Emergency Medical Services (Paramedic)
Degrees Available: A.A.S.
About the Program
Admission RequirementsDegree Requirements
Contact Information
Visit the Allied Health web site for information on other health related programs at TVC.
Visit the Emergency Services web site for information on the TVC fire science program.
About the Program
The emergency medical services (EMS) program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Tanana Valley Campus (TVC) is designed to prepare the student for an entry level position as a paramedic within the EMS community. The most common entry level position for paramedics is as an attendant on an ambulance within a 911 emergency response system or for a non-emergency transport service. As the scope of practice for the paramedic has changed in the last few years, paramedics may also be found working in doctors' offices, urgent care clinics, hospital emergency rooms, intensive care units, laboratories, aero medical transport services, and safety departments in the corporate and industrial settings.
The demand for educated, competent paramedics with college degrees will continue to increase in Alaska and throughout the world in the coming years. The EMS program offered by TVC is designed to prepare the student to meet that demand.
Admission Requirements
For information or an application packet, contact Chuck Kuhns at the emergency services department at TVC at 455-2895 or by email at ffcmk@uaf.edu. Students interested in applying for admission to this program must complete a university application and an emergency medical services application packet.
When completed application packets are received, an administrator will contact the students to set up competency exams in English and Math which are administered at TVC in room 110. Following the successful completion of this step, the students will also take an EMT-I written and practical exam based on the State of Alaska skill sheets that are available for download at www.chems.alaska.gov.
The final step in the application process will be a meeting with the program coordinator, physician sponsor, and the emergency services administrative assistant. Applicants will be ranked according to preset criteria, and the top 12 candidates will be admitted to the program’s first class.
Degree Requirements
The associates’ degree can be completed in five semesters. Courses for the first semester fulfill the college core requirements and prerequisites for entry into the program. The core requirements include one year of English and one semester of oral communications. Two semesters of math, and two semesters of humanities are required. The prerequisites require the student to be at least 18 years of age and be a Nationally Registered EMT-B or State of Alaska EMT-I, II, or III. The student must also have successfully completed one semester of Fundamentals of Anatomy and Physiology (HLTH F114). Students may apply for entry into the paramedic program once they fulfill the prerequisites as outlined above.
Preference will be given to students who have
completed the core requirements, but the courses are not required
before application. Once accepted into the program, students can complete the paramedic curriculum in three semesters.
The curriculum meets or exceeds the 1998 Department of Transportation
requirements for paramedic education. The State of Alaska
sets the hourly requirements for this program. The classroom
portion of the program must be at least 500 hours, while the
clinical and field internships must be 232 hours and 480 hours,
respectively, for a total of over 1200 hours of training.
The first semester is divided into two courses:
Paramedicine I and II. In these courses, the student will
review the basics of EMS and advance through respiratory,
cardiac, and nervous systems by lecture and skills labs.
The second semester also includes three courses: Paramedicine
III, Clinical Rotation I, and Clinical Rotation II. Paramedicine
III covers the remaining medical emergencies, pediatrics,
geriatrics, and trauma. In Clinical Rotation I and II, students
will spend 16 hours per week in clinical settings while observing
and participating in patient care activities under the supervision
of a preceptor. In the third semester, students will focus
on hands-on patient care under the supervision of a preceptor
in Clinical Rotation III and Field Internship courses.
The third semester will be spent in hospitals and EMS service locations outside of Alaska. Following the successful completion of all seven courses, the student will be eligible to take the National Registry Examination for certification as a paramedic. Once nationally certified, the student will be eligible to apply for licensure as a paramedic in the State of Alaska. Provided all core requirements have been met, the student will also be eligible for graduation with an associates degree in Emergency Services with a concentration in Emergency Medicine.
Contact Information :
Chuck Kuhns , EMS Coordinator
UAF Tanana Valley Campus
P.O. Box 758120
Fairbanks, Alaska 99775
phone: (907) 455-2895
email: ffcmk@uaf.edu
Page Last modified: May 01 2008.
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