The Open University (OU) has a mission to be as open as possible to people, places, methods and ideas, and this is achieved by offering our modules and awards to everyone who wants to study, regardless of their previous academic qualifications or geographical location. From its inception more than 40 years ago, the OU has grown rapidly, and is now a university with global reach that offers supported open learning in a variety of formats. OU students receive tailor-made teaching materials which they can study wherever and whenever suits them. Every student is supported by a dedicated tutor who can answer academic queries, and a network of other people who can advise on anything from IT problems to career guidance. In short, it is a regular university at the end of the phone or email. The OU has had more than a million students—more than nearly every other university, and enough to demonstrate that the supported open learning model works effectively. The OU is the world leader in providing low-cost, high quality distance education.
What can the OU offer paramedics?
So what can the OU offer to people in the emergency care area? It might seem counterintuitive to teach such a hands-on subject at a distance, but the OU achieves this by entering into partnerships with employers who can deliver face-to-face the practical aspects of the subject. In this way, students learn theoretical material at the same time as improving their practical skills, and so have the opportunity to underpin practice with theory—this is a central tenet of the awards. Students must be employed in a relevant field while they are studying, and this benefits both the students themselves, who can earn while they learn, and the employers, who can select their most promising employees for career development by this route. The OU offers a foundation degree (FD) in paramedic sciences, and a diploma of higher education (DipHE) in paramedic sciences. The content and structure of these awards is identical, but for various cultural and financial reasons some employers favour one or the other—for example, foundation degrees are not recognized in Scotland, so Scottish students undertake the diploma version of the award. From the student's point of view, the learning experience is the same regardless of the name.
Both awards are accredited by the UK's Health Professions Council (HPC), and any graduate of either award is eligible to apply to the HPC for registration as a paramedic. Thus, these awards are most suitable for people currently working at ambulance technician or emergency care assistant level, and wishing to become a paramedic. The FD has also proved popular with paramedics who already have HPC accreditation but who wish to obtain higher education qualifications to strengthen their knowledge base.
What is special about the OU study
OU students benefit from cutting-edge technology that delivers high quality teaching material in a variety of ways. Far from being a ‘correspondence course’, an OU course contains a wide range of materials. These materials include specially written texts, audio, video and online interactive resources (an online interactive resuscitation manikin) and Interactive Leg, which helps students to develop an understanding of the damage patterns in lower limb trauma. Some material can even be accessed via mobile phones. Personal study is supported through the OU's world-class online library, and of course the tutor is only a phone call or email away.
‘These awards are most suitable for people currently working at ambulance technician or emergency care assistant level’
Although there are deadlines for submitting assessments, study can be undertaken wherever and whenever convenient. This makes the OU particularly useful for people who struggle to balance work and home life, shift patterns and emergency call-outs. Study sessions can be fitted around all the other competing demands, and no back-fill is needed for ‘college weeks’. Importantly also, OU courses are realistically priced and represent real value for money.
Partnership is key
How does the partnership between the OU and the employer work? Broadly speaking, the responsibilities are split as follows. The OU ‘owns’ the students, and is responsible for delivering all the theoretical learning, supplying tutors, and setting and administering the assessment. It awards the FD or DipHE. The employer, for their part, selects the employees they consider able to undertake further study, provides qualified mentors in the workplace, arranges suitable clinical experiences and practice placements, and supports the students in such matters as IT availability and appropriate clinical teaching tools.
Usually the employer also pays the student's tuition fees: students may pay for themselves, but the employer must still support them in the practical ways listed. This division of labour seems to work effectively, as both partners are doing what they are best at, and students are assured a good all-round experience.
