Purpose:The curriculum is designed to develop the competencies needed to prepare the student to be certified as a Nationally Registered Emergency Medical Technician-Intermediate and/or Paramedic.
Transfer Information:Transfer is not the primary purpose of an A.A.S. program, but NOVA has articulation agreements that facilitate the transfer of this and other career-oriented programs to selected senior institutions. Students interested in transfer should contact a counselor or their faculty advisor early in their program.
Admission Requirements:
Students must:
- Comply with all General Admission Requirements for Allied Health Programs.
- Attend a mandatory EMT Department information session, held monthly.
- Be 16 years of age for the first semester, and 18 years of age or older for subsequent semesters.
- Hold, at a minimum, a high school or general equivalency diploma. Students may apply for Dual Enrollment for attendance during the first semester.
- Be proficient in reading, writing and speaking the English language, and attain satisfactory scores on the NOVA math and English placement assessments.
- Have attained a 2.0 GPA at last school attended. Students in Dual Enrollment must maintain 2.0 GPA during concurrent high school courses.
- Have no physical or mental impairment that would render you unable to perform all skills required for EMS training at any level.
- Possess an original Virginia (or state of domicile) State Police Criminal History, with no record of any sexual crime and be at least five years past final release of any felony or drug-related convictions. See http://www.virginiatrooper.org for application (form #SP-167), and request the $20 criminal history and sex offender status report. Report must be resubmitted annually.
Completion Requirements:
- Hold a current certification in CPR – Healthcare Provider or equivalent.
- After successful completion of the first semester, the following additional requirements must be achieved and maintained throughout attendance in the second through fifth semesters:
- Personal Liability Insurance, with a minimum of $1,000,000 coverage. Proof of insurance must remain with the student at all times, while on campus and clinical properties.
- Provide annual Health Record with appropriate immunizations.
- Complete NAS 150 Human Biology or its equivalent with a grade of “C” or better prior to entry into second semester.
Special Program Completion Requirements:
Students must successfully attain each certification level prior to continuing in EMS sequence (EMT-Basic after first semester, EMT-Intermediate after third semester). Continuation to paramedic certification requires successful completion of EMT-Intermediate testing. After successful completion of 2nd year, student is eligible for NREMT-Paramedic testing. Students entering program with prior certifications must attend information session for specific course entry requirements.
Generally, EMS courses must be taken in sequence, but general studies courses may be taken in any order, and at any time. Exceptions to this policy are discussed in the monthly information sessions. Effective Fall 2005, all students continuing to Paramedic certification are required to complete the AAS degree requirements by their NREMT-P test date.
1. Students who receive an “I” (incomplete) grade in any of the courses in the EMS sequence must resolve the Incomplete before continuing in the EMT sequence.
2. Students must receive a grade of C or higher in core EMS courses in order to be eligible for the National Registry certifying examinations.
3. All clinical and internship requirements must be met prior to taking any Virginia and/or National Registry certifying examination(s).
Re-Enrollment: Students must follow the re-enrollment requirements for all Allied Health students.
Special Accreditation Status: The program is accredited by the Commission on the Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) in cooperation with the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for Emergency Medical Services Professions (CoAEMSP).
1 SDV 101 Orientation to Health Care meets SDV requirement, which must be completed by 16th credit. Any SDV course is acceptable for this requirement.
2 The social science elective may be selected from the social/behavioral sciences courses listed under General Education Electives.
3 Humanities/fine arts elective may be selected from the humanities/fine arts courses listed under General Education Electives. Students are encouraged to take PHI 227: Bio-Medical Ethics, or a Spanish course.