Placement providers
Paramedic Practice Education
Information for providers of practice education for paramedics.
Thank you for committing to supporting future paramedics attending York St John University.
Practice Education is a central part of our programme and we aim to make it a valuable experience for students, practice educators and the organisations the support them. We offer a number of different options to meet the needs of practice educators in supporting our students and welcome an opportunity to discuss this.
Paramedic practice education in the MSc Paramedic programme at York St John University is delivered in a hub and spoke model, with a single, full year placement, governed by a single module in each year.
The 'hub' refers to the ambulance-based practice education and during 'spoke' placements students will work with other professionals in different settings, such as primary care and hospital wards.
The aim of practice education in to ensure that, by the time of graduation, students can appropriately integrate theory and practice to the standard expected of a paramedic.
Assessment in Practice
York St John University has based the assessment of practice on the concepts developed by Dr Andy Freeman-May (2012). This work discussed areas of capability aligns to the professional responsibility of paramedics and the requirements of the Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC) Standards of Proficiency for Paramedics (2014). In essence, the capability framework provides an operational framework for the Standards of Proficiency and allows for the analysis of student performance as they progress to seek competency in those standards.
Assessment is recorded in the Practice Assessment Document, which is an electronic record managed in PebblePad. An explanation of the assessment criteria can be found alongside documents within the PebblePad system.
Support for Practice Education
Practice Educator Handbooks are integrated into the electronic practice assessment documentation. Students are able to grant practice educators access to this, or you can contact a paramedic staff member for access. We will also supply copies of the College of Paramedics Practice Educator Handbook if required.
Support for practice educations can be found in the following pages:
- Placements at York St John - information for students on Allied Health placements.
- Using PebblePad - how to use the e-portfolio system.
Contact the Paramedic MSc academic team if you have any questions:
Absences and adjustments
Reporting absence
Reporting to the university
It is imperative that students report all time off from placement to admin.health@yorksj.ac.uk and through the Absence or Self-Isolation Report Form.
Students should also give an indication of when they will be returning to the placement. Students must record the absence in their electronic Practice Assessment Document.
Reporting to the placement
Students are advised to report their absence to practice organisation in accordance with local policies, normally at least 2 hours before the first absent shift.
If a student fails to report sickness or absence but remains away from placement please notify the Programme Administration and Support Service at York St John on admin.health@yorksj.ac.uk and contact the academic assessor.
Making reasonable adjustments
Supporting adjustments
Reasonable adjustments for students are supported by York St John University and their placement providers throughout the practice placements.
If a student has a problem or health condition which may compromise their fitness to practise, it is the student's responsibility to protect themselves and their patients/clients by seeking appropriate support.
Practice assessors and practice supervisors can support students by working with academic assessors and guiding students through the 5 step process.
Any information a student provides you with about a disability must be processed sensitively and confidentially.
Five Step Support Process
| Step | Actions |
|---|---|
| Step 1 | Students meet with University Disability Practitioner to identify needs and discuss strategies and support. |
| Step 2 | Student meets with academic assessor to discuss how strategies and support needs might be implemented in practice placement. |
| Step 3 | Student completes Placement Support Agreement to share with practice assessor / practice supervisor. This should be uploaded into the ePortfolio. |
| Step 4 | Academic assessor may contact practice learning facilitator if required to make any specific arrangements agreed with the student. |
| Step 5 | Student and academic assessor review adjustments to ensure support is adequate. |
