GENERAL INFORMATION Will I be a Registered Paramedic after completion? Following completion of all elements of the DipHE and 1500 hours in both theory and practice over the two years, students will be eligible to register as a Paramedic with the Health Professions Council. I am already a qualified technician, what options are open to me to become a qualified paramedic? Technicians can apply to join the second year of the programme on a full or part-time basis. What does the course cost? In view of the national changes to NHS student support, NHS North West has reviewed the local arrangements for this course with the aim of enabling support for Paramedic students into the future on the basis of a sustainable model. From September 2013, all non-seconded students to this programme will access maintenance support through the national student loans system. NHS North West will continue to fund the tuition costs for the Diploma HE in Paramedic Practice and all students will continue to receive support for practice placement expenses. I already have a first degree, will I be able to receive funding? As the course is financed by the NHS, previous study rules do not apply, you will be eligible for the Bursary, providing you meet residency criteria but will not be eligible to the maintenance loan. Is the course split into Theory and Practice? Yes, the British Paramedic Association regulations require completion of 3000 hours split into 50% theory and 50% clinical practice. To fulfil this requirement, the programme does not follow the normal university academic calendar. When will my holidays be? You will be entitled to 7 weeks designated holiday per year, set in advance. Due to the amount of hours that must be completed to register, students are unable to take any additional holidays. We aim to put first year calendars onto the website at the earliest opportunity to enable new students to plan holidays. PLACEMENTS How are placements allocated? The majority of placements are with North West Ambulance Service. Each student will be allocated a mentor (who will be different at each placement). Other placement areas include Nursing Homes, Primary Care trusts, mental Health sector and various hospital departments. Placements will mainly be in the Merseyside and Cheshire area and whilst efforts are made to minimise travelling for students, there is no guarantee that all placements will be close to a student’s home or term time address. How will I travel to my placements? If you are in student accommodation reserved for healthcare students (Marybone III), you are well situated to reach your placements by public transport. You will be only a 5-minute walk away from the local rail network and the main city centre bus stops. Who will train me when I am on placement? You will be placed with a qualified health professional mentor who will guide you throughout your placement. Will I work shifts? Yes, there is a requirement for students to work the full range of shifts as would be expected once qualified. This means nightshifts and weekend working as well as normal early and late shifts. As a Paramedic, you will gain much more handson experience by working these shift patterns. Students are supernumerary to the staffing structure in place and for the majority of the time you will work shifts the same as that of your mentor. APPLICATIONS & SELECTION PROCESSES (including mature applicants, convictions and medicals) How do I apply? Applications must be made online through UCAS www.ucas.ac.uk. You can apply for up to 5 courses on one application and UCAS forwards it to the relevant universities. We only accept on time applications which are those received at UCAS by 15th January in each application cycle. How many places do you have? Places are commissioned on an annual basis by the Strategic Health Authority and normally vary from year to year. I am a mature student without formal qualifications, can I apply? Unfortunately, due to the volume of applicants and demand for the programme backed with professional requirements, we can only consider those who meet our minimum criteria. Full details of this criteria can be found on our fact file Do I need a driving licence to apply? Yes, a full driving licence will be required and must be held BEFORE you apply, including a provisional C1 licence. Is there a fitness test? No. There is an expectation that you will fully prepare for employment with the ambulance service over the two years of the programme. You will be expected to complete a series of assessments involving moving and handling techniques. The assessments will be on going, in practice and within the university. This is necessary to ensure that you have sufficient physical ability to cope with extreme work demands as and when these occur and to minimise the health risks/injuries known to occur within low fitness groups when regularly engaged in such hard physical work. The university will offer support through theory and practice along with a series of health and fitness opportunities. I want to apply for Paramedic Practice but am apprehensive as a mature student of being at university with school leavers, would this be the case? Our age range of new students onto programmes to date is quite broad in each new intake. We have the highest number of undergraduate mature students than any other Faculty in the University. We appreciate the contributions that both mature and younger students alike can make, as normally students will have different perspectives and outlooks which is a valuable learning tool. Are there any age restrictions? There are no age restrictions but all applicants must hold a full driving licence and a full/provisional C1 before they can be considered. There is no maximum age limit to apply, however, there is a requirement that you would be able to work after completion before reaching the normal retirement age in the NHS. What are the qualification criteria? Please refer to the fact file for this programme which contains detailed qualification criteria. Is there any other criteria? Yes, any offer will be made subject to undertaking a satisfactory fitness test, medical examination and CRB Enhanced Disclosure. We require two references from all applicants, one will be completed on your UCAS form and you will be required to provide referee details to us if interviewed. We require to see and hold copies