A review of key national reports to describe the development of paramedic education in England (1966–2014)

Brooks, Ingrid Ann; Cooke, Matthew; Spencer, Caroline; Archer, Frank

doi:10.1136/emermed-2015-205062

Cited by 17 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…The Australian experience is similar to what occurred to prehospital emergency medical services in England and the United States (US). Since the 1960s the educational preparation requirements of English paramedics and US EMT paramedics has come to include university level programs (1,2). Unlike Australia however, university bachelor degree courses are not the predominant education requirement for paramedics in England and the US (1,2).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of the Literature: The Transition of Entry-Level Paramedic Education in Australia from Vocational to Higher Education (1961–2017)

Brooks

Grantham

Spencer

et al. 2018

Australasian Journal of Paramedicine

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IntroductionToday in Australia, university degree programs provide the education pathway into the paramedic profession reflecting a more than 50-year process of transition from on-the-job first aid training. The formal organisation of paramedic education began in the early 1960s with the establishment of ambulance service training centres. The factors that contributed to this transition are poorly described when compared with that of paramedics in other parts of the world such as the United States and England. The history of Australian paramedic education is important to capture for the benefit of the profession in Australia and to situate it within a global context of modern emergency medical services. This paper examines the peer reviewed and grey literature to chart the transition of Australian paramedic education from vocational to higher education and uncovers signposts of change leading to this transition.MethodsFollowing a systematic search of MEDLINE and CINAHL Plus databases, the university library collection, Google and the websites of Australian ambulance services, Paramedics Australasia (PA) and the Council of Ambulance Authorities (CAA), 31 reports, 12 journal articles and three texts are included in this review.ResultsAdvances in emergency medicine, vocational education training sector reform in the 1970s and 1980s, reviews into ambulance services, health workforce reform and the efforts of PA and CAA contributed to the transition to university-based education, development of university paramedic program accreditation standards and, ultimately, progression towards registration and professionalisation. These signposts of change that chart developments in Australian paramedic education however, proved difficult to uncover in the literature.ConclusionUnexpectedly, this review finds peak Australian ambulance and paramedic professional bodies perceive difficulty in influencing policy direction that impacts the profession. Absence of thorough and detailed accounts of Australian paramedic education keeps hidden a unique and important history. We invite further research to preserve the history of paramedic education in Australia within the public domain, to assist the profession to understand what went before and to inform its future directions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of the Literature: The Transition of Entry-Level Paramedic Education in Australia from Vocational to Higher Education (1961–2017)

Brooks

Grantham

Spencer

et al. 2018

Australasian Journal of Paramedicine

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“…In the case of paramedics, their role has typically been shifted since the 1970s from patient transport service to an increasingly professionalized and medicalized practice (Brooks et al 2015). For example, Metz (1981), described ambulance work in the US during the late 1970s as a kind of “blue-collar profession“, a term used to capture the street-level, haphazard, unpredictable, often stressful encounters that are part of the ambulance work, which is rewarded with a high degree of professional autonomy yet with poor working conditions and low pay.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the introduction of reforms to the NHS (The Department of Health 1997) have included changes to ambulance service delivery and with it to paramedic education and training (Brooks et al 2015), leading to the enhancement of paramedics’ medical skills and public health roles. It was only in 1966 that formal requirements for minimum level of training for ambulance staff in Britain was introduced (Ministry of Health 1966).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was only in 1966 that formal requirements for minimum level of training for ambulance staff in Britain was introduced (Ministry of Health 1966). The training was delivered ‘in-house’ by the ambulance service, which awarded certificates (Brooks et al 2015). Following the 1974 NHS Registration Act, the ambulance service became part of the National Health Service (NHS), leading to an enhanced medicalization of ambulance work and to the emergence of paramedic practice , which increasingly included medical interventions (College of Paramedics 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Paramedic practice underwent re-evaluation by an Audit Commission (1998), which outlined the enhancement of paramedics’ medical skills and professional responsibilities in order to enable them to treat and manage those patients with less serious conditions. Such changes to paramedic practice required reforms in the training programs and indeed the Audit Commission recommended that paramedic training should be delivered in universities (Brooks et al 2015). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The bargaining of professionalism in emergency care practice: NHS paramedics and higher education

Givati

Markham

Street

2017

Adv in Health Sci Educ

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Over the past 2 decades, as part of reforms to the National Health Service and with it organizational changes to ambulance work in the UK, paramedic education has undergone a process of academisation and a shift from in-house, apprenticeship weeks-long occupational training, to university-based undergraduate programs. While the professional regulation and standardization of Allied Health Professionals’ education in high-income countries has captured scholarly attention, the study of paramedic practice is still in its infancy and there is a need to explore its evolvement in relation to the fluid societal–political circumstances affecting its provision and demand. Based on interviews with front-line paramedics, paramedic educators and paramedic science students in the South of England, this article examines how the reforms to paramedic education have impacted the professionalization of paramedics and their discourse of professionalism. Framed within to the ‘new’ sociology of professions, the case of British paramedics demonstrates the complex nature of the relationship between the university and professional practice. It appears that universities, the providers of paramedic education, are caught between two opposing discourses of professionalism: on the one hand, that of providing a platform for students’ socialization and engagement with professionalism ‘from within’ practice which is based on students’ common goals and mutual experiences, and, on the other hand, serving as a conduit for managerial/organizational strategies of professionalism which appear to undermine the role of university socialization.

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History of Pre-Hospital Medicine in the UK

Beardmore

2022

Textbook of Acute Trauma Care

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A review of key national reports to describe the development of paramedic education in England (1966–2014)

Cited by 17 publications

References 15 publications

A Review of the Literature: The Transition of Entry-Level Paramedic Education in Australia from Vocational to Higher Education (1961–2017)

A Review of the Literature: The Transition of Entry-Level Paramedic Education in Australia from Vocational to Higher Education (1961–2017)

The bargaining of professionalism in emergency care practice: NHS paramedics and higher education

History of Pre-Hospital Medicine in the UK

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