PMED1010 Introduction to Paramedicine Course description

The point of departure for the course is the scientific and humanistic basis for well-functioning health care services and paramedical professional practice. The course will particularly focus on knowledge and skills that promote respect, empathy, reflection and relational competence. Practical training in interaction, basic infection control and lifesaving first aid are part of the course. The course also emphasises learning in an academic context, and written and oral presentation.

The student must have been admitted to the study programme.

After completing the course, the student should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student

• can describe the history of emergency medicine, the professional tradition, and their own profession
• can explain the structure of the healthcare system and the ambulance service’s place within it
• can refer to relevant laws, regulations, and rules that govern the healthcare service and the paramedic profession
• can recount the basic theories of good hygiene
• can explain basic ethical and communicative theories and perspectives relevant to professional practice
• can describe the purpose of patient safety, public health work, and the Public Health Act
• can describe the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and their significance for public health
• can describe the basic concepts, mechanisms, and tools behind digitalisation
• can describe how digitalisation shapes public and private life
• can describe simulation and skills training as a method
• can describe basic decision-making models
• can explain what evidence-based practice (EBP) is, describe the steps in the EBP model, and identify the characteristics of a scientific article (e.g., IMRAD)
• can explain the basic principles of life-saving first aid

Skills

The student

• can perform life-saving first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation with a semi-automatic defibrillator (DHLR)
• can apply basic hygienic and infection prevention techniques, including the use of protective gloves, proper handwashing, and hand disinfection
• can write reflection notes from observation practice
• can process and apply relevant research in written presentations
• can describe how the paramedic can contribute to patient safety, preventive, and health-promoting work

General competence

The student

• can reflect on relevant issues in prehospital work and the student role in the healthcare system
• can reflect on the social, ethical, and political consequences of technological change and provide examples of local and global technological differences, both generally and in relation to their field
• can communicate and collaborate with fellow students and others in teams/groups
• can reflect on ethical and communicative challenges related to professional practice
• can identify their own knowledge and learning needs and acquire new knowledge and skills

The work and teaching methods on the programme comprise lectures, seminars, group work in student groups of five to eight students, observational practice and simulation and skills training.

The students will take part in a two to three-day long observational practice in the ambulance service. The students also carry out simulation and skills training in lifesaving first aid.

The following must have been approved in order for the student to take the exam:

• Minimum attendance of 90% in observational practice placement
• Minimum attendance of 90% in simulation and skills training
• Minimum attendance of 80% at seminars and study groups
• One individual written reflection note from observational practice placement, 1000 words.
• Individual practical test in lifesaving first aid

Oral exam in groups of 4-6 students.

The exam consists of a presentation (approx. 20-30 min.) and subsequent examination (approx. 10-20 min.) The students will be assigned a topic for their presentation one week before the exam. The exam group is normally given the same assessment (pass/fail). In special cases, individual assessment may be given.

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with.

Pass/fail.

All answers are assessed by two examiners. An external examiner is used regularly, at a minimum of every third completion of the course. If selecting answers for external evaluation, the external examiner’s assessment of the selected answers shall benefit all students.

5 credits overlap with the course PMED1000 Introduction to Paramedicine