Training
Paramedic education or the study of paramedicine in Canada is intense, as paramedics are seen as medical professionals. Nevertheless, the nature of education and how it is regulated, like actual paramedic practice, varies from province to province across Canada. Paramedics perform many controlled medical acts that can be provided by emergency medical services or paramedic services. In Ontario paramedics perform more controlled medical acts than all other health care professions, besides a physician. However, the authorization to perform these controlled medical acts vary province to province. Paramedic education varies regionally, for example, the primary care paramedic program may be six months (British Columbia), eleven months in Manitoba and two years to four years in Ontario.
Training as an advanced care paramedic (ACP) requires that the student be first registered as a primary care paramedic. Eligibility for ACP training varies from immediate entry following PCP registration to a mandatory period of experience working as a PCP for usually one to three years. The length of time required to complete ACP training also varies between provinces, and it is generally inversely related to the length of time required to have completed the prerequisite PCP training. Shorter (around one year) programs build upon the education already learned in a 2 year PCP training program, while longer (typically up to two years) college programs typically cater to PCP who graduated from shorter PCP programs.
Thus, while there is continual debate on the merits of longer or shorter PCP programs (often centered around teaching philosophy), in common, ACPs across Canada will generally have completed approximately 3 years of intense formal education, inclusive of didactic study and clinical placements. There is a bachelor of health science in paramedicine currently available in Canada and becoming the standard of paramedic education. This would be comparable to when nursing moved from the college based program to the collaborative or university based program in Canada. These programs are often offered through partnerships between Canadian universities and community colleges, blending vocational training with higher education.
The accreditation of paramedic educational programs in Canada also varies from province to province. The Canadian Medical Association's Committee on Conjoint Accreditation offers the most comprehensive and best known system of national accreditation. Their accreditation model is an independent body, and draws from The "National Occupational Competency Profile" as the benchmark document that details the knowledge, skills and abilities outcomes that must be possessed by practitioners of each respective level of paramedic practice.
Read more about this topic: Paramedics In Canada
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