Ivy Tech Kokomo streamlines paramedic training courses to just four semesters
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Right now, there are more than 200 job openings in the state of Indiana for paramedics. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 percent of the paramedic jobs in the United States today are unfilled. That number is expected to increase by another six percent over the next decade.
The presence of a paramedic is a matter of life or death. Not having enough of them constitutes a crisis, especially for you or your loved ones when a health emergency arises. Ivy Tech Community College realizes this, and it is trying to address the problem.
The Kokomo campus recently unveiled an accelerated Paramedic certification program, which fully takes place this fall. The new career path is streamlined, flexible, and fast. According to Mark Fair, Program Chair of Health Sciences and lead paramedic instructor, gaining certification has never been easier or more convenient.
“We’re cutting the paramedic program down to four semesters,” said Fair. “We're condensing it to where they're taking more than one class at a time, which is different than what we've been doing.
“The goal is to get more paramedics out faster, which helps serve the community. We want to help meet the students’ needs and the community needs.”
Fair explained that students, who must already be working as EMTs in order to take the paramedic training, often find work and home schedules come into conflict with furthering their education. EMTs are subject to shift work, which means 24 hours on shift, followed by 48 hours off.
“It's really hard for them to schedule a Monday class, because every third Monday they work,” said Fair. “With this type of program, they’ll do a lot of the online learning around their schedules.”
The change also benefits employers by avoiding the need to pay other EMTs overtime to cover the student’s shifts.
Paul Reeder, paramedic and instructor, explained how the program has been streamlined.
“We hold classes that can run simultaneously together, that don't interfere with each other,” said Reeder. “But some, like cardiology, is a section just by itself. We can't intermingle it with anything else.
“Your first semester is an EMT refresher, and then we also have pharmacology in the afternoon. That's really the starting point of paramedic classes. We're running all these didactic classroom portions at the first part of paramedic school, and we're putting all the clinicals at the end.”
The didactic classes are held online so that students can advance at their own pace. Once mastery of the subject is demonstrated, the students proceed to the next online class. And the program identifies where students are struggling, offers an assessment, and then allows the student to retake the exam.
“We're trying to meet the needs of the newer generation, because technology will never go away,” said Reeder. “We're trying to work in technology, especially AI, to form the mastery skills of how to do and learn things better for the individual student.”
There is also a live class, which is required one day a week for eight hours. Lab work takes place during the session.
“The first hour of class is all question and answer time,” said Reeder. “Then, the rest of that time is using your skills.”
In addition to already working as an EMT, prospective students must have taken Anatomy 101 to qualify for the paramedic program. According to Tammy Greene, Dean of Health Sciences, that class is offered every eight weeks throughout the year, making it easier for students to meet the prerequisites.
“It's not just about getting students in our classroom,” said Greene. “These are our communities. It's our loved ones out there, and we want those first responders. We want those well-trained medics getting us to the hospital alive.”
Reeder explained that students can pursue the Paramedic technical certificate, or they may opt for a degree program. Either allows the student to take the national registry exam.
And, as an incentive to employers who need their workers trained, Reeder said there is grant money available that will pay $5,000 per student, up to 10 students, to help them cover the cost of training.
There are other expenses that go along with becoming a paramedic, and Ivy Tech is finding ways to assist with those as well, Greene explained.
“They have to get a physical exam, and they have to get certain immunizations to be able to do clinicals,” said Greene. “If they don't have those already, we will offer a Student Readiness Clinic, and NIPSCO has already promised us $2,500 to fund this. We'll be able to get the first 50 students their physical exams, immunizations, and TB tests for free.”
The college is working with other community partners to help fund this portion of the program, Greene said.
Individuals and organizations interested in this streamlined paramedic program are encouraged to visit https://www.ivytech.edu/programs/all-academic-programs/school-of-health-sciences/paramedic-science/