Find a program that fits your life.

Medical Laboratory Assistant is the shortest at 19 weeks, then Pharmacy Assistant and Dental Office Administration at 26 weeks each. Length is only half of it, because how often a program starts decides when you can begin: Unit Clerk and Medical Office Assistant runs 27 weeks and starts almost every month, while Medical Device Reprocessing runs 40 weeks with a few intakes a year and Practical Nursing runs 80 weeks with only a couple. Weigh length against the next start date in the table above before you decide which one is actually fastest for you.

They are separate credentials with very different commitments. Health Care Aide is a 30 week certificate at $12,950, which is the total program cost and covers books, scrubs, immunization records and the Alberta Health Care Aide provincial registry exam fee, and it includes a 320 hour clinical practicum. Practical Nursing is an 80 week diploma at $46,000 with 765 hours of clinical practicum, approved by the College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Alberta, and you write the Canadian Practical Nurse Registration Examination afterwards to register as an LPN. Entry differs as well: the academic bar for Health Care Aide is Grade 10 English or a Canadian Language Benchmark of 7, while Practical Nursing asks for high school standing including Biology and Math.

Start with the entry requirement, because it decides the question for a lot of people: Medical Device Reprocessing asks for two years of post-secondary training in health care or life sciences, alongside Grade 10 English or a Canadian Language Benchmark of 7. Medical Laboratory Assistant runs in partnership with Alberta Precision Laboratories, and an admissions advisor can walk you through how the partnership works and what it means for your application. The work differs as much as the entry does. Medical Laboratory Assistant is patient facing, a 19 week certificate at $14,499 ending in a 5 week phlebotomy practicum with APL, while Medical Device Reprocessing is a 40 week diploma at $14,995 delivered in partnership with Alberta Health Services, whose 8 week practicum is in a reprocessing department where the work is surgical instruments rather than patients.

The three run within a week of each other, so choose by the setting you want to work in rather than by length. Unit Clerk and Medical Office Assistant is 27 weeks at $13,999, graduates you with a dual diploma in both roles, places you for 6 weeks with Alberta Health Services or a private medical office, and includes training on the Epic and Connect Care system Alberta hospitals use. Pharmacy Assistant is 26 weeks at $12,999 with a 6 week practicum in a working pharmacy, and it is open to work permit holders as well as permanent residents and citizens. Dental Office Administration is 26 weeks at $13,499 with a 4 week practicum in a dental office and training on the dental practice software offices actually use, including RecallMax.

The options are the same across the board. All ABES programs are designated, so every one of them is eligible for full time and part time funding from Alberta Student Aid. An admissions advisor can walk you through payment options for the program you pick, and Indigenous sponsorship is billed directly to Treaty 7 nations and the Métis Nation of Alberta where that applies. What changes between programs is the size of what you are funding, since tuition runs from $12,499 for Community Support Worker to $46,000 for the 80 week Practical Nursing diploma.

No. ABES arranges your placement for you, at no extra cost, in every program. What differs is how long you are there and where: 4 weeks in a dental office for Dental Office Administration, 5 weeks of phlebotomy with Alberta Precision Laboratories for Medical Laboratory Assistant, 6 weeks in a pharmacy or a medical office for Pharmacy Assistant and for Unit Clerk and Medical Office Assistant, 8 weeks in a community agency for Community Support Worker or a reprocessing department for Medical Device Reprocessing, 320 clinical hours for Health Care Aide, and 765 for Practical Nursing. Every program includes one, so practicum length is a fair way to compare how much supervised time on the job you finish with.