Choosing to work as a paramedic is one of the most advantageous career opportunities available. There are a huge number of career options for qualified paramedics, including advanced positions within the field. Whether you are looking to train as a doctor, a nurse, a medical practitioner, a GP or even a physical trainer, working as a paramedic will put you ahead of the competition. In this blog, we’ll look what career options are available for paramedics.
What do paramedics do?
Typically, paramedics work with rapid ambulance response units, attending urgent situations. When working in an ambulance crew, paramedics are usually the senior professional health officer among the two-person crew, while the second person is the ambulance technician assistant. Typical examples of emergency situations attended to by paramedics include administering immediate treatment to casualties or affected persons before transferring them to the hospital. Other emergencies include sudden ailment, attending to casualties in criminal violence, fire and other forms of accident. Paramedics usually arrive at an emergency scene before any other professional healthcare team.
Where Could a Paramedic Career Lead?
If you are aspiring to become a paramedic, one of the questions that may cross your mind is “Where could a career as a paramedic lead to?”
Luckily, there are many answers to this question.
First, in respect of promotional opportunities, you can attain higher levels in the paramedic field within the NHS. This can be done after 2 years of working as a paramedic. From the onset, paramedics will become an emergency service team leader (you must show sufficient experience and expertise to attain this position). Subsequently, you can attain higher posts such as the following:
- Assistant director of operations
- Operational manager
- Senior position in the control room.
You can attain managerial posts as a paramedic as soon as you have a proof of managerial qualifications. The more qualified you are, the better the managerial promotional positions that will open up to you.
Paramedic Career Opportunities
In terms of career advancement, a paramedic career may also lead to diverse areas such as working in the healthcare sector and beyond. For instance, some paramedics work in the oil and gas sector.
Paramedics may also advance to other related occupations within healthcare. You can take up clinical roles such as nursing, or you may also decide to migrate to a career in non-clinical paramedic sector. For example, working in the National Health Service (NHS) trust management and administration. Other non-clinical roles include personnel management within the NHS or outside the health sector (with additional qualifications related to HR management). In other words, you will need to get specialist qualifications en route.
Some paramedics may eventually opt to take lecturing appointments on paramedical-related science courses. Others may switch to careers in other uniformed services. Thus, it is not uncommon to find someone with a paramedic experience working in the police or other armed forces, including the fire service.
Again, there are new clinical roles in addition to the traditional roles of a paramedic. This is why you can now find some paramedics working as ECPs (Emergency Care Practitioners) alongside, doctors and nurses in various units such as the GP surgeries, health centres, community hospitals, as well as accidents and emergency departments in hospitals. Obviously, there are plenty of options, and the choice is entirely yours to make. For more information, take a look at the official paramedics NHS website!
