Paramedic Science BSc (Hons)

As part of the course, you will be provided with practice placements. Details regarding time commitment involved for these placements will be provided by the subject area at a later point.

For on campus activities students are split into groups at enrolment. Each group will have its own timetable where some aspects can change on a weekly basis. Normally classes will be distributed across 3 to 4 days per week between 9am and 6pm.

On-campus days in Semester 1

• Monday
• Tuesday
• Thursday

Full details of your individual academic timetable, including Semester 2 timetable which may differ, will be available via your university email calendar after you have completed online enrolment and set up your student login.

There is no compulsory reading prior to the course starting, but if you are keen to do some before you arrive we would recommend being familiar with the HCPC Standards of Performance, Conduct & Ethics and the Standards of Proficiency for Paramedics

It may also be a good idea to look at the College of Paramedics website.

If you would like to do some Anatomy & Physiology revision we would recommend BBC Bitesize Podcast Series for basic human biology systems.

Course starts:

• Monday 1 September 2025
• 10am
• Room ST002

IMPORTANT: Please bring your photo ID with you to complete the ID verification check for Student Finance confirmation.

Jane Cresswell – Programme Lead

Jane has extensive experience as a frontline paramedic having trained in 1999 through the West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) first as an Ambulance Technician, progressing to Paramedic, Advanced Paramedic and Clinical Team Mentor. She has been a Practice Placement Facilitator for many years and has trained as an instructor within WMAS, receiving a Chief Officers Commendation for her ole on delivering a large scale teaching programme to clinical staff. She also taught as Visiting Lecturer for many years at Coventry University on various paramedic and emergency care programmes. She has moved from full time clinical practice to Birmingham Newman University in 2023 to develop and deliver the new Paramedic Science BSc programme.

She has also qualified as a Helicopter Emergency Services Paramedic (HEMS) with Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (TAAS) and worked as a Critical Care Paramedic during her career.

She completed a Master of Science Degree in Advanced Critical Care Practice at the University of Warwick in 2017, and a Post Graduate Certificate in Education in 2024.

Jane was nominated for Academic Staff Member of the Year in the Newman Student Union Awards in 2025.

Karen Gubbins – Senior Lecturer

Karen Gubbins is a senior lecturer within the Paramedic Science team, who sit in the School of Nursing and Allied Health. Karen has been a qualified Paramedic since 1998, after joining West Midlands Ambulance Service in 1996. Prior to joining Birmingham Newman University, Karen worked at Birmingham City University (BCU) as Senior Lecturer for nearly six years, as Course Director for two of the six years, and as a Senior Lecturer at University of Worcester (UoW) for eleven years prior to working at BCU.

Whilst working for West Midlands Ambulance Service, Karen worked as a first line supervisor, then later as an instructor within the training department. Whilst working in the latter role, she was fortunate to be asked to work with the Rotary Club which had links to the Rotary Club in Pune, India, who were setting up an ambulance service. She spent 8 weeks educating nurses and doctors in the UK, then travelled to India to continue the education and training on site there.

Karen was nominated for the “I am BCU awards” of Personal Tutor of the Year and, Inspirational Tutor of the Year in 2021, which was a huge honour.

In Semester 1, you will be introduced to 5 modules:

• Introduction to Professional Healthcare Practice (interprofessional module)
• Human Function (Anatomy & Physiology)
• Person-centered Assessment
• Practice Education (later in the semester we will begin to prepare for placement)
• Moving & Handling People Sessions (part of Practice Education)

All the modules are taught face-to-face on campus and and are a mix of theory and practice sessions. Outside of the sessions, you will be guided to undertake your pre session and post session tasks via Moodle to support your learning.

During Semester 1 you will also experience your first practice education block which will be a two-week ‘care-based’ placement where you will be able to put some of the theory you are learning into practice.

For THIS semester your timetabled days will be:

• Monday, Tuesday and Thursday for teaching weeks.

However some weeks may be different from others e.g. practice education weeks, simulation weeks and assessment weeks.

* Semester Two teaching sessions may be on different days

A full programme will be given to you in Introductory week so that will know which weeks are different from normal timetabled weeks.