Reality TV ambulance shows could be behind record applications for paramedic degrees

Ambulance reality TV shows have driven a surge in applications for paramedicine degrees. But are there enough jobs in the industry to actually employ the number of graduates?

The popularity of ambulance reality TV shows has helped drive a surge in applications across the country for entry to paramedicine degrees.

But ambulance associations have warned there are now more paramedics being trained than there are jobs for.

News Corp Australia asked universities across the country what their most popular degree courses were for 2019, based on the number of first preference applications, and what new courses had been introduced in response to demand and anticipation of future employment needs.

It found a number of new degrees in creative areas were being offered, including in arts management, as well as in data science, environment, alternative energy, cyber security, artificial intelligence and digital technologies.

Paramedics is a hugely popular reality TV series … but are there enough jobs in the industry to cope with the number of graduates?

FRESH-FACED DEGREES

At the University of Sydney, a new science degree has been introduced in conjunction with Taronga Zoo that will see students spend some of their contact hours studying among the animals.

The new Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Advanced Studies (Taronga Wildlife Conservation) degree will be taught at the university’s Camperdown and Camden campuses, and includes contact hours at the brand-new Taronga Institute of Science and Learning, opened recently by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan.

AN EDUCATION! WEIRD UNI DEGREES

HIGHLIGHTS: MEGHAN AND HARRY’S OZ TOUR

At Melbourne’s Swinburne and RMIT universities students can sign up for degrees in game design, while at Newcastle University a degree in renewable energy engineering is being offered.

Adam Murray and colleague Karina from Artarmon ambulance station, who feature in Ten’s reality show Ambulance Australia.

Teaching, law, business, commerce and arts continue to rate among the most popular course selections at many Australian universities.

But it was degrees in health which topped first preferences at most universities.

BEHIND THE RISE OF PARAMEDIC STUDIES

Paramedicine courses are among the health degrees which have grown dramatically in popularity in recent years with the possibility of starting professional work shortly after graduation, in the burgeoning health sector.

However, the Australian Paramedics Association (APA) told News Corp increasing numbers of Australian graduates were looking overseas, and especially to London, to find work as there were not enough jobs here.

Saving lives! The cast of Paramedics.

The glut of paramedic graduates follows the rise in popularity of reality emergency TV series such as Ambulance Australia and Paramedics, and their international equivalents.

The shows typically feature ambulance officers racing to accidents and emergencies with lights and sirens, as well as assisting the elderly, children and disabled with compassion and care, in often tear-jerking scenes.

REALITY TV: SHOW ‘PARAMEDICS’

Chief Executive Officer of Ambulance Victoria Associate Professor Tony Walker said the popular series Paramedics shone a positive light on the work of ambulance officers and it was not surprising many young people were keen to pursue a career in the field.

“However, we are seeing more people are qualifying than we have jobs available and having a degree does not always guarantee you a job as a paramedic,” he said.

The real-life ‘set’ of reality series Emergency 000, shot in Sydney.

REALITY OF AMBULANCE CAREER

In Ambulance Victoria, trainee paramedics work alongside qualified paramedics for a year after finishing their university studies, before becoming fully-fledged paramedics.

Australian Paramedics Association (NSW) president Chris Kastelan said paramedicine degrees were “relatively recent” inclusions for many universities, so their growing popularity could be due in part to people learning they were on offer.

The degrees were proving popular with not just young students but also mature age students, looking to change careers, he said.

It would be “silly to think” the high-rating ambulance reality shows did not play a role in the growing popularity of paramedicine as a career choice, Mr Kastelan said.

Having supervised a large number of paramedic students during their work placements, Mr Kastelan said he found many had concerns about their ability to find work in Australia following graduation.

Paramedic Gina, pictured in the back of her moving workplace … an ambulance. Picture: Nigel Wright

“A lot are looking overseas for work because the work is not here. They are particularly looking to the London Ambulance Service,” he said.

“It’s concerning for me to think they coming out with maybe a $20,000 or $30,000 university bill and that they might not really be able to go into the role they trained for, because, the truth is, there is a pretty static number of employees within the (state) ambulance organisations.”

