Program Review for Emergency Medical Services
Program Review Framework & Criteria
I. Connection: From interest to application (Qualitative, program head and dean)
1) Please provide a description of any changes to the program since the last cycle and the appropriate updates to the catalog (general education changes, program requirement changes, ancillary program costs for students, hours/credits of credentials, etc.).
2) How do students find out about the program? Please provide examples of advising activities, marketing materials, or other outreach and engagement events designed to recruit students to the program.
The PHCC EMS Program maintains easy-to-understand informational/advising sheets on each of the EMS pathways on the PHCC EMS Webpage, along with a direct link to email the Program Director with any questions. The Program maintains an active Facebook page which can be accessed from the PHCC Social Media Directory; this page has been used to highlight student/graduate achievements, pictures & video from EMS classes, as well as updating when the EMS application period is open. The Program Director emails updates to the area rescue squads/fire departments on the the EMS application period, as well copies of the information/advising sheets. In addition, the Program Director is often requested to present on the EMS Program at regional EMS courses.
II. Entry: From application to pathway entry (Qualitative, program head and dean)
1) Please provide a description of your program credentials and how they stack into one another.
The Program works from a perspective of having a parent degree, which is the AAS-Paramedic, which can be earned without necessarily earning credentials underneath it, though we do have the students apply for graduation from the EMT & Advanced EMT CSCs throughout the AAS-Paramedic Program if they have completed all the required courses.Most of the graduates of the AAS-Paramedic degree come into PHCC with an EMT certification already, & are able to receive CAEL for that, which shortens their degree from 5 semesters to 4. The EMT & Advanced EMT CSCs allow for the student who just want the EMT or AEMT certifications to earn that credential from PHCC & complete the classes required to sit for the required National Registry exam. We also have an outlined pathway of study for those students who have already earned an EMT-Intermediate certification & wish to "bridge" up to Paramedic.
Questions for consideration:
1.a. What is the employability (or transferability) of each credential?
All of the graduates from each of the credentials earned in the EMS Program (EMT, AEMT, & Paramedic) are employed in the Emergency Medical Services field, once they are officially certified. These positions include Public Safety agencies, Fire Departments, Ambulance Transport services, & Emergency Department technicians. Starting out pay for the EMT & AEMT certification ranges between $12-15/hr, Paramedic pay is anywhere between $16-$18/hr, depending on regional location.
The AAS-Paramedic is also transferable to the Radford University-Carilion Paramedic Bachelor of Science program, as well as the Health Science Bachelor of Science program at Old Dominion University.
1.b. Do all credits from a sub-credential transfer into the parent credential?
1.c. What is the timeframe of completion for all credentials within the program (i.e. is the program setup to award sub-credentials prior to the parent credential)?
A student who has zero previous college work can earn the AAS-Paramedic degree in 5 semesters, provided that he/she does not need any math/english developmental courses. In EMS educational circles, this is often referred to as the "Zero to Hero" pathway. However, most students enter the AAS-Paramedic degree program already certified as an EMT, so this shaves their required semesters down to 4.
Semester 1, Spring
- may take the National Registry EMT practical & cognitive examinations
Semester 2, Fall
- no certification available at this stage
Semester 3, Spring
- may take the National Registry AEMT practical & cognitive examinations
Semester 4, Fall
- no certification available at this stage
Semester 5 - Spring
- may take the National Registry Paramedic practical & cognitive examinations
2) Program enrollment, if applicable, disaggregated by specialization (Quantitative, IE)
As seen in the Headcount & FTE Table, the HC & FTE have continually increased since 2016-2017. The dip seen in the 2015-2016 Academic Year can most likely be explained by the closing of the Franklin Center site for the now-discontinued EMT-Intermediate Certification Course, plus the takeover of the EMS Program by a new director. Now, with the current Program Director's push for continuous advising of EMS students at each stage in the various EMS credentials & requiring graduation applications by students when eligible for the awarding of credentials, the EMS Program is seeing a continued trend up in HC & ultimately, graduations.
a. Annual program FTE and HC over the last review cycle (To include SCHEV program ratios and SCHEV class ratios)
III. Progress: Pathway advancement (Quantitative, IE)
1) Student learning outcomes data
The EMS Program Student Learning Outcomes continue to be measured at various stages of the student experience in the EMS Program. These outcomes will continue to be scrutinized & updated as the PHCC EMS Program moves into the new VCCS EMS Curriculum, which will necessitate the change in class courses examined & perhaps the outcomes that are being measured.
2) Program credit attainment (15/12 in one semester, 30/24 for those who enrolled in two consecutive semesters)
The majority of students who actually start the AAS-Paramedic level classes in Fall of each year (as the EMS Program starts a new Paramedic cohort) already have the EMT Certification, & are thus awarded CAEL & have 8 credits awarded to their transcript for EMS 111 & EMS 120. In the new VCCS curriculum which started in Fall 2019 for PHCC, students who already have an AEMT certification may apply for CAEL to start in the current cohort in the Spring semester, which allows them credit for EMS 111, 120, 121, 123, 125, 126, 127, 128, 135, 136, 137, & 138 courses (20 credits). Students who are already certified as EMT-Intermediates may apply CAEL & enter the Fall semester of the AAS-Paramedic Program as Second Year students, which awards them credit for all EMS courses prior to the Second Year - EMS 111, 120, 121, 123, 125, 126, 127, 128, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, & 175 (27 credits).
