PARA329 - Transition to Paramedic Practice and Professionalism

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

100cp of Paramedicine Units

Unit rationale, description and aim

As a prospective graduate paramedic, transitioning to the health workforce can be an exciting and daunting. Therefore, it is essential that students understand the environment and processes that can arise during the transition to practice and ongoing career.  Furthermore, it is vital that students develop knowledge, skills, and habits that will support the transition and create a foundation of professional aptitude. Drawing on student’s development and experience over the course of the degree, students will reflect and extend the concepts of practitioner health, wellbeing, research and innovation. Additionally, students will understand the concepts of transition, professionalism, registration, industrial relations, and the role professional/representative bodies. Furthermore, it will aim to develop skills in continuing professional and personal development, networking, preceptorship, and engaging with the profession. The learning process will create a sense of shared knowledge, mimic the professional environment, and be supported by contemporary methods. Information technology will enable the delivery of peer created content, invited professionals' teachings and assessments.

The aim of this unit is to prepare the transition in practice and professionalism and instil skills that will enable students to have a fulfilling career as a paramedic. 

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Discuss the challenges and associated skills required for transitioning from an undergraduate paramedicine student to paramedicine practitioner in the professional environment (GA4, GA5, GA8)

LO2 - Demonstrate foundational concepts of preceptorship skills within the health science discipline (GA7, GA9)

LO3 - Showcase knowledge in an engaging and informative format that effectively translates content that could contribute to the development of the paramedicine profession (GA2, GA5, GA6, GA8, GA9)

Graduate attributes

GA2 - recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society 

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account

GA7 - work both autonomously and collaboratively 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

Professional Capabilities for a Registered Paramedic

The Paramedicine Board of Australia is responsible for assessing, consulting on and setting the standards for paramedics practicing in Australia. These standards and relevant domains are articulated in the Professional Capabilities for a Registered Paramedic document. The learning outcomes of this unit are matched to the relevant capabilities, in order to align your development with the requirements of a paramedic. 

Content

Topics will include:

Personal and Career Longevity

• Practitioner Health
• Review of personal health and fitness in comparison to PARA114
• Physical training program planning and implementation
• Psychological health strategies
• Social health strategies
• Resilience

Transition to Practice

• Transition Theory
• Transition Shock
• From novice to expert
• Barriers and enablers of transition and transformation
• Organisational and professional socialisation
• Workplace culture
• Reality of practice
• Lifestyle impacts

Professional Development

• Registration
• Continuing professional development
• Audits and complaints
• Communicating within and for the profession:
• Conference submissions;
• Posters;
• Presentations;
• Stage craft;
• and other contemporary mediums.
• Professional and Representative Bodies
• Mentoring/Preceptoring
• Professional Relationships/Networking
• Creating and maintaining professional relationships
• Contributing to the profession’s body of knowledge
• Industrial relations
• Submitting research for presentation and publication
• Postgraduate qualifications
• Future of Paramedicine

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

PARA329 Transition to Paramedic Practice and Professionalism provides teaching and learning strategies that engage students with materials, concepts and experiences that support the achievement of the aims and objectives of the Unit as well as relevant Graduate Attributes and professional capabilities.

This unique unit will consolidate skills of becoming both an independent and social learner. As learning and continuing professional development deliver styles vary in the professional and practice environment, PARA329 aims to align with these methods to maximise learning.

Online learning will assist students in acquiring the fundamental theoretical concepts necessary for paramedicine and transitioning to professionalism and practice. The information delivery and exercises will be constructed in digestible portions which allow for ease of understanding, flexibility and respect for individual learning styles.

The workshops will allow students to use the fundamental concepts acquired from online learning, apply analytical thinking, and engage in discussion and group work so students can begin to solve the case-based challenges posed. Additionally, they will allow for experimentation and practice of skills delivered in the unit, where students will be able to receive feedback and guidance. This will support achievement for the required assessments in the unit.  

PARA329’s learning and teaching strategy culminates with a contemporary method that mimics the professional learning and development environment and creates a shared sense of knowledge and community. 

Assessment strategy and rationale

A range of assessment items consistent with University assessment requirements and policy will be used to ensure students achieve the unit learning outcomes, attain the graduate attributes and the meet professional capabilities required in paramedicine. With the ethos that assessments support and guide learning, students will see a direct relationship between each task and student development.

The written assessment will build on previous assessments by further assimilating key concepts pertinent within paramedicine and the transition to practice. It’s context will be centred around real-world environment to a provide a deeper understanding of the profession and practice, while developing communication and critical thinking skills. This enables students to articulate and discuss identified challenges and solutions to Transition to Paramedic Practice and Professionalism.

A key aspect of being a professional is the ability to foster the development of future generations and contributes to the knowledge base of the profession. The mentorship/preceptorship portfolio and the showcase are designed to support students’ development in these areas. The mentorship/preceptorship portfolio allows students to demonstrate the skills pertinent mentorship/preceptorship the while creating a sense of community and assisting someone in their learning journey. 

The showcase can be comprised of unique knowledge that have developed within an aspect of the course or an original topic. Either option could be considered to contribute to the development of peers and the profession. The delivery will be contemporary and engaging that reflects methods used within the broader professional environment. 

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Barkway, P. (Ed.) (2013). Psychology for health professionals. (2nd ed.).Chatswood, N.S.W: Churchill Livingstone

Duchscher, J. (2012). From surviving to thriving. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, CA: Nursing the Future.

McArdle, W. D., Katch, F. I., & Katch, V.L. (2016) Essentials of exercise physiology (5th ed.). Philadelphia : Wolters Kluwer.