Paramedic Science and Out of Hospital Care BSc (Hons)

Equip yourself with the knowledge, skills and values to be a registered paramedic. Study pathophysiology, clinical skills and patient assessment. Start a highly rewarding career as a key worker in the NHS or the out of hospital care environment.

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Overview

This course will provide you with the knowledge and skills you require to be a registered paramedic. You will be equipped to meet the challenges of modern paramedic practice, enabling you to deal with unpredictable situations competently and confidently. You will learn potentially lifesaving procedures that will allow you to treat and stabilise patients at the scene of an accident or emergency.

Key areas of study include anatomy and physiology, pharmacology, law and ethics and management and leadership.

Why us?

Take advantage of the facilities in the new Living Lab, which includes a mock ward, patient diagnostic suite, OSCE suite, dispensing pharmacy and patient home setting
Our Patient Carer and Public Involvement (PCPI) members actively support our course. You will regularly meet and work with patients and carers who will contribute to your learning and development through assessment and feedback
The course offers opportunities to collaborate in an interprofessional learning capacity with other healthcare courses including nursing, pharmacy, biomedical science, medicine, physiotherapy and occupational therapy. Alongside this we run joint learning events with the local fire and rescue teams as well as regional police teams
This course is approved by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)

Our Paramedic Science courses are ranked 10th in the UK (Guardian University Guide 2023)
You'll use a training ambulance supported with IT connectivity that enables a range of patient journey and care scenarios to be modelled so you can develop your paramedic practice in a realistic setting
Gain a nationally and internationally-recognised qualification
Read our first-year student James' day in the life of blog where he details just one shift on a front-line emergency vehicle

Course structure

You will be taught by a highly-skilled and motivated team with both clinical and teaching expertise. Evidence-based practice is embedded within the course, which ensures you are taught the most current and up to date skills and knowledge. You will learn through a variety of methods including presentations, seminars, lectures, group work and problem-based learning.

You'll also undertake a wide range of practice placements throughout the North East to enhance your learning which may lead to further employment opportunities.

A strong professional identity and confidence to work with various professional groups is an essential part of the course.

Year 1:

Applied Human Sciences in Paramedic Science (20 credits)
Legal, Ethical and Professional Issues in Paramedic Science (20 credits)
Emergency Care Skills in Paramedic Science (20 credits)
Communication, Empathy and Understanding in Health (20 credits)
Foundations of Social and Behavioural Science (20 credits)
Introduction to Research Methods for Paramedics (20 credits)
Clinical placement (approx 525 hours)

Some modules have prerequisites. Read more about what this means in our Help and Advice article.

Year 2:

Applied Pathophysiology in Paramedic Science (20 credits)
Advanced Legal, Ethical and Professional Issues in Paramedic Science (20 credits)
Advancing Emergency Care Skills in Paramedic Science (20 credits)
Specialist Emergency Care Skills in Paramedic Science (40 credits)
Evidence Based Practice and Research Methods (20 credits)
Clinical placement (approx 563 hours)

Year 3:

Advanced Paramedic Skills (20 credits)
Minor Injuries for Paramedic Practice (20 credits)
Contexts of Emergency Care (20 credits)
Leadership and Management in Healthcare Practice (20 credits)
Paramedic Applied Practice Project (40 credits)
Clinical placement (approx 525 hours)

Facilities

This course will be based across our City Campus.

The University campus utilises multi-media classrooms with state-of-the-art resources for learning.

You will be expected to undertake a variety of clinical placements and work outside normal working hours including weekends. Placements can be anywhere within the North East region including Berwick and North Yorkshire. You will be expected to travel daily or stay in local accommodation for the duration of your placement.

Entry requirements

We don’t currently display entry requirements for United States. Please contact the Student Admin team on studentadmin@sunderland.ac.uk or 0191 515 3154.

Your completed application form will be reviewed by our Admissions Team to ensure that you have the required entry qualifications. If you meet these requirements, then your application will be individually assessed by the Admissions Tutor and if successful you will be shortlisted for interview.

Care experience

You must have some experience of delivering care in a professional or voluntary capacity. This can also include caring for family members, volunteering with youth groups, being part of the army/navy/air cadets or St John’s Ambulance. Evidence of the experience gained, understanding of the profession and a genuine, reasoned commitment to studying a professional course must be explicit in your personal statement to be selected for interview.

Personal statement

Your personal statement provides a unique opportunity to express your personal qualities and attributes related to a rewarding career as a paramedic. The statement should include a clear articulation of:

Rationale for your choice of career
How your personality lends itself to a career as a paramedic
Evidence of investigation into the career of a paramedic that demonstrates insight of the role
What attracts you to the profession
Personal qualities and transferable skills that may contribute to success in the course and profession
What sports/activities do you enjoy and what skills have you developed

Interview

All applicants must attend an interview as part of the selection process, which includes a group activity and an individual interview. Your values, problem solving and communication skills will be assessed.

Personal qualities

We select students based on their knowledge, motivation, experience, values and behaviours, not just academic ability.

