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Designed to equip the paramedic with the necessary knowledge and skills to undertake a leadership role in providing essential care to urgent, low acuity patients in the out of hospital, community, urgent and primary healthcare settings. A Paramedic Practitioner or Advanced Care Practitioner (Paramedic) is a healthcare professional who has highly developed clinical reasoning, advanced assessment skills and knowledge who can work collaboratively within the healthcare system. Paramedic Practitioners are able to provide specialist clinical care to people with urgent illness and injuries and low acuity patients in the out of hospital, community and primary care environments within urban, rural and/or remote populations. The course focuses on the clinical issues directly related to practice and develops a greater depth of understanding to enhance clinical decision making and critical thinking. Students will learn advanced-level clinical reasoning, assessment and knowledge to apply to their daily paramedical practice, while at the same time learning advanced skills in evidence-based practice and research. The combination of advanced clinical knowledge and applied research skills provides students with the ability to continuously improve their own clinical practice, as well as positively impact the organisation they are employed by, the broader paramedicine community and healthcare system.
This course information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester. In particular please check the course requirements and the unit and unit set offerings, as these differ according to course delivery location.
Students are required to participate in a minimum of 100 hours (10 days) of clinical placement in a community, primary health care or urgent care environment or equivalent, as agreed with the course coordinator. In the event that clinical placement days are not available for students in their home location, they may be required to attend clinical placement in Western Australia and/or a workshop/simulation-based learning activity to meet the learning outcomes of the Practicum unit.
To be eligible to undertake clinical practice and fulfill their duty of care, students are required to complete risk management protocols on enrollment and carry out amendments in subsequent semesters, as appropriate. Risk management protocols include, but are not restricted to: Certificate of National Police Clearance Evidence of immunisation status as per the Department of Health schedule, more information at www.health.wa.gov.au/circularsnew/circular.cfm?Circ_ID=12275 MRSA clearance if worked in, or been admitted to, a health facility outside of Western Australia in the 12 months prior to enrollment Working with Children Check, more information at www.checkwwc.wa.gov.au
Students may be required to attend clinical placements Monday-Sunday including public holidays and university breaks at the direction of the placement providers. The hours of these placements vary and may include early morning starts and night shifts. Clinical placement periods may change with minimal notice to students due to circumstances outside the control of the university.
Students are to enrol in the Paramedic Advanced Care Practicum Unit
Students are required to adhere to the Professional Practice Rules & Procedures and Code of Professional Conduct for Paramedics in line with their professional registration bodies.
English competency requirements may be satisfied through completion of one of the following:
All applicants are required to have a Bachelors degree in Paramedicine, or a Graduate Certificate or Graduate Diploma of Extended Care Paramedicine, with equivalents considered. Alternatively applicants can apply with equivalent prior learning including at least five years appropriate professional experience. It is desirable that all applicants Current Paramedic Registration with AHPRA or UK HCPC or NZ Paramedic Council, with equivalents considered.
This course has been accredited by ECU as an AQF Level 9 Masters Degree (Coursework) Award.
Students will undertake clinical practicum during the hours laid down by their host clinical agency and that these may occur at times outside the identified semester weeks including weekends, public holidays, early mornings, evenings and nights. Additionally, pre-identified clinical practicum periods may change with minimal notice to students due to circumstances outside the control of the School. In the event that practical components of this course are not able to be completed in the students home location, they may be required to attend practical workshops and/or external clinical placements in Western Australia and/or simulation-based learning activities.
Students must complete the seven core units and two core unit options. Core unit options need to include one of NRB5112 or MMP6102 to be eligible to graduate.
| Unit Code | Unit Title | Credit Points |
|---|---|---|
| PST6110 | Advanced Clinical Examination and Leadership for Paramedics | 20 |
| MMP6100 | Evidence-Based Practice | 20 |
| PST5300 | Paramedic Advanced Practice 1 | 20 |
Students studying part time should ensure that their first unit of study is PST6110 Advanced Clinical Examination and Leadership for Paramedics with or followed by MMP6100 Evidenced-based practice.
| Unit Code | Unit Title | Credit Points |
|---|---|---|
| PST5301 | Paramedic Advanced Practice 2 | 20 |
| PST5302 | Paramedic Advanced Practice 3 | 20 |
| PSP6450 | Paramedic Advanced Care Practicum | 20 |
| Unit Code | Unit Title | Credit Points |
|---|---|---|
| HST6355 | Ageing, Health and Wellbeing | 20 |
| Students must select one of the following two units: | ||
| NRB5112 ^ | Translational Science | 20 |
| MMP6102 ^ | Medical Science Masters Project | 20 |
| Students must select one of the following units | ||
| PST5107 ^ | Advanced Obstetrics for Paramedics | 20 |
| CMH5216 ^ | Community Mental Health | 20 |
| HST6337 ^ | Communicable Disease | 20 |
| HST6350 ^ | Drug Use and Addictive Behaviours | 20 |
| OHS6138 ^ | Occupational Health Management | 20 |
| DER6204 ^ | Humanitarian and Complex Disaster Response | 20 |
Note: You must choose either MMP6102 or NRB5112 as one of your core unit options to be eligible to graduate. The practicum unit is a full year unit that spans two semesters. Core option units may not be available every semester, please check timetable for offerings of units. Students who cannot complete the Masters degree may be able to exit with a Graduate Certificate or a Graduate Diploma of Extended Care Paramedicine with Course Coordinator approval. Students who commence the course in Semester 2 or those studying part-time will follow a slightly different sequencing of units.
^ Core Option
For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.
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