Paramedic Science (Pre-Registration)

Entry requirements

You will need:

• an undergraduate degree class 2:2 or above, in a healthcare profession, for example in: nursing, midwifery or an allied health profession
• GCSE English Language and Maths grade 9 – 4 / A* - C or equivalent (Functional Skills Level 2 in English and Maths)
• to hold a full manual UK driving license (ideally with provisional C1 entitlement on application), with no history of a serious driving offence or more than 3 points
• to be classified as a Home/EU student prior to starting the course.

If you hold a biological sciences undergraduate degree, you will be considered. You must be able to demonstrate evidence of experience in direct patient contact in a work / voluntary capacity. The direct patient contact experience must be gained prior to application.

A NMC or HCPC registered healthcare professional with conditions of practice will not be eligible to apply for this course.

Driving licence*

You must have a full manual UK driving licence (ideally with provisional C1 entitlement on application), with no history of a serious driving offence or more than three points. Applicants without C1 entitlement on application must achieve this by the end of the first year of the course in order to be eligible for employment with the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

*Driving per se is not a requirement for eligibility to register with the HCPC as a paramedic, however driving and the stipulations identified above are a requirement for employment with the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust and other UK ambulance services in clinical roles.

Months of entry

January

Course content

Are you ready for a new challenge and thinking of becoming a paramedic? If you have an undergraduate degree in a healthcare profession* then our exciting MSc Paramedic Science will give you the relevant knowledge, skills and clinical expertise to deliver safe and effective treatment to patients in the pre-hospital and out of hospital environment.

We are partnering with the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust, the busiest emergency ambulance service in the UK, to deliver this trailblazing course. It will be the first pre-registration paramedic science course at Masters level in the UK

On 11 February 2020 the Government announced it is introducing an annual maintenance payment of at least £5,000 for new and continuing pre-registration Paramedic Science students, from September 2020. The funding will not need to be repaid. You can find details of this announcement on the Gov.uk website.

*If you hold a biological sciences undergraduate degree, you will be considered. You must be able to demonstrate evidence of experience in direct patient contact in a work / voluntary capacity. The direct patient contact experience must be gained prior to application.

Paramedics are Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) regulated Allied Health Professionals (AHPs), who provide unscheduled care to people who have an urgent or emergency healthcare need out of the hospital environment. They assess, treat, manage, discharge and/or where appropriate refer service users across the lifespan, with almost any injury or illness (encompassing acute, chronic, and/or specialist services).

Offered from November 2019, this course will enable you to become a self-sufficient registered practitioner who has the knowledge, skills and clinical expertise to deliver safe, effective and appropriate treatment to service users with urgent, emergency, and unscheduled healthcare requirements. This includes, management at the scene, or in-hospital of critically ill and injured patients.

On successful completion of this postgraduate Paramedic Science degree, you will be eligible to register with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a paramedic.

Placements

Practice-based learning is a compulsory component and is integrated across the two years of your course. You will not receive payment for this. You will travel to practice-based learning settings at your own expense and this is an additional cost to the course fee. You will also be responsible for arranging and paying for any accommodation or insurance related to travel to practice-based learning settings. Practice placements are located in London and the outskirts, you should be prepared to travel significant distances to some placement areas.

The structure, duration and range of practice-based learning settings will support your achievement of the course learning outcomes and the Standards of Proficiency – Paramedics (2014).

Placements will be with both the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust and in a number of wider healthcare settings such as:

• residential care homes, ward areas, hospices
• GP surgeries
• operating theatres and intensive care/high dependency units
• mental health environments
• maternity and children’s services.

Placements with the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust will be based in the North West London sector, which includes five training stations (Brent, Hillingdon, Hanwell, Fulham and Westminster) and ambulance bases at Ruislip, Pinner, Wembley, St John’s Wood, North Kensington, Chiswick, Isleworth, Feltham, Heathrow and Hayes.

Placements will follow compulsory clinical shift patterns and will include unsociable hours including days, nights, weekends and bank holidays.

In ambulance placements you will be supervised by a Practice Educator or PEd. In healthcare placements you will be supervised by a mentor.

You will undertake the following number of practice hours across the 2 years:

• 1,080 hours of ambulance placement (13 weeks in year 1 and 14 weeks in year 2)
• 320 hours of healthcare placements (4 weeks per year)
• 80 hours of Non-Emergency Transport Services (NETS) (2 weeks in year 1)
• 4 weeks of preparation for practice (2 weeks per year).

Total = 1,640 hours

See our MSc Paramedic Science Q&A for detailed answers to any questions you may have.

Teaching, learning and assessment

A wide range of approaches to teaching and learning will be utilised during the MSc Paramedic Science, recognising your prior experience:

• technology enhanced learning
• lectures and seminars
• simulated learning
• forum theatre
• service user and carer involvement
• social media
• inter-Professional learning
• practice-based learning
• critical reflection
• critical analysis and synthesis of evidence.

Assessment

The module assessments have been designed to enable you to demonstrate the learning outcomes for each module and cumulatively the overall MSc Paramedic Science learning outcomes (meeting the requirements of the HCPC Standards of Proficiency - Paramedics, 2014). They will enable you to demonstrate you are consistently competent and capable of the role, both academically and in real-life complex and dynamic service environments.

They will be spread across the two years providing frequent opportunities for you to receive feedback and feedforward:

• Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE’s)
• MCQ and short answer exams
• reflective logs
• essays
• rapid systematic review and improvement plan
• presentations
• practice assessment document.

Fees and funding

On 11 February 2020 the Government announced it is introducing an annual maintenance payment of at least £5,000 for new and continuing pre-registration Paramedic Science students, from September 2020. The funding will not need to be repaid.

In addition, you will be able to continue to access the postgraduate masters loan (as per eligibility criteria). You can find details of this announcement on the Gov.uk website.

On commencement of the course we provide two months free membership, at our brand new sports and fitness centre, to help you prepare for the fitness assessment, prior to starting your first practice placement.

Additional funding is available to some types of students, such as disabled students or those with dependants.

This course is not eligible to access the postgraduate pre-registration nursing, midwifery and AHP loans from the Student Loans Company. As such you will not be able to claim back costs associated with travel to placement/accommodation related to placement.

We offer a range of scholarships and bursaries, including awards for specific subjects.

Awards for nursing, midwifery and healthcare students are also on offer.