Hi

I recently started working with Fresenius after a few years with the Phoenix.

Going to school soon and was wondering if they hand out tools, freebies and stuff like Gambro?

I went to the Bloomingdale, IL location for Level I & Level II classes. I only remember a Freseniusized Bic pen, and a pot tweaker(WooHoo!).
I think I heard that the IL location is now in Waukegan for Fresenius. If so, you'll be close to the Gurnee Mills outlet stores, and Six Flags.

Baxter used to do it up right. The course wasn't exactly great, but every day was a mug, a shirt, a backpack, etc. Plus the instructors took the class for a nice dinner (lobster, steak, or gator). And you were in Largo, right off Tampa Bay, for a week in February. For us Chicago folks, that's alright.

I think the Fresenius schools serve more employees than outsiders, so they don't feel the need to market and promote as much as other vendors do. It was definitely a no-frills experience.

I would have to agree with Biomed Boy. When I went to the level 1 class, I got a pot tweaker...but no pen. I'm not sure if I should feel slighted? It is in Waukegan, which is a nice town in it's own right, but it is only a train ride away from Chicago. I went a couple of times while I was there.

But all in all, this is definitely a no frills experience.

I will be going to Waukegan. Some ideas what is there to do at night besides study. Is it far from O'Hare, and what time does the class usually let out the last day?

Thank You in advance.

I took a shuttle from O'Hare to the hotel, and I think it was about a half an hour or so. If you are staying in the same hotel (which I would assume you are) that I did, there is a restaurant called Anastasias(I think that's the name) right next door. Food's decent. It has a bar and what not...not ashamed to say we spent a lot of time there. Also, like I said before, you can take the train to Chicago. I think it's like a 45 minute ride or so. We went a couple of nights. And I would say...about half a mile or so(maybe a little more or less, but definitely within walking distance)from the hotel is a movie theater.

Things have changed, I was in one of the last Walnut Creek/San Fran class of Bob's. All we got was the temperature resistor plugs. If you remember Bob, he was a BIG SF 49er fan. One of my coworkers wanted me to pick up some 49er stuff. Bob gave me a 49er hat from his personal stash.

Poor guy had to retire and go to Hawaii on a regular basis.

I went to Walnut Creek and got a pot tool and the resistor plugs. I made the mistake of not bringing my own notebook. I had to borrow some sheets of paper from Bob. They gave us a $5 voucher for use in the Fresenius cafeteria for lunch. If you spent more than $5, you had to pay the difference. One day I swear they served road kill stew.

I thought Bob was in research and developement now.

A guy named Dave...something or other has the class in Waukegan. Carlson maybe? He's a nice enough guy I guess. Got his car backed into by some lady while I was there. That was pretty entertaining. I forgot about the temperature resistor plugs. I received dome of those as well.

Yep...Dave Carlson is the trainer. Very nice guy. If you get done with the PM fast enough, ask him to show you the Utopia Room. It's this kick-butt breakroom with leather massage recliners and overstuffed leather sofas. I fell asleep in there for an hour.

All you get is a pot tweaker and the temp cal resistors. I had to steal a pen!!

Sorry, I forgot one thing...Abby, no need to study. There is no longer a written test. Just hands-on troubleshooting and maintenance.

I went to Walnut Creek in California, during calibration the NEO meter I used did not have a 9v battery in it so I asked Bob for one and he told me to go buy one from the store. Funny Bob with his jokes. All I got from the training was a set of resistors for calibration and a static free pot turning tool and a pen from the Hotel not from Fresenius. anyways training was all good.

I had Russell Bell (filling in for Dave) for Level I and Dave for Level II. Fluffy freebie comments aside, both schools were better for blending theory and lab (hands-on time) than other schools I've been to.
Running through an actual PM with a veteran tech would have been very beneficial back when I was just starting out. Maybe they do that now.

I went to Walnut Creek for level 2 back when BIll was teaching it. It was his last class, Dave was in there getting an inservice for the starting his own level 2 class before Bill quit.

He was a tough one, lots of homework and take home test that was graded. I still sucked at it. Learned a lot though, he knew those machines inside and out.

Hi guys just happened to take a look at what was going on with fresenius and found this wanderfull technical forum. I will be checking this web page often from today, like this Chet guy,I attended Bills last level 2 class at Wallnut Creek.

well I just went through the class and could not wait to get out of there. In my opinion, if you have worked on these machines for any lenght of time you will be bored out of your mind.