Associate Ambulance Practice DipHE

Our exciting diploma course will educate you in many elements of clinical sciences and practice. It will equip you with the majority of skills and knowledge needed to become an enhanced level ambulance technician.

Overview
Structure and assessment
Facilities and features
Opportunities and careers
more about your DMU
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Overview

Alongside the paramedic is a team of ambulance clinicians who support paramedics and assess patients in their own right. The DipHE in Associate Ambulance Practice is aligned to an enhanced technician job role within the NHS. Technicians deal with emergency and urgent healthcare presentations within a slightly reduced scope of practice.

This course is designed to take you through an exciting and dynamic journey to educate you to become a thoughtful and safe healthcare professional. It does not lead to registration as a paramedic, however may be used in gaining access to the BSc (Hons) Paramedicine through our accredited prior learning pathway

You will get practical experience by working alongside senior paramedics and experienced technicians on emergency ambulances and rapid response cars. You will also get a wider exposure through a number of other community based placements, such as in an Emergency Department or Doctors surgery.

Key features

This DipHE programme in Associate Ambulance Practice is aligned to an enhanced technician job role within the NHS. Technicians deal with emergency and urgent healthcare presentations within a slightly reduced scope of practice.
Strong links and integrated work placements with local health and social care providers allow you to put theory into practice.
This course is designed to take you through a dynamic journey that will train you to become a thoughtful and safe healthcare professional. While it doesn’t lead to registration as a paramedic it may be used in gaining access to the Paramedicine BSc (Hons) course through our accredited prior learning pathway.
You will be taught by both paramedic lecturers and other healthcare professionals, such as midwives, nurses and doctors, and benefit from specialist equipment on campus, including mock ambulances and iPad-based advanced life support simulators.
You will study a range of topics including foundations of ambulance practice, trauma and resuscitative care, paediatrics and child health, and paramedic clinical pharmacology.
You will gain practical experience by working alongside senior paramedics and experienced technicians on emergency ambulances and rapid response cars. You will also benefit from opportunities to carry out a number of wider community-based placements, such as in an emergency department or doctor’s surgery.

Scholarships:
At DMU, we are committed to helping our graduates enhance their careers and personal development through further study.

DMU Sports Scholarship
Find out more about the DMU Sports Scholarships worth up to £6,000.

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UK/EU
International

Key facts for UK/EU students

Institution code: D26

UCAS course code: AAP2

Start date: September 2021

Duration: Two years full-time.

Fees and funding: UK/EU: £9,250

Apply for the Vice-Chancellor's Sports Scholarship, worth up to £6,000.

Our dedicated DMU Global High Flyers Award offers ambitious students a discount of up to £1,000 towards a DMU Global opportunity (terms and conditions apply).

Additional costs: You may incur additional costs for this programme, including the cost of travelling to and from project/placement locations.

How to apply

Submit a study-related enquiry

Not available to international students

Entry criteria

Please note: entry criteria is subject to change. This web page will be updated with the latest information should any changes be made.

GCSEs

Five GCSEs at grade C/4 or above including Maths, English and Science.

Passes in Functional Skills and Key Skills qualifications at level 2 in Maths and English can be accepted as equivalents.

Plus one of the following:

A levels

A minimum of 96 UCAS points (excluding General Studies, Key Skills and music exams) One subject should be a natural science (psychology is acceptable, or a health related subject or public services).

BTEC

Typical Offer 'MMM' - BTEC Extended Diploma Applied Science / Health / Public Services

International Baccalaureate

28+ points

Access to HE Diploma

Pass in the QAA Access to HE with at least 45 credits at Merit. English and Maths GCSE required as separate qualifications.

Alternative Entry Approaches

Here at DMU we recognise the commitment and achievement required to take part in national cadet programmes, particularly those with a focus on health and first aid, such as Ambulance Cadets. Where an applicant can demonstrate over two years of commitment to a cadet programme (considered from the age of 15+), supported by a letter of recommendation from their Unit Manager, Youth Team or Officer-in-Charge, we will accept this in lieu of 32 UCAS points (equivalent to a C grade at A-level). The remaining UCAS points will need to be gained through academic study. GCSE requirements still apply.