of your formal qualification certificates and photo driving licence. I don’t have English or Maths GCSE at Grade C or above, do you conduct tests? We do not test internally for English and Maths as we are not able to offer the relevant support or feedback. However, we do accept other Level 2 qualifications in these subject areas. For further details please refer to our fact file which contains detailed qualification criteria. How do you make decisions on applications? We will shortlist your application, initially from current qualifications and predicted grades if you are still studying, if you meet our qualification criteria we will then look at your personal statement and reference. We will also need to ensure you hold a full driving licence. At the minimum, we are looking for applicants to fully demonstrate relevant healthcare experience (including working with voluntary organisations), an understanding of and research into the role and the direction of the Ambulance Service and clear rationale for applying. Will I have to be interviewed? Yes, we invite all suitable applicants to a selection process. What is the interview process? The selection day commences with an academic presentation about the course. There will be a group of potential students invited to this before we commence individual interviews. We try to arrange selection processes for a.m. or p.m commencement based on your geographical location but this is not always possible. All applicants are considered against the same criteria. I have access requirements to be able to attend an interview, what do I need to do? Please inform us at the earliest opportunity should you require anything that will help you attend your interview, the more notice we have the better to make suitable arrangements. For example, should you require a signer, information in large print or ground floor interview location, you can let us know before you are invited to interview to ensure that we meet your needs. Do I need to bring anything to interview? You should bring in all relevant qualification certificates and photo driving licence showing full/provisional C1 entitlement. Further information will be in your interview invite. What if I can’t attend interview? You should request another date via UCAS Track. Due to the high volume of applications that we receive for Paramedic Practice, it is not always possible for us to re-allocate interviews for non-attendees. If you don’t attend and have not informed us, your application will be withdrawn via UCAS. If you inform us with plenty of notice that you cannot attend, we may be able to offer you another date, however, that does depend on how many more selection processes we have scheduled before a decision needs to be made on your application (due to UCAS deadlines) and whether or not they are already allocated. When will I be informed of the decision? As we are required to give all ‘on-time’ applicants equal consideration, we cannot guarantee you will receive a decision from us quickly. We will make some offers within two weeks of each selection process but more often than not, applicants will have to wait for a decision until the end of April, after all selection processes are complete and we have been able to consider each applicant individually. Details of any decision made will be relayed via UCAS. UCAS Track informs me I have been rejected, can I find out why? Yes, we give basic feedback on the reason for your rejection on UCAS track, if you wish for more detailed feedback, for example, after interview, we request that applicants email us and we will respond to these requests with as much detail as possible within 6 weeks. After rejection, can I apply again? Yes, you can apply again in the next UCAS cycle. I have a criminal conviction, will that go against me? It will depend on the circumstances. If you are invited to interview, you will be sent a declaration form asking to follow the Faculty’s internal processes should you have any bind-over orders, prior or current investigations by the police or employer / suspension by an employer or regulatory body, reprimands, final warnings. The information you provide will be treated confidentially and considered by a panel of senior academic and NHS staff. If you fail to provide this information and it is then discovered that you have not declared something to us, your place will be withdrawn. I have a medical condition, will I still be able considered for Paramedic Practice? The competence standards are set by the Department of Health and the Health Professions Council. The University Occupational Health Service undertakes health screening for all healthcare students in accordance with current guidance from these regulatory bodies. This health screening includes assessment of any medical conditions and any mental or physical impairments which are relevant to the core competencies. Adjustments to the training course, which are needed on medical grounds are possible in most circumstances. There are very few medical conditions or functional impairments which would prevent a student from training altogether. EMPLOYMENT AND CAREER OPTIONS What career options are available to me? Following completion of the programme, students will be eligible for professional registration as a Paramedic Practitioner which will give eligibility for employment opportunities across the UK. LEARNING SUPPORT I have a disability, what support will JMU provide? If we are aware of your disability, i.e. you have identified it on your UCAS form, we will let our Welfare Disability Advisor know once you have accepted an offer from us. If you have not informed UCAS of a disability please contact us directly so that we may record this information and inform welfare, alternatively, you can contact them directly at [email protected]. What support will I receive when I am at university and on placement? At commencement you will be allocated a personal tutor, who you will have meetings with a few times a year, or ad-hoc if the need arises. It is with this tutor that you can discuss any issues you may have. Each module you study has a module leader who will provide guidance and support throughout your modular learning. While on Placement you will be allocated a qualified mentor and will be visited by an academic at least once on each placement to ensure that you are not experiencing difficulties.