Student paramedic conference hailed as inspiration

Posted Wednesday 17 July 2013

The conference brought together academics and both professional and student paramedics. Trainee paramedics from universities and ambulance trusts across South East England have taken part in the region's first student paramedic conference, hosted by Kingston University and St George's, University of London. The pilot event was developed in collaboration with a number of partners including the London Ambulance Service, the University of Brighton, the University of Surrey and Canterbury Christ Church University.

The day started with informal networking before presentations from keynote speakers including Dave Whitmore from the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust. Alan Rice, senior lecturer in paramedic science from the Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education run jointly by Kingston and St George's, said the conference was the first to bring student paramedics from universities and ambulance trusts across the south east of England together.

Paramedic students Dan Bradshaw and Lara Hammond from Kingston and St George's won first and third prize in the conference poster competition. "During the day we heard a series of lectures from academics, professional paramedics and students, each focusing on different elements of pre-hospital care," Mr Rice said. "The paramedic team at the Faculty took the lead in hosting the event which, from the feedback we've received, seemed to be a big success."

The conference included a series of poster presentations which gave students the opportunity to share their areas of interest or research. The presentations were judged by a panel of academics from all of the contributing institutions. "The standard was very high so we were delighted that two students from our Faculty, Dan Bradshaw and Lara Hammond, won first and third prizes," Mr Rice added.

Many of the students who attended had commented on how useful they found the day and said they felt even more inspired about their future careers. "We hope this event will serve as a springboard for future paramedic conferences in years to come," Mr Rice said.