What is in the OU paramedic awards
As the award is designed to be studied part-time, it takes four academic years to complete from scratch. For each of the four years, students study theory modules in parallel with work-based learning modules (Box 1). The level 1 work-based learning modules focus on core generic skills such as numeracy, IT, communication, team working and health and safety. Students carry out activities that are relevant to their practice, and are expected to achieve a range of practical competencies. The competencies were drawn up with advice from a number of ambulance trusts and the College of Paramedics, and with due reference to the JRCALC guidelines. They represent nationally transferable skills, so that an OU paramedic sciences graduate can operate safely and effectively in any part of the country (and beyond).
| Year | Practice | Theory |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Health sciences in practice (60 credits) | Introducing health sciences: a case study approach (30 credits) |
| 2 | Molecules, medicines and drugs (10 credits) plus 20 credits from a range of modules* |
|
| 3 | Developing your paramedic practice | Human biology and health (30 credits) |
| (60 credits) | ||
| 4 | The science of the mind: investigating mental health (30 credits) | |
| Total credits | 120 | 120 |
Students also start to build up a reflective portfolio of evidence. The portfolio is electronic, and resides on an OU server for the duration of the student's studies; following graduation, it can be transferred to a site of the individual's choosing. Students continue to add evidence to their portfolio during their level 2 studies, and the level 2 work-based module focuses on paramedic-specific practical skills. The topics covered in the work-based modules are listed in Box 2. The whole award is rounded up by an individual project, during which students research a chosen clinical procedure, and study both the research underpinning it and how it has been evaluated by clinical audit. The result of this is to bring sharply into focus the real meaning of evidence-based practice, and the project gives students the opportunity to test the waters of clinical research for themselves.
| Generic skills | Specific skills |
|---|---|
| IT skills | Biochemistry |
| Numeracy | Introduction to enzymology |
| Communication | Introduction to pharmacology |
| Team-working | Pathophysiology |
| Health and Safety | Patient assessment |
| Problem solving | Wound assessment |
| Legal and ethical issues | Trauma |
| Evidence-based practice | Managing conflict and hostile incidents |
| Research methods | Advanced airway management |
| Quality assurance and audit | Critical care transfer |
| Clinical decision-making | Paediatric practice |
| Becoming an autonomous | Obstetric practice. |
| practitioner |
Is the OU way effective
Like all higher education, OU study makes intellectual demands on its students that some find challenging. However, the OU has always prided itself on making even the toughest topics accessible to people with no, or few, prior educational achievements. There is a wide safety net of advice and help, and no student need struggle in isolation.
Approximately 70% of OU students are in work, so hints and tips on time management are readily available. Those subsequently seeking employment will be pleased to learn that many employers prefer OU graduates to others, as successful OU study is a strong indicator of personal qualities such as motivation, organisation and self-reliance, as well as academic achievement.
In terms of the quality of paramedics achieving the OU qualification, a full evaluation has not yet been published, but early indications are that OU students are at least as good as students studying by more conventional routes (E.M. Ryan, personal communication).
What do students think
Feedback from students on the OU's paramedic awards has been enthusiastic. Comments such as ‘…well written and the materials are excellent’ were common (Jelfs, 2008). Although there is no doubt that there is a lot of work involved, by and large students cope well and stick with the course, and emerge successfully with a good higher education qualification that is the gateway to professional registration. A key factor in their success is the support they receive from their employers, particularly the mentor. Poor mentoring makes it difficult for students to do well, but with good mentoring students are able to develop their full potential, and some truly shine.
Other options
Although the FD and the DipHE in paramedic sciences are the core of the OU's offering, other study options are available. Students who successfully complete their level 1 study but who elect to go no further need not go away empty-handed, as they can claim a certificate in healthcare science. For those people who already have some academic qualifications the OU can offer credit transfer, in which previous credit from other universities may be counted instead of OU modules.
Some students with extensive practical experience may be able to take a shortened version of the level 1 work-based module—the APEL (accreditation of prior experiential learning) route.
Finally, for people who wish to improve their higher education qualifications but who do not need HPC registration, there is a new award: a diploma in paramedic science, consisting of the level 2 modules of the FD.
Conclusion
Although it is sometimes regarded as a university that delivers only theory modules, the OU's suite of awards in paramedic sciences shows that practical subjects can be successfully taught at a distance. Central to this is the establishment of strong partnerships with employers who deliver the hands-on training which is underpinned by OU-delivered theory. The model works well, and its flexibility makes it suitable for a wide variety of students with differing academic needs.
For further information, please contact Lisa Caton (l.caton@open.ac.uk), or visit http://tinyurl.com/6hf44mn.