web page. Once there you can select from whatever exam date you would like.

Posts: 5 Join date: 2010-07-07

It's hard to imagine, all these schools, starting courses every year, some twice a year and no one is finding jobs.

Do some go to work in private hospitals, nursing homes, or home care?

Is it just gov't hospitals where there is no hiring or everywhere?

Posts: 8 Join date: 2010-10-17

I think being a volunteer always work for experience purposes. That's most grads started.

Posts: 14 Join date: 2010-10-18 Location: lower mainland

I've heard some managers from fraser health say they don't hire van.career college students, or some of the other private college grads. Best to wait for vancouver community college, I know those grads do find work. Cool

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Canadian Health Care Academy Good or Bad????

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