The Paramedic is an allied health professional whose primary focus is to provide advanced emergency medical care for critical and emergent patients who access the emergency medical system. This individual possesses the complex knowledge and skills necessary to provide patient care and transportation. Paramedics function as part of a comprehensive EMS response, under medical oversight. Paramedics perform interventions with the basic and advanced equipment typically found on an ambulance. The Paramedic is a link from the scene into the health care system. (from the National EMS Scope of Practice Model)

The Ventura College Paramedic Studies Program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (www.caahep.org) upon the recommendation of the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Services Professions (www.coaemsp.org).

Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs
9355 - 113th St. N, #7709
Seminole, FL 33775-7709
727-210-2350
www.caahep.org

Successful completion of the program will allow students to sit for the paramedic National Registry licensing examinations and then gain employment in the wide range of public and private agencies who incorporate the advanced life support skills of a paramedic into their operations.

Paramedic Program Requirements 

Procedures for Applying

The Ventura College Paramedic Program offers two tracks: professional certification as a paramedic with or without an Associate Degree or Certificate of Achievement. Applications will be accepted on an on-going basis. Admission is subject to available openings. The application deadline is available through the health science counselor or the health sciences department. All applicants must submit:

1. A completed application to the paramedic program;
2. All required official high school and college transcripts (including proof of prerequisite completion or proof of in-progress status); 
3. Documentation of pre-hospital care experience; and
4. An application to the College (new students only).

Qualifying Requirements:

1. One of the following must be completed before applying to the program:
   1. High school graduation and GPA of 2.5; or,
   2. General Education Development (GED) with a score of 45 and a minimum of 12 semester units of completed college coursework with a 2.25 GPA; or,
   3. High school graduate with less than a 2.5 GPA and a minimum of 12 semester units of completed college coursework with a GPA of 2.25.
2. All of the following must be completed:
   1. All official high school and college transcripts must be on file at Ventura College.
   2. Application must be made to the health sciences department with a choice of options to enroll in the associate degree paramedic program or the paramedic certificate program.
   3. An application to the College must be filed for the appropriate semester.
   4. It is the applicant’s responsibility to check with the transcript clerk in the Office of Admissions and Records to see that his/her official transcripts are on file at Ventura College.
3. All of the following must be completed or in process at the time of application to the program:
   1. Current certification for CPR as a health care provider or professional rescuer.
4. The student must show documentation of current EMT certification and at least 1000 hours of experience employed as an EMT with emphasis on pre-hospital field care. Experience with a primary 911 provider is preferred, but equivalent experience may be considered. EMT certification must remain current throughout the program.

Students must be in good academic standing (not on academic probation) to be eligible for application to the paramedic program. All applicants must contact a health sciences counselor for specific admission information regarding the paramedic programs.

Admission Process

Qualified applicants will be placed on a waiting list on a first-come, first-served basis. The class will be selected on the basis of available openings and qualified applicants will be notified when a space is available. Each qualified applicant, when selected, must decide either to enter the class or remove his/her name from the eligibility list. Those qualified applicants who are not selected due to limited openings may retain their names (in the order applications were received) on a waiting list.

Those applicants then have priority for admission to the next class selected as long as application requirements are maintained. Students who choose not to enter when selected must reapply.

Students are expected to pass a physical examination consistent with the policies of the teaching hospitals or agencies to which they are assigned for clinical experience. Physical exams are to be scheduled with a private physician or through the Student Health and Psychological Services and recorded on the department form. The examination must demonstrate that the student is physically fit, free from communicable diseases and immune to mumps, rubella, rubeola, varicella, and Hepatitis B. Clinical agencies used mandate a current seasonal flu vaccination. Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (Tdap) vaccine within the past ten years is required.

All students admitted to a health science program are expected to maintain the highest personal standards of conduct consistent with the professional standards as perceived by health science faculty and professional personnel in the agencies used as extended campus sites. Any information indicating that such standards are not maintained is subject to review by members of the health science faculty and may result in a recommendation to the College for dismissal from the program.

Evidence of physical and emotional fitness upon admission and throughout the program is expected and is subject to medical opinion of the college physician and to medical opinion or policy of hospitals or agencies which are used as extended campus sites for assigned educational experiences.

Students in the emergency medical services program (paramedic) and/or the emergency medical technology courses (EMT) will be required to demonstrate criminal background clearance, along with drug and alcohol clearance by undergoing criminal background checks and drug screening prior to participating in clinical experiences. The cost of this screening is expected to be approximately $110.00 and is the responsibility of the student.

Hospital and internship rotations will be assigned as space is available. This may result in extension of program time-frame.

All students must attend the orientation meeting scheduled prior to the start of the semester and must be present on the first day of class.

Program Options

The paramedic program is intended to develop the necessary knowledge and skills basic to the functions of paramedics in the direct care of patients. It consists of theory, basic skills, clinical experiences and a clinical preceptorship which will prepare the graduate to take the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians paramedic level licensing examinations. Students who successfully complete the Emergency Medical Services – Paramedic Studies program may receive a Certificate of Achievement or an Associate Degree from Ventura College if all other requirements have been satisfied (See an academic counselor to verify additional requirements for the Certificate of Achievement and/or Associate Degree. Although each course merits a letter grade, the laboratory experience is based on pass-fail and it is necessary to pass the laboratory section of the course in order to proceed in the paramedic program. Failure in the laboratory portion of the paramedic courses constitutes an F in the course.

For successful completion of the program, a minimum grade of B is mandatory in all paramedic courses. The student must maintain an overall GPA of 3.0 to continue in the program.

For those students who choose the associate degree option, additional courses satisfying general education requirements are required.

The program is accredited by the national Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs and is approved by the California State Emergency Medical Services Agency and the Ventura County Emergency Medical Services Agency. To be eligible to take the examination leading to licensure as a paramedic, the student must have fulfilled all requirements as defined by the Ventura County Emergency Medical Services Agency and the state of California.