Canadian Armed Forces Recruiting Videos
MEDICAL TECHNICIAN
Reviewed – 27 Mar 23
MASTER CORPORAL EMMA GALLOWAY: I'm Master Corporal Emma Galloway from London, Ontario. I’m a Medical Technician currently posted to 2 Field Ambulance in Petawawa, Ontario.
NARRATOR: Whether it’s in the heat of battle in a war-torn nation, or a relief effort in the aftermath of an earthquake, in the Canadian Armed Forces, the role of Medical Technician takes on dimensions never imagined on a city street.
MASTER CORPORAL EMMA GALLOWAY: Big difference between a civilian paramedic and a military Medical Technician is as a military Medical Technician, we do a lot of different jobs. So one day you're working in a clinic; you can move out to work in the field; you can also work on aircraft, fixed-wing and helicopters, as well as, could be working on ships. So the environment changes and the scope of your job can change as well based on those environments.
NARRATOR: They are a critical part of the Canadian Armed Forces healthcare team, working with doctors, nurses and physician assistants to provide acute and chronic healthcare services to Forces members.
The job of a Med Tech can be diverse and adventurous.
MASTER CORPORAL EMMA GALLOWAY: The stress and excitement is definitely something that draws me to this job. Knowing that I can be the difference in someone's life is very rewarding.
NARRATOR: They do everything from patient screening to clinical care or pre-hospital emergency care on a general day-to-day basis. When Medical Technicians deploy, they provide the full spectrum of care to all military members serving on the mission.
MASTER CORPORAL EMMA GALLOWAY: Our training is very trauma-focused and very battlefield trauma-focused. We focus on gunshot wounds, blast injuries, shrapnel injuries versus more car accidents and things that you would see on the civilian street.
NARRATOR: The training, experience, and level of responsibility is equal to or greater than what one would expect in comparable civilian occupations, but the Forces offers paid education and opportunities to travel.
MASTER CORPORAL EMMA GALLOWAY: A Medical Technician has more responsibility than our civilian paramedic counterparts. We can be pushed out by ourselves. So it's our responsibility to identify what's going on with the member so that we can be on the phone with a clinician – so whether that's a Physician Assistant or a Medical Officer – to be able to make sure that when that patient gets to that next level, the care that they need is already ready to go for them.
NARRATOR: Military medics earn a salary while they are in training and then walk right into their careers. No student loans; no job search.
There are also opportunities for Med Techs in the Primary Reserve, serving part-time in their local community while going to school or working at a civilian job.
MASTER CORPORAL EMMA GALLOWAY: I was a paramedic before I joined, for three years. And then I decided to join the military to give myself more opportunity to further advance my medical skills.
MASTER CORPORAL EMMA GALLOWAY: For me, the most exciting part of my job is getting to do my job on the back of a helicopter. They know when there's a helicopter coming in to get someone, it's very, very serious. I fly on the Griffon as well as the Chinook helicopter, and there's nothing better than coming in on a helicopter.
NARRATOR: On completion of their occupational training, new Med Techs will be posted to a healthcare unit on a Canadian Armed Forces base.
MASTER CORPORAL EMMA GALLOWAY: My biggest advice to anybody coming through those first couple of years is to just absorb all the information that you can, learn every skill that you can, because it'll make your life so much easier down the road.
NARRATOR: Medical Technicians in the Forces have opportunities to train with civilian agencies to maintain and improve their skills. On occasion, military medics will ride along with civilian paramedics in an ambulance.
As their careers progress, Medical Technicians may have the opportunity to pursue a range of specialized qualifications, including working as a secondary Search and Rescue asset with the Combat Support Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force, or in aeromedical evacuation with the Canadian Medical Emergency Response Team, or with the Special Operations Forces.
MASTER CORPORAL EMMA GALLOWAY: I would definitely say, in my opinion, that our job is a fun job. I get to work with a lot of different people. I get to be doing a lot of different things. I've been up to the Arctic, I've been over in Africa, I've been around Europe with the military. None of these things I would have been able to do if I hadn't joined the Canadian Armed Forces.