Interview: Yes

The recruitment process for this course includes assessing applicants by the content of their personal statement and interview for the core values of the NHS constitution.

The interview will include a numeracy test (set to GCSE grade C in maths) and a literacy test (again set to GCSE grade C in English).

There is no fitness test, but you are expected to be able to lift, move and carry patients.

Professional conduct during the event will also contribute to the decision-making regarding an applicant’s application.

There is no routine fitness test, but you are expected to be able to lift, move and carry patients. Candidates may be invited to undertake a trade (fitness) test where concerns about capability are identified by occupational health screening questionnaires and this will form part of the decision whether a candidate is offered a place or not.

Work experience: Yes

Applicants are required to demonstrate relevant work experience. This would normally include experience from formal or informal employment, school or college work placements, voluntary work and other relevant life experiences. Merit is placed on either health based work experience of customer service experience (i.e. working with people).

Occupational Health check: Yes

Successful applicants at interview will be offered an occupational health screening to evaluate occupational competency as part of the pre-course checks. Clearance for placements will be required prior to starting the programme.

DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check: Yes

As a profession who works with the most vulnerable of people in society, a clear enhanced DBS screen will be required. Applicants with disclosures will be evaluated on an individual basis.

English language requirements:

If English is not your first language an IELTS 7.0 overall with 6.5 in each band, or equivalent when you start the course is essential. English language tuition, delivered by our British Council accredited Centre for English Language Learning (CELL), is available both before and during the course.

Please visit dmu.ac.uk/international for more information.

UCAS Tariff changes

Students applying for courses starting after March 2019 will be made offers based on a new UCAS Tariff. Find out more.

Structure and assessment

First year

Foundations of Ambulance Practice
Assessment & Consultation Skills
Foundations of Pathophysiology
Accountable, Legal & Ethical Practice
Simulated Emergency Care 1
Applied Emergency Care 1

Second year

Paediatrics & Child Health
Social & Psychological Emergency Care
Research in Paramedicine
Trauma & Resuscitative Care
Simulated Emergency Care 2
Applied Emergency Care 2

Click here for more detailed module information

Note: All modules are subject to change in order to keep content current

Teaching and Assessment

Learning is supported by a strong system of personal tutors and teaching teams, clinical work placements and enthusiastic mentors. Teaching methods include:

Lectures
Seminars
Presentations
Skill Labs
Tutorials
Enquiry-based problem solving
Independent e-learning

You will complete blocks of clinical placements 37.5 hours per week (average) and blocks comprised of theory and independent learning hours up to an equivalent of 37.5 hours each week. This means some weeks you may complete more hours than others, typically following the work rota of your mentor on that placement.

Students in practice placements are allocated a mentor to help develop and support learning.

Assessment

A variety of approaches are used to assess theory and practice.

Practice is assessed through the completion of a clinical skills passport and practice assessment documents.

Theory is assessed through poster presentations, OSPE (practical) assessments, tutor marked assignments, written exams, literature reviews, case studies, e-assessments, numeracy assessments, team based learning assessments, essays and critical reflection.

Teaching contact hours

Contact hours in a typical week will depend to some extent on the modules you are studying. However, typically you will have up to 16 contact hours of teaching and this will break down as:

Personal tutorial/small group teaching: approx. 1 hour of tutorials or small group teaching each week

Medium group teaching: approx. 6 hours of practical classes, workshops or seminars each week

Large group teaching: approx. 10 hours of lectures each week

Personal study: approx. 21.5 hours studying and revising in your own time each week, including some guided study using hand-outs, online activities, etc.

Expertise and Accreditation

Our lecturers are all registered paramedics and qualified or developing teachers. Many are research active, have masters level qualifications or are currently undertaking academic and professional doctorates. Many lectures also hold fellowships with the Higher Education Academy.

