COLUMBIA, Tenn. — Maury Regional Emergency Medical Services (EMS) will again offer its community paramedic certification course starting this fall.
The course is part of the Maury Regional EMS Mobile Integrated Community Health Program and is approved by the Tennessee Board of Emergency Medical Services. It’s designed to prepare students to pass board certification as community paramedics, which are specially trained EMS providers who care for patients at home or in other non-urgent settings outside of a hospital.
The inaugural class in 2022 included five students who all successfully passed their board certification on the first try. According to the International Board of Specialty Certification, only 51% of students nationally pass the certification on the first attempt.
“We’re so glad we’re able to offer this service to our local first responders again. Community paramedics are becoming even more essential to bringing health care services to patients in our rural and underserved communities,” said Shelia Barnes, NP, a paramedic and the mobile integrated community health manager for Maury Regional EMS.
Students will gain hands-on clinical experience with an opportunity to shadow and participate in patient care. Some of the content that will be covered includes case management, chronic disease management, primary care, wound care, palliative and hospice services, gerontology, home health, cardiac rehab, physical therapy and more.
Registration is open from Aug 4-Sept. 10. Classes will kick off Oct. 16 and will be held every Monday through January of 2024 across Maury Regional Medical Center’s campus sites in Columbia. Students will have holiday breaks during the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas.
To participate in the course, students must currently be licensed as a paramedic with at least five years of pre-hospital advanced life support experience. The course tuition is $800 and includes a clinical uniform, course textbook and a certification exam study guide. Payment plan arrangements are available.
For more information about the community paramedic certification course, call Maury Regional EMS at 931.388.1434 or email shbarnes@mauryregional.com or bcoutts@mauryregional.com.