Getting to grips with neurosciences intensive care

I trained in London as a student paramedic and qualified in 2012. I have a degree in an unrelated subject and was glad of the opportunity to qualify via the Institute for Healthcare Development (IHCD) route as I could not have afforded to go back to university to study paramedic science at the time.

Not long after qualifying, I moved to Manchester to work (London rent prices got too much!) until 2016 when I got a job with the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance. I had done some self-directed study while in Manchester and achieved a Postgraduate Certificate in Prehospital Critical Care from the University of Warwick, which put me in a good position to continue studying for a Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Clinical Practice while at HEMS (helicopter emergency medical services).

In 2020, I was employed by University Hospital Southampton as a Trainee Advanced Critical Care Practitioner in the neuroscience intensive care unit and have switched onto the Advanced Critical Care Practitioner (ACCP) MSc. course, which will allow me to apply for membership of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine as an ACCP on completion.