BSc (Hons) Paramedic Science (Medway)

Bryony

When asked what I study at University, people are surprised when I say I study Paramedic Science… No one has heard of it! The course itself hasn’t been around for long and there are not many universities that offer it however with the constant increase in 999 calls and the ever-growing pressure and demands on the NHS, it was necessary to find new ways to recruit paramedics.

The role of the paramedic has advanced dramatically over the last 25 years, going from the ‘stretcher bearers’ to carrying out advanced procedures and administering life-saving drugs on the road before the patients even reach hospital.

I decided that I wanted to be a paramedic when I was 12 years old, and even now I still don’t have a reason why I wanted to pursue this career, it just seemed right to me. Before starting though, I decided to take a gap year to South Africa after completing my A-Levels to get some voluntary experience in another country and to earn some money before starting university.

However before flying out on my adventures I needed to choose the right university, although as there were only 15 in the whole country offering this course that narrowed it down a bit! It was then down to choosing 5 universities to apply for, knowing that this would be where I spent the next 3 years of my life so I applied to University of Greenwich on both the Avery Hill Campus and the Medway Campus, Portsmouth, St Georges London and Hertfordshire. Being in another country and trying to organise interviews and documentation was a bit complicated to say the least but I received conditional offers from all the universities based on passing the interview, fitness test, C1 driving test, English and maths tests, police and occupational health checks… nothing much!!

Nonetheless I passed all the elements required for me to take my place at University of Greenwich at the Medway campus, 1 of only 15 places offered and of course I was over the moon J

So unlike other university courses, we spend a lot of time doing practical skills and training in our labs (or the car park… or at the bottom of Nelson building stairs) to provide us with the applied knowledge of what equipment or drugs to use for different scenarios. We have all the equipment that we would have available to us in the back of an ambulance so we can be assessed as if it were a real patient.

Over the 3 years we are required to undertake 1500 hours of placement out on the roads with paramedic mentors who advice and train us on the job. And yes we get to wear a very fetching green uniform!! During these hours we are constantly learning all areas of the job, which include the rule that students must bring in cake or biscuits on shift!

I am now about to start my second year, I can’t believe how quick the time has gone but with the workload increasing I am looking forward to a busy but rewarding year J