Keele University is training the next generation of paramedics with the launch of a brand new course in its School of Medicine.

New for the 2021/22 academic year, the four-year Paramedic Science with Integrated Master’s (MSci) course gives students the training, experience, and expertise needed to become qualified paramedics, working on the frontline of the NHS and in local communities to provide emergency, urgent and primary care services.

The first cohort started their studies this month, learning from expert clinicians in Keele’s School of Medicine, in state-of-the-art facilities such as the skills labs and Keele’s anatomy and surgical training centre. A fully-equipped training ambulance also gives students a realistic setting for practicing their skills and learning about their equipment.

The students will also take part in high quality work placements across the West Midlands region for around 50% of the course, which have been co-designed in partnership with the West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust. The placements are designed to provide students with as broad a range of experiences as possible in an NHS ambulance service, general practice settings, emergency departments and hospital settings to name but a few.

Teaching on the course focuses not only on developing lifesaving skills and clinical interventions in a wide range of out-of-hospital scenarios, but also prepares students in providing care for a range of complex health needs in the in-hospital, community and primary care settings.

Like all health courses at Keele, students on the paramedic science course also benefit from the University’s extensive links with the NHS locally and regionally, learning from and shadowing experts from a number of NHS trusts and primary care providers.

Kevin Armstrong, Director of Paramedicine at Keele, said: “We are excited to offer an innovative programme of study which is at the forefront of contemporary paramedic education in preparing paramedics of the future.”