National College of Technical Instruction

National College of Technical Instruction (NCTI) was created in Sacramento, California in 1988. It was originally called Northern California Training Institute and started simply as a school to train paramedics. NCTI is part of American Medical Response, the nation's largest ambulance service (and this author's employer when not writing for About.com).

Have an experience with NCTI that you'd like to share? Express your love -- or not -- at the bottom of this page for all to read.

NCTI now has programs nationwide. There are 4 regions around the country. The West Coast and Northeast Regions offer the most complete schedules, with EMT-Basic, EMT-Intermediate and EMT-Paramedic courses. There are also courses intended to prepare students for license renewal or National Registry recertification, wilderness EMS, critical care transport, Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), CPR and more.

The Central Region -- Colorado, Texas, Louisiana, Missouri and Kansas -- has fewer offerings and the Southeast Region has the fewest.

NCTI's programs vary in cost based on location and level of training. This is just an estimate of the cost of training for the three most common levels:

• EMT-Basic: $600 - $1,200
• EMT-Intermediate - $600 - $1,500
• EMT-Paramedic $5,000 - $12,000

On one hand, large private programs like NCTI have the resources to offer high-tech training tools and a connection with ambulance services like AMR to give students the most well-rounded experience. Many public schools just don't have the money to buy equipment and might not have as many real-world resources to call upon. NCTI also offers placement with AMR ambulances when students get to the part of the training program that includes riding on an ambulance.

On the other hand, NCTI is out to make money. It isn't the only for-profit school in the nation -- far from it -- but the need to fill classes with paying customers can weaken the quality of education. Schools like NCTI don't make money unless students start and finish on time to make room for the next batch, regardless of what students actually learn.

Successfully completing a paramedic program is much easier if the student works as an EMT-Basic first. That on-the-job experience helps the student identify with references to the field. For-profit schools like NCTI don't encourage experience because it makes the pool of potential students smaller. Fewer students means less money.

Instructors will often tell students that work experience leads to bad habits that make training harder. That is simply not true. Despite what a program may say about work experience, I strongly suggest it for any would-be paramedic student. Some employers even pay for paramedic training.

Overall, any EMS training is what you make of it. NCTI is a large program with lots of resources and may be right for you. Research any program you are considering. NCTI's course tuition varies considerably by location, even within the same state. For EMT-Basic courses, try local public colleges, hospitals and fire departments as well as private programs like NCTI. Many of those options cost significantly less.