Paramedicine BSc (Hons)

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 can lead to registration as a paramedic with the Health & Care Professions Council.

DMU Open Day Saturday 16 March 2019, book your place.

Overview
Structure and assessment
Facilities and features
Opportunities and careers
More about your DMU
Contact us

Overview

New for September 2019: This programme is currently subject to validation and approval from the Health and Care Professions Council, and is therefore subject to change. This webpage will be updated if any changes are made to the programme.

Our exciting paramedic degree course will educate you in all elements of clinical sciences and practice. It will equip you with the skills and knowledge needed to become a paramedic. You will get practical experience by working alongside senior paramedics 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.

You will be placed with the local ambulance NHS Trust and this will be within the East Midlands locality. You will be taught by both paramedic lecturers as well as other healthcare professionals, such as midwives, nurses and doctors. This is a busy course with lots of hard work, which is rewarded by an excellent teaching programme, other opportunities to work alongside pre-hospital care teams and practical elements.

Reasons to study Paramedicine at De Montfort University:

Eligibility to apply to register with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
upon graduation, enabling employment in a wide variety of clinical areas (subject to HCPC validation)

More than 50 years’ teaching experience
in delivering high quality professional education to our diverse studentship
Strong links and integrated work placements
with local health and social care providers allow you to put theory in to practice

£12 million investment in our faculty’s facilities
including our purpose-built clinical skills suites which replicate real-life settings
International experience opportunities
in the final year, as part of your final project, an elective placement is possible
DMU is a university ranked Gold in the 2017 Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF)
the only Government-endorsed measure of teaching quality in higher education. [Office for Students, 2017]
The TEF Panel judged that De Montfort University delivers “consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for its students. It is of the highest quality found in the UK.” [Office for Students, 2017]

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

Vice-Chancellor’s Sports Scholarship
Find out more about the Vice-Chancellor's Sports Scholarships worth up to £6,000.

More courses like this:

Associate Ambulance Practice (DipHE)

Diagnostic Radiography BSc (Hons)

Healthcare Science (Audiology) BSc (Hons)

Speech and Language Therapy BSc (Hons)

UK/EU
International

Key facts for UK/EU students

Institution code: D26

UCAS course code: B780

Duration: Three years full-time. Start date September 2019

Fees and funding: UK/EU: £9,250

Find out more about course fees and available funding.

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

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

Additional costs: Here at DMU we provide excellent learning resources, including the Kimberlin Library and specialist workshops and studios. However, you should be aware that sometimes you may incur additional costs for this programme, including the cost of travelling to and from project/placement locations.

Not available to international students

Entry criteria

GCSEs

Five GCSEs at grade C 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

Typical Offer ‘BBC’ – 112 UCAS Points (excluding General Studies, Key Skills and music exams). One subject should be a natural science (psychology is acceptable, but not sociology)

BTEC

Extended Diploma Applied Science DMM

International Baccalaureate

26+ points

Access to HE Diploma

Pass in QAA accredited Access to HE with at least 15 credits at Distinction and 30 credits at Merit. English Language and Maths GCSEs required as separate qualifications

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

All applicants must complete a satisfactory health screening. This will include the ability to move, lift and carry patients.

DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check: Yes

You submit an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service disclosure application form before starting the course (if you are overseas you will also need to submit a criminal records certificate from your home country), which needs to be cleared in accordance with DMU’s admissions policy. Contact us for up-to-date information.

English language requirements:

If English is not your first language an IELTS score of 7 in all components 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 in September 2019 will be made offers based on a new UCAS Tariff. Find out more.

Structure and assessment

First Year

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

Second Year

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

Third Year

Urgent and Primary Care
Paramedic Leadership and Legal Practice
Paramedic Clinical Pharmacology
Improving Paramedicine
Applied Emergency Care 3

Click here for more detailed module information

Note: All modules are subject to change in order to keep content current’ with link through to module page

Teaching and assessments

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

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

Accreditation

De Montfort University has applied for accreditation from the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) for the Parmedicine BSc (Hons). Accreditation of the degree programme will signify that HCPC recognise the high standard of teaching quality, and would ensure that upon successful completion of the programme graduates are eligible to register as a paramedic with the HCPC.

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

You will undertake compulsory work placements mostly in the NHS, working with a range of people from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, developing your clinical and professional skills.

You will be placed with a local ambulance NHS trust and this will be within the East Midlands locality. However, we will not be able to guarantee placement location: this is dependent of mentorship availability.

You will be expected to work in both city and rural locations and this means you must be able to get there using your own transport. Placements start early in the morning, with an average shift being 12 hours long (so for example 0600hrs – 1800hrs, or right through the night, i.e. 1900hrs - 0700hrs).

Graduate careers

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

Our postgraduate courses also offer opportunities to progress onto further study, including:

Physician Associate Studies MSc

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.

Book now

Order a prospectus

This will give you a clearer idea of what it's like to live and study at DMU and a snapshot of the courses we offer, correct at the time of going to press.

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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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