3) Program retention and persistence relative to the start date of the program (subsequent term calculation)
Persistence and Retention Table
FTIC data is starting to look more positive for the EMS Program & this is mostly due to the discontinuance of the previous "step out" point in the AAS Paramedic degree. Up until Spring 2018, students could earn an EMT-Intermediate certification at the completion of their First Year of AAS Paramedic study. This led to many students opting to quit the AAS Paramedic program because they had already earned an Advanced Life Support certification, the pay for this certification was similar to Paramedic pay, & students just didn't have motivation to continue. In anticipation of the National Registry decision to stop offering this credential as of December 31, 2019, to preserve retention in the EMS Program, & also to state the EMS Program's goal of the AAS-Paramedic degree always being tied to the Paramedic certification, the EMT-Intermediate certification option was discontinued. The EMS Program continues to have about the same number of students for each cohort that do not persist in the program secondary to failing a professional course, or deciding that continuing in the EMS field is not for them (between 3-5 per cohort).
IV. Completion: Credential attainment (Quantitative, IE)
1) Sub-credential attainment and timeframe (are students completing sub-credential prior to or at the same time as parent credential?)
Subcredential Completion Table
The EMT-Intermediate CSC pathway was closed in Spring 2018. The Paramedic CSC will close after the Spring 2020 cohort graduates. The Health Technology EMS CSC (EMT) will start picking up now that the EMS 111 & 120 courses have been brought back to PHCC campus to be taught each Spring rather than farmed out to Public Safety adjuncts to teach, & interest has been increased with incoming new students using SEED to obtain the EMT certification & credential. The Health Technology AEMT credential is not yet listed for this program review, but it will be available for the next one as it was just added to PHCC’s credentials list in Fall 2019, with the first course having been taught in Spring 2019.
2) Parent credential attainment and timeframe, if applicable, disaggregated by specialization
This table shows strong completion numbers for the PHCC AAS Paramedic degree. We anticipate this number to continue to rise each year as we tie completion of credential plus application to graduate with the ability to take the certification exam, which is what students ultimately want.
a. Are students completing within 6 semesters (150% of graduation time)?
Yes, they are all completing within 6 semesters.
V. Transition: Employment or transfer post-credential (Quantitative, IE)
1) Transfer outcomes (students who transfer with associate degree, students who transfer without)
The EMS Program does not have much specific data on previous graduates who have transferred to other educational institutions, other than what we happen to know about the graduate because they are still in the area, help precept students, or help teach EMS lab. At least 2 previous students have transferred their Paramedic AAS to Radford University Carilion (previously Jefferson College of Health Sciences) & have subsequently earned a Paramedic Bachelor of Science. At least 4 previous graduates have gone on to Liberty University to pursue non-medical science Bachelors degrees.
2) Student perspective/satisfaction
This survey reflects only 2 students response, which is not unusual when sending out a survey to students who have already completed their work at PHCC. However, as a whole, it shows a great reflection of classes & experience at PHCC. Moving forward, the EMS Program will work with this graduate survey being sent out as the EMS Program Director often has more up-to-date contact information for graduates & get an increased student response.
VI. Sustainability: Future Program Outlook (Mixed methods, IE, program head and dean)
1) Program forecast (major expenditures, changes, personnel needs, etc.); any future costs should be explained in this section)
As the EMS Program continues to expand with a trend of increasing student numbers, as well as providing CSC certification courses that may be taken on their own outside of the parent AAS Paramedic degree, we anticipate a great need for more space. As it stands, a lot of our equipment must remain in storage & pulled out to be used, or classrooms have to be torn apart/put back together for EMS labs each day - this is not a feasible option as we continue to grow. We have also requested an ambulance simulator in our ETF request, which will take up a lot of dedicated room if it is approved.
In addition to additional space, the EMS Program will grow in to a need for a permanent lab instructor/lab manager (probably part time at first, eventually growing to full time). This position would allow for our EMS labs to run more efficiently as well as provide for needed "open lab" times for students to be supervised while practicing skills.
a. Any other pertinent information relevant to the review process should be provided here (e.g. community need, state/federal requirements, external accreditation, SCHEV low enrollment warning, etc.)
The EMS Paramedic Program must maintain an outside accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) as administered by the Commission on Accreditation of EMS Programs (CoAEMSP). The Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services is urging PHCC to begin working on state accreditation of the EMT courses taught, as well as the AEMT courses. This is a project that the EMS Program Director is currently working on.
b. Employment forecast for program (Analyst data)
There is no lacking of EMS jobs in this region, & the farther north you go, the greater the job market is (& an increase in pay). Our students & graduates are 100% employed in the EMS field, most with 1 full time EMS job & 1 part time EMS job. The EMS credentials also allow for obtaining jobs in non-EMS areas like dialysis technicians, organ procurement technicians, & plasma donation technicians.