You need to demonstrate an ability to:

study academic subjects at the level of the course
debate topics and issues
draw on conclusions from written material
study independently and as part of a group
use computers and technology associated with teaching, learning and assessment
interact with patients and colleagues in a caring and compassionate manner
demonstrate an understanding of, and commitment to, the course

Fitness to practise

Medical assessments of your mental and physical health and disclosure of criminal convictions apply to all paramedic courses and are based on current HCPC requirements. Paramedics are registered health care professionals and the ability to practise safely, effectively and professionally is essential, so all applicants are required to follow our fitness to practise procedures. This means you are required to complete the following:

A health declaration form. Here you must demonstrate that you are of good health, good character and can satisfactorily pass occupational health screening. In addition, you will be required to attend an Occupational Health Assessment with an NHS Trust. The University will, taking into account current HCPC regulations, make any reasonable adjustments if required. Please refer to the HEOPS paramedic student fitness standards.
A self-declaration form about your conduct.
Obtain an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. The cost of the DBS check is covered by the University.

Instructions on how you complete these checks will be sent to you once you hold a conditional firm offer with us. These forms are then reviewed alongside your application, and you must meet both the academic and fitness to practise requirements before you will be given an unconditional offer. If you are successful, you will also need to complete an annual declaration form to confirm you are fit and there are no changes to your DBS.

Health declarations

You must demonstrate that you are of good health, good character and can satisfactorily pass occupational health screening. The University will, taking into account current HCPC regulations, do all it can to accommodate the needs of candidates who declare a specific learning difficulty, long-term health condition or disability. Please refer to the HEOPS paramedic student standards.

Driving

A driving licence is not a mandatory requirement, however you will be expected to travel to placements and shift patterns may not always fit with the availability of public transport. Where possible we do try to arrange placements near to term-time addresses but this isn’t always possible. We strongly encourage you to try to gain a full driving licence by the end of the course to enhance your job opportunities and employability. A C1 driving classification is not an entry requirement for the course.

Students studying a health or social care course, that has a placement within the NHS or any other Care Quality Commission establishment, are strongly encouraged to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Find out more in our Help and Advice article.

If English is not your first language, you need an overall IELTS score of 7, with at least 6.5 in each band.

Fees and finance

The annual fee for this course is:

£9,250 if you are from the UK/Europe*

Please note, we are unable to accept international applicants.

*European Union (EU), EEA (European Economic Area), and Swiss nationals who do not qualify for the EU Settlement Scheme are classed as international, however, for 22/23 and 23/24 admission you will receive a European student fee scholarship and will pay the home tuition fee rate for the duration of your studies. The discounted fee will be reflected in your offer letter. Learn more in our Help and Advice article.

A non-repayable grant of £5,000 and extra payments worth up to £3,000 is available to eligible home students for each year of study. Read more about the Training Grant on The NHS Business Services Authority website.

If you currently serve (or have recently served) within the Armed Forces, then the Ministry of Defence's ELCAS scheme may be able to help cover your funding for this course. For more information, see our Funding for Armed Forces personnel page.

Take a look at the Your Finances section to find out about the scholarships and bursaries that may be available to you.

This information was correct at the time of publication.

Career ready

On successful completion of this course you will be eligible to apply for registration with the HCPC as a paramedic.

Typical starting salaries for paramedics in the NHS range from £21,000 to £26,000. Experienced paramedics who have achieved additional qualifications/skills can earn between £31,000 and £48,000. For those looking to seek exciting paramedic opportunities abroad, some salaries can be up to £100,000.

Career options are also available outside the NHS in out of hospital environments such as off-shore, remote medicine, armed forces or primary care.

Career options

To assist in preparing you for employment as a paramedic, this course:

Approved by the HCPC's Education and Training Committee (ETC)
Offers a variety of clinical placements to ensure you are exposed to the wider role of the paramedic within the healthcare team, in a wide range of exciting settings
Integrates the latest simulation and blended learning technologies in the development of tomorrows paramedic
Incorporates a fully-functioning patient pathway experience

Clinical placements

You will undertake a range of practice placements to gain real-life experience and apply your learning to real-life situations which may lead to further employment opportunities.

Your placement may be in an ambulance department, care/residential home, patient transport service, accident and emergency or primary care setting.

Placements are subject to availability and can be anywhere in the North East, from Berwick to North Yorkshire. You will be expected to travel daily or stay in local accommodation for the duration of your placement. You will be responsible for any associated costs including travel and accommodation for the duration of your placements.

As you may be expected to travel long distances, start your shift in the early hours, or finish your shift late at night, you could be entitled to Travel and Dual Accommodation Expenses (TDAE) which allows you to make a retrospective claim for excess travel costs and/or expenses for temporary accommodation near to the location of your placement. Find out more about the NHS Learning Support Fund. Please note, students who already hold a degree will not qualify for this fund.

Meet the students

Being able to go out on placement and experience the job first hand is absolutely amazing!

David Blackie
Every day I use the knowledge and skills that I learned at university to assess and treat patients.

Derek Ford
I enjoy practicing realistic scenarios with all the equipment and assessing real patients.

Jessica Sparrow
The tutors are all paramedics with real-life experience, which they share with us.

Kay Norris

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Contact

Contact the Student Helpline for further information about studying at the University of Sunderland:

0191 515 3000

student.helpline@sunderland.ac.uk

View Programme Specifications for the Faculty of Health Sciences and Wellbeing.

Page last updated: 14 March 2023

We aim to provide clear, accurate and timely information to prospective and current students. We continuously review and enhance course content in consultation with our students and the information provided on our website is the latest available. If you have received an offer from us to start a course, we will communicate any important changes to you in writing. We will always seek to ensure that our prospective students are fully aware of the basis on which they are accepting an offer.

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