Accreditation

The BSc (Hons) Paramedicine is Accredited by the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC), this course has been recognised for its high standard of teaching quality, and upon successful completion of the course you can register as a paramedic with the HCPC. The DipHE is not a course which recognised by the HCPC and does not entitle registration on completion.

The healthcare teaching team have an excellent reputation and good links with the local NHS trust and other potential employers, which is beneficial when you are applying for jobs.

Facilities and features

Health and Life Sciences

facilities

Investment of £12 million in Health and Life Sciences has developed our first-class teaching and learning facilities to help you develop your practical experience and theoretical knowledge beyond the classroom.

Purpose-built clinical skills areas allow you to apply theory to practice in a safe environment. You will receive guidance and support from staff, to ensure that your practical ability in the clinical skills suites is accurate.

Library

We have 1,500 study places and 650 computer workstations across four sites on campus.

During term time the main Kimberlin Library is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, giving access to more than half a million publications and a wide range of DVDs, as well as e-resources and thousands of electronic journals. Award-winning staff are on hand to help and there is a café for study breaks.

We offer a range of workshops, drop-ins and one-to-one sessions, plus our Just Ask service provides email or telephone support.

Learning zones

Our comfortable and well-equipped study areas provide a range of environments to suit your needs.

Originally set up in our main Kimberlin Library, the learning zones proved so popular that more were created in the Eric Wood building and Greenhouse. These flexible spaces are ideal whether you are working as a group, practising a presentation or working quietly on your own.

They feature workstations with power supplies for laptops, plus bookable syndicate rooms with interactive whiteboards and DVD players. Eduroam wi-fi is available across all campus locations.

Opportunities and careers

Placements

There is an expectation that you can make your own way to placements, so an ability to drive or have someone who can take you / pick you up is essential (although this is not an assessed entrance criteria). Placements are in block release and dates will be available at the start of the course, so if you are bringing a car – it is recommended you just bring it for the placement blocks. The ambulance stations are not typically on bus-routes and due to the early start of shifts and unpredictability around some late finishes, planning public transport as an option would be much more difficult and often these options do not run at the times required. You will be placed at both rural and city stations as part of your educational development and the course expectation is you can make it to any ambulance station in the greater Leicester area. Occasionally, for instance if a mentor is off sick, you may be moved station to accommodate your placemen with another available crew at shorter notice.

Below is a guide to distance and time it takes to get to an ambulance station (not accounting for traffic). There is an expectation you will arrive 15 before a shift starts, so if starting at 06.30hrs in the morning – planning would need to be done to be able to arrive punctually by 06.15hrs, as the crew will likely be activated early on in the shift and may not be able to return to collect you.

Coalville Ambulance Station 12.8 miles from DMU
Gorse Hill Ambulance Station 3.1 miles from DMU
Loughborough Ambulance Station 12.3 miles from DMU
Lutterworth Ambulance Station 15.7 miles from DMU
Market Harborough Ambulance Station 15.2 miles from DMU
Narborough Ambulance Station 6.2 miles from DMU
Oakham Ambulance Station 20.2 miles from DMU

Graduate Careers

Our graduates are highly sought after. As an applied subject, graduate careers would normally be within paramedicine, healthcare, education or research settings.

On completion of the Associate Ambulance Practice Dip HE, you may choose to progress onto:

Paramedicine BSc (Hons)

Uniform and dress code policy

This course includes acute and community based placements; these are an essential component for completion of the course. Whilst on placement, students must adhere to the uniform and dress code policy of the placement provider. NHS Trusts and other placement providers have given careful consideration to cultural and religious needs relating to uniform policies / dress codes.

These policies/codes have been developed in conjunction with local and national cultural and religious bodies to ensure that local and national infection control guidance is adhered to. Whilst every attempt has been made to accommodate individual needs, there are some areas where the need to fully comply with infection control guidance has overridden religious requirements.

DMU Open Days

Our next Open Day takes place on Saturday 7 July 2018, book your place today.

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How to apply

We welcome applications from UK and international students with a wide range of qualifications and experience. We are happy to help guide you through the process and answer any questions you might have

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