Educating the next generation of paramedics, this course will help meet the growing workforce demands for more paramedics in Northern Ireland.
These future Paramedics will be required in the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and will also have a wider role to play in the transformation of the provision of health and social care within primary and secondary care in Northern Ireland as outlined in the Bengoa Report.
The BSc Hons Paramedic Science degree will provide students with the knowledge, critical understanding, skills, values and resilience to apply to enter the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) register as a qualified Paramedic.
Students will develop confident clinical decision-making skills and leadership attributes that will empower them to provide safe and effective patient care as a Paramedic across a range of settings.
Ulster University has been working in partnership with the NI Ambulance Service Health and Social Care Trust (NIAS HSCT) since 2018 and other care providers, delivering a Foundation degree in Paramedic Practice.
A change in HCPC Standards of Education and Training requires that from September 2021, people seeking entry to the HCPC register as a paramedic must have completed a HCPC approved course at the level of Bachelor degree with honours.
Ulster’s BSc Hons Paramedic Science course has been recommended for HCPC approval, intaking the first cohort of 40 students in September 2021.
Professor Carol Curran, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Life and Health Sciences at Ulster University said:
“We are delighted to launch this new BSc Hons Paramedic Science Degree within our popular and highly regarded School of Nursing, ranked 6th in the UK and in the top 50 globally. Based on our Magee campus this course will add to our health and social care education provision in in the North West with our School of Nursing and new Graduate Entry Medical School.
The programme will meet the growing demand for Paramedics in a range of different care settings across Northern Ireland. Throughout the course, students will hone their skills through simulated learning in our clinical skills rooms, and practice-based learning across a range of community, hospital and ambulance based services. Upon graduation they will have the skills and confidence to excel in their role as a Paramedic, providing excellent care to those who need it most."
The Minster of Health, Robin Swann MLA commented:
“The decision by the regulator to increase the educational entry standards for Paramedics to BSc level, reflects their significant and increasing contribution to the delivery of care. I congratulate Ulster University on their progress in developing this new course. My Department will continue to work with Ulster University to ensure a local workforce supply of paramedics, both for the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, and increasingly, for advanced and specialist roles, right across Health and Social Care as services are transformed.”
Jenny Keane, Chief AHP Officer said:
“The launch of the first BSc Paramedic Programme for Northern Ireland is to be welcomed, it will help alleviate the ever increasing pressures that are being placed on HSC services by providing a new generation of highly skilled paramedics educated to deliver across a wide range of settings. This programme is good news not just for NIAS and its new Clinical Response Model but also for the whole HSC as it moves forward on the delivery of the transformation of services as set out in Bengoa. Paramedics will have key roles to play in this work as we move forward.”
Ulster University is holding an applicant webinar for the BSc Paramedic Science course on Tuesday 15th September, 7pm.