At Australian Catholic University (ACU) — which has campuses in Melbourne, Ballarat, North Sydney, Strathfield, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra and more than 35,000 students nationally — paramedicine has gone from being its 8th most popular course five years ago to its second most popular course selection, behind nursing, this year.

Acting Provost Professor Michelle Campbell said the demand for university courses at ACU reflected workforce needs, with the Federal Government’s Employment Outlook to May 2023 predicting the health care sector would continue to make the biggest contribution to employment growth across Australia over the next five years.

“Our students are choosing degrees that give them experience in the field, access to state-of-the art facilities and the opportunity to work with industry partners. This is why they have such a high rate of employment when they finish university, with more than 90 per cent finding a job within four months of graduating,” Prof. Campbell said.

St John Ambulance volunteer Sally Fenton has accepted a place in the ACU paramedicine degree course at its North Sydney campus. Picture: News Corp Australia

CASE STUDIES

Sydney’s Sally Fenton, has just accepted a place in the ACU paramedicine degree at its North Sydney campus. The 19 year-old has chosen to defer her studies for a year in order to work and save money but will take up her place in the popular course in 2020.

A volunteer with St John Ambulance since 2016, Sally said she was a little worried about her job prospects at the end of her degree but hoped her volunteering background would stand her in good stead.

She was also prepared to move wherever there was paramedic work, even if that meant relocating to rural or remote regions of Australia.

Western Sydney University introduced its paramedicine degree in 2014, and has seen the course grow by more than 40 per cent in the last year.

In just its fourth year and accepting only a relatively small number of places, interest in the paramedicine degree at Queensland’s Griffith University has increased by 60 per cent over the past year alone.

Hand’s on! The immersive training room at University of Western Sydney.

Jarrod Shute, 19, is going into his final year of paramedicine at Griffith University’s Gold Coast campus.

“I wanted to do something in the medical field, so I thought paramedicine would be a great way to get into it. A lot of people are getting into it now, it’s really started to grow. The (TV) shows are really putting it out there, that it’s quite a good profession to be involved in.”

Asked if he felt confident of finding employment as a paramedic in Australia after completing his degree, Jarrod admitted he was “a little bit worried about how many jobs there are”.

“When I first started the degree they told us not have our hopes too high because only about a third of graduates are getting employment after completing their degrees, so I’ve always sort of had that in the back of my mind.”

Jarrod Shute, from Ormeau, is a Griffith University paramedicine student attending the Gold Coast campus. Picture: Adam Head

Monash University graduate Jack Luke, 24, is one of the lucky ones.

After completing his academic studies in 2017 and spending last year training with Ambulance Victoria, he started full-time work as a qualified paramedic, close to his home on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, just this week.

But Jack said he had many uni friends who had not managed to find work in Australia and “quite a few” that had headed overseas, to England, to gain employment as a paramedic.

“It’s definitely a concern. I know quite a lot of people who don’t have jobs and a lot as well that have gone to work overseas … at the end of the day, I think you have to be prepared to go anywhere really, to make the most of your degree.”

Recently qualified paramedic Jack Luke scored a job with Ambulance Victoria. Picture: Jason Edwards

Having received his offer of a place in ACU’s Ballarat campus 2019 nursing/paramedicine degree this week, 18-year-old Jacob Little from Bacchus Marsh in Victoria said he had “definitely” been inspired by the reality TV shows.

A Channel 9 spokeswoman said 10 episodes of Paramedics had aired in 2018, reaching 6,665,200 people.

The Gold Coast’s Bond University does not offer paramedicine but it does have degrees rapidly gaining popularity. Actuarial science, which teaches students how to manage financial risk, is one of them.

Professor Steve Stern, from Bond University's Business School.

Professor of data science at Bond’s business school Professor Steve Stern — who also happens to be the custodian of cricket’s Duckworth Lewis Stern (DLS) system for rain-affected matches — said the skill set of those with modern actuarial training had made their services central to almost all areas of modern quantitative business.

While actuaries were traditionally employed in the insurance industry, demand for their skills now came from many sectors and had risen hand-in-hand with the collection of ‘big data’.