Paramedicine BSc (Hons)

Would you like to help save lives? Study all elements of clinical sciences theory and practice and gain the skills to become a registered paramedic.

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

Overview

Pursue a rewarding career by gaining the knowledge and expertise to become a key member of the workforce within the health and social care system.

DMU has more than 50 years’ experience in delivering high-quality health professional education and you will be taught by paramedic lecturers as well as other healthcare professionals, such as midwives, nurses and doctors. You will also benefit from specialist equipment on campus, including mock ambulances and iPad-based advanced life support simulators.

Study a range of topics, from foundations of ambulance practice and trauma and resuscitative care to paediatrics and child health. Strong links and integrated work placements will allow you to put theory into practice.

You will gain practical experience during all three years of the course by working alongside senior paramedics on emergency ambulances and rapid response cars, as well as wider exposure through a number of community-based placements, such as in an emergency department or doctor’s surgery.  

Graduates will be eligible to apply for registration as a paramedic with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC). A two-year Associate Ambulance Practice (DipHE) programme is also available.

Key features:

Eligibility to apply to register with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) upon graduation, enabling employment in a wide variety of clinical areas.
Strong links and integrated work placements with local health and social care providers allow you to put theory into practice.
Benefit from more than 50 years’ teaching experience in high-quality health professional education.
Study in our purpose-built clinical skills suites that replicate real-life settings, part of a £12 million investment in our facilities.
International experience opportunities are available in the third year of the programme as part of your final project.
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.
Alternatively, you can study a two-year Associate Ambulance Practice Higher Education Diploma, which is aligned to an enhanced level ambulance technician job role within the NHS. It does not lead to registration as a paramedic, however may be used in gaining access to the Paramedicine BSc (Hons) through our accredited prior learning pathway.

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 2021

Fees and funding: UK/EU: £9,250

From August 2020, all nursing, midwifery and many allied health professional degree students will receive at least £5,000 a year with up to £3,000 additional funding available. Further information, including eligible health professional courses, can be found on the NHS website.

Find out more about course fees and available funding.

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

How to apply

Submit a study-related enquiry

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 been approved from the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) for the Parmedicine BSc (Hons). Accreditation of this degree programme signifies 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

Substantial investment has developed our teaching and learning facilities to help you expand your practical experience and theoretical knowledge beyond the classroom.

The 19th century Hawthorn Building has facilities designed to replicate current practice in health and life sciences, including contemporary analytical chemistry and formulation laboratories, audiology booths and nursing and midwifery clinical skills suites.

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

Library and learning zones

On campus, the main Kimberlin Library offers a space where you can work, study and access a vast range of print materials, with computer stations, laptops, plasma screens and assistive technology also available.

As well as providing a physical space in which to work, we offer online tools to support your studies, and our extensive online collection of resources accessible from our Library website, e-books, specialised databases and electronic journals and films which can be remotely accessed from anywhere you choose.

We will support you to confidently use a huge range of learning technologies, including Blackboard, Collaborate Ultra, DMU Replay, MS Teams, Turnitin and more. Alongside this, you can access LinkedIn Learning and learn how to use Microsoft 365, and study support software such as mind mapping and note-taking through our new Digital Student Skills Hub.

The library staff offer additional support to students, including help with academic writing, research strategies, literature searching, reference management and assistive technology. There is also a ‘Just Ask’ service for help and advice, live LibChat, online workshops, tutorials and drop-ins available from our Learning Services, and weekly library live chat sessions that give you the chance to ask the library teams for help.

More flexible ways to learn

We offer an equitable and inclusive approach to learning and teaching for all our students. Known as the Universal Design for Learning (UDL), our teaching approach has been recognised as sector leading. UDL means we offer a wide variety of support, facilities and technology to all students, including those with disabilities and specific learning differences.

Just one of the ways we do this is by using ‘DMU Replay’ – a technology providing all students with anytime access to audio and/or visual material of lectures. This means students can revise taught material in a way that suits them best, whether it's replaying a recording of a class or adapting written material shared in class using specialist software.

Opportunities and careers

Placements

As part of this course you will undertake compulsory work placements mostly in the NHS, working with a range of people to develop your clinical and professional skills.

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

You will be expected to work in both city and rural locations, which means you must be able to get there using your own transport. Placements start early in the morning, with an average shift lasting for 12 hours, for example from 6am to 6pm, or through the night from 7pm to 7am.

Uniform and dress code policy

While on placement, students must adhere to the uniform and dress code policy of the placement provider. This includes acute and community-based placements, which are essential components for completion of the course. NHS trusts and other placement providers have given careful consideration to cultural and religious needs relating to uniform policies/dress codes.

These policies and codes have been developed in partnership with cultural and religious bodies to ensure that local and national infection control guidance is adhered to. While we always endeavour to accommodate individual needs, there are some areas where the need to fully comply with infection control guidance has overridden religious requirements.

Graduate careers

As an applied subject, our graduates usually progress on to careers within paramedicine, healthcare, education or research settings.

This course also provides graduates with the opportunity to pursue postgraduate study including areas such as Physician Associate Studies MSc.

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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More about your DMU

Leicester Guide

Accommodation

De Montfort Students' Union (DSU)

Leicester guide

Our campus is based in the heart of the bustling city centre, giving easy access to Leicester’s hub of entertainment, shopping and culture.  The city boasts an excellent mix of independent shops and restaurants, along with all the familiar, national chains.  

Leicester hosts an eclectic mix of festivals throughout the year,  while sports enthusiasts are spoilt for choice with Leicester City Football Club and Leicester Tigers, one of Europe’s biggest rugby clubs, both located just minutes away from campus.  At night, students can soak up Leicester’s live music and theatre scene or visit one of the many bars, pubs and clubs. Find out more.