What Motivates Students to Pursue a Career in Paramedicine?

Abstract

<jats:p>IntroductionThis study aimed to determine the motivations behind students’ decisions to enrol in a degree in emergency health (paramedic) or double degree emergency health (paramedic) and nursing.MethodsStudents were surveyed to determine the importance of different motivations influencing their decision to enrol in their current university course.ResultsThere were 168 surveys returned from 182 students (93% response rate). The most important motivations for students were ‘wanting to help people’, ‘saving lives’ and ‘exciting career’. Older respondents rated ‘giving back to the community’, ‘wearing a uniform’, ‘employment prospects’, ‘pay rate’ and ‘job security’ slightly higher. Males considered ‘pay rate’, ‘working environment’ and ‘job security’ slightly more important than females.ConclusionsFindings suggest that like other health professional students, those studying paramedicine do so for intrinsic motives including ‘wanting to help people’, ‘saving lives’ and an ‘exciting career’.</jats:p>

Motivating Factors Influencing Student Paramedic Choice of Paramedicine as a Career

“…These factors have been reported nationally and internationally in the paramedic literature previously (9). Studies out of an Australian university identified that motivating factors for a career as a paramedic included wanting to help people and save lives (10). These factors also correlate with findings from an earlier United States study that highlighted helping others as a strong motivator.…”

“…This finding correlates with Wu et al (7), who also identified that extrinsic factors such as job security were less motivator than altruistic factors, yet also reiterated that these factors are not necessarily less important. Pay as a lesser motivator was also highlighted in the study by Ross et al (10), highlighting that their study was when industrial action over wage disputes occurred. However, their findings are in correlation with our findings, which suggests that ambulance services that pay as an attractor are not essential in attracting paramedic students.…”

Ignorance is risk: An exploratory investigation of students’ perceptions of their education–employment pathways

“…This finding may represent evidence that the students who have chosen specialised courses tend to have the aptitude to seek out detailed knowledge. For example, Ross, Hannah and Van Huizen (2016) explored what motives underpinned the desire for paramedic students to pursue their course. The findings of this study yielded results that were directly related to the career outcome of their degree (e.g.…”

From Extreme to Mundane? The Changing Face of Paramedicine in the UK Ambulance Service

“…As such a belief that these cases were not 'real work' was reinforced by this gap in their training, which carried over into inattention to a recent protocol introduced to support decision making during such calls. Ross et al (2016: 2) suggest media representations of paramedicine are influential in perpetuating the stereotype of "lights, sirens, and dramatic resuscitations". Their study of Australian paramedic students concludes that these participants chose their degree based on wanting to help people, but also having an exciting career and saving lives.…”