Paramedic

Begin your career in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) by training to be a Paramedic with CBC! We offer a hybrid program that allows flexibility, providing an option to train while you continue your employment, live life and go to school. Our 18-month program will provide you with the tools and opportunities to work in a variety of environments: private, hospital and fire based EMS systems as a professional paramedic.

It is crucial to have a good foundation as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), or an Advanced EMT, in order to be successful as a Paramedic. Paramedic requires significantly more training than EMT and represents the Advanced Life Support role in the pre-hospital setting.

CBC Paramedic Program

About the Program

  • It's approximately 18 months in duration and equips students with the skills necessary to provide advanced life-saving care.
  • Starts every 6 months in June and January.
  • Entrance into the Paramedic program is contingent upon successful completion of the prerequisites, a completed application to the program and the College, and passing the entrance exam.

Degree Options

  • Paramedic Certificate
  • Associate in Applied Science (AAS) Degree in Paramedicine

Program Application Process

CBC offers the Paramedic program for Winter and Summer quarter starts each year. Students must apply to the program, take an entrance exam and be accepted to the program to participate. The application will be posted on the Application Process tab. 

Information Sessions

Please take the time to attend one of the Paramedic information sessions. Questions will be answered by an Advisor/Counselor or a program representative.

Information sessions are scheduled for one hour and are free and open to anyone interested in a CBC Health Sciences program.

To view upcoming information sessions and register, please check our events calendar.

Paramedic Accreditation
The Columbia Basin College Paramedic Program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) upon the recommendation of the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Services Professions (CoAEMSP).

Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs
Call: 727-210-2350
www.caahep.org

Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Services Professions
Call: 204-703-8445
www.coaemsp.org

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Application Process

Ready to get started? An application and entrance exam are required as part of the acceptance process into the Paramedic Certificate or AAS degree program. You don't need to be accepted and enrolled in the Paramedic program to take major support or general education prerequisite classes. Students working towards the AAS and certificate will require successful completion of the specified prerequisites before the program start date.

Application Information

The next opportunity to apply to the Paramedic program will be for the Winter 2025 cohort. A new application will be posted in June 2024 if not sooner. There will be two program start dates, winter and summer quarters for the 2025 academic year. 

Before you apply, please read these important details:

  • The application will be a fillable PDF. Please download to your device, fill it out, save it, attach required documentation, then submit.
  • The program application must be received via email by noon on the due date listed for consideration.
  • Completed applications and all supporting documentation should be combined and emailed as a single PDF document.
  • The subject line should include your name and the program for which you are applying, ie. "Jack Hansen - January 2024 Paramedic". Please read the application thoroughly.




Entrance Requirements for the AAS and Certificate Programs

Requirements for all Paramedic Students

  • Must be at least 18 years old at the start of the program.
  • Provide evidence of a high school diploma or equivalent qualification with an accumulative 2.0 GPA or better.
  • Be a certified EMT for a minimum of one year prior to starting the program.
  • Complete placement testing with scores eligible to enter Math 146 or successful completion of Math 094, Math 095 or Math 098, or equivalent with 2.0 or higher (prior to the summer of 2019). After the summer of 2019, Math 50, equivalent or greater with 2.0 or higher.

Paramedic Certificate Specific Requirements

The applicant will provide evidence of a basic understanding of human anatomy and physiology when taking the Paramedic Entrance Assessment. It is highly recommended that applicants who have not taken the AAS prerequisites or a recent high school anatomy and physiology course, consider taking a preparatory A&P course. Please contact the Program Director for recommendations of an applicable course or for approval of previous courses taken.

•• Note: If you choose to complete the AAS in Paramedicine at a later time, the Anatomy and Physiology courses listed for the AAS must be completed, however this may be done after the Paramedic program ends.

AAS in Paramedicine Specific Prerequisites

Biology:
Successful completion of the following biology courses with a 2.0 or higher at CBC or equivalent from another accredited institution.

• BIO& 241 A&P 1 w/Lab (5 credits)
• BIO& 242 A&P 2 w/Lab (5 credits)

If transferring A&P courses to CBC for an AAS degree, a minimum of 10 credits of A&P must be transferrable with a 2.0 or higher. Students can also contact CBC Admissions regarding transfer of credits.

English:
There is not an English prerequisite to gain entry into the certificate or the AAS Paramedicine program. However, completion of ENGL& 101 is strongly recommended.

Math:
At minimum, completion of Math 50 (previously MATH 94, 95 or 98) with a 2.0 or higher. If a student has completed a higher level of college math or have an AAS or BS degree that includes a math course, that would be acceptable.

At this time, the CBC Paramedic program does not have a method for Advanced Placement, so all students in the CBC Paramedic program must complete the entire CBC Paramedic program Curriculum.

Professional Licensure Outside of Washington State

Each state, the District of Columbia and the U.S. protectorates vary in what professions they require to be licensed and the educational requirements for those licenses. It’s important to understand whether the degree or certificate you obtain from CBC will meet the educational eligibility requirements for a license in the state in which you plan to practice. 

View educational licensure requirements by state.

National Background Search & Drug Screen Requirements

As part of the admission requirements for Health Science programs, applicants must successfully pass a criminal background check and drug screen prior to working with patients in clinical areas. The background check and drug screen are paid by the student and administered through a third party company, CastleBranch. In addition to the background check required by CBC, each clinical facility reserves the right to conduct its own criminal background check prior to allowing a student to enter its health care facilities for clinical participation.

Certain criminal convictions, pending charges or negative actions may automatically disqualify a person from having unsupervised access to vulnerable adults, juveniles and children. Clinical facilities reserve the right to accept or decline a student’s placement in its facility.     

 

The Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Services Professions, CoAEMSP, requires the program to provide current and consistent summary information about the CBC Paramedic student/graduate achievements. This includes the results of the three-year review-window average of the outcomes for National Registry (NR) written and practical exams, retention and positive placement. Those results can be found in the following information below, which is updated annually.

Graduation Year

 NR Psychomotor Pass Rate NR Written Pass Rate Program Retention Rate Job Placement Rate
2014 100% 100% 95% 85%
2016 100% 100% 82% 100%
2018 100% 100% 79% 93%
2020 100% 100%  67% 100%
2021 100% 100% 100% 100%
2022 100% 100% 73% 100%

*Job placement 6 months post-graduation

Program Goal

The minimum goal for Paramedic program is to prepare competent entry-level Paramedics in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains with or without exit points at the Advanced Emergency Medical Technician and/or Emergency Medical Technician and/or Emergency Medical Responder levels.


Certificate and AAS Paramedic Program Outcomes

Upon graduation, the graduate will:

  • demonstrate the ability to comprehend, apply, and evaluate information relative to the  role of an entry level Paramedic.
  • demonstrate technical proficiency in all of the skills necessary to fulfill the role of an  entry level Paramedic.
  • use critical thinking skills, demonstrate the appropriate and correct application of psycho-motor skills and exhibit the appropriate behavior to effectively and safely manage emergency scenes.
  • be able to sit for the National Registry of Paramedic Exams.

There are many career options for Paramedics including:

  • Ambulance Paramedic
  • Critical Care/Flight Paramedic
  • Education and Instruction for EMT and Paramedic
  • Director or Supervisor within a hospital or clinic
  • Community Health Paramedic
  • Rural Medicine Paramedic
  • Overseas Paramedic foreign services
  • Overseas medical base contract paramedic
  • Gateway to higher education career fields, RN, PA, MD
  • Medical sales and equipment representative
  • Ski Patrol

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