r/ParamedicsAU

Hey! I’m 17, and all I really want to do is study paramedicine.
I don’t really know how to put it into words, but the idea of becoming a paramedic excites me just as much as it terrifies me. It feels like something I genuinely, really want to do. There’s just something about it that feels so special and amazing to me.
But whenever I tell an adult, whether they work in healthcare or not, that I want to become a paramedic, I almost always get the same response:
“Are you sure?”
Then comes the list: it’s really hard to get a job, there’s a lot of trauma, the burnout rate is high, the hours are difficult, the pay isn’t amazing, etc. It often feels like they’re trying to convince me not to do it rather than helping me figure out whether it’s actually right for me.
So I want to ask the people who are actually paramedics:
Were you genuinely happy with your decision to become a paramedic?
Did you ever feel this excited about it before you started? And now that you’re actually in the job, does it still feel like something you’re glad you chose?
I’m not looking for people to sugarcoat it. I want to hear about the difficult parts too. I just want to hear from people who have actually lived it, rather than another list of reasons I shouldn’t do it.

I’m considering going into paramedicine a bit later than most people do, so the idea of starting over in a completely different career is a bit daunting. I’d be interested in hearing from people who took the same path and what the transition was actually like. The good parts, the hard parts, and whether it felt like the right move once they were properly into the job.

Is there many Paramedics that transitioned into Policing?

Has anyone made the transition over and would like to share your thoughts about the process, your time in the job, any regrets and if you ran into any hurdles.

For reference, I’m a Vic paramedic and have recently gone through the recruitment process with VP and failed the 1:1 psychology, which I’m a little surprised about. I thought I had no problems articulating emotions, and providing examples and demonstrating resilience, but they clearly have their reasons.

I have an exclusion period of 12 months, so I’ll give it another go then.

The reason I’m wanting to make this change is based on career progression. There’s quite limited opportunities within AV and require a lot of dedication (further study) and moving, which is okay but nothing is guaranteed and time can catch up on you.

I have been a paramedic for nearly 5 years and I’m looking for a new challenge.

P.S. I haven’t come across many paramedics who have made the transition, they more or so study medicine or move to FRV.

Currently waiting out recruitment pools for state emergency services. In the meantime, I’m looking at applying for Non-Emergency Patient Transport (PTO / ATA) roles with private providers just to stay working in healthcare, keep my hands on equipment, and pay the bills

Hi All, after about 7 years working in the food science industry as a food engineer, I am wanting a change to something more fast paced and meaningful. Always loved medicine and physiology and enjoyed being a first responder through surf lifesaving so I’m thinking becoming a paramedic might be a good option.

How would you recommend gaining some insights into what the career is like before going to study? I had a look at volunteering on the QLD St John website but it looks more like non medical social outreach.

Thanks!

Thinking about making the move to Queensland.
Has anyone moved from AV recently to QAS and can tell me a bit about it!

Thanks

Hi all, before I finished my bachelor I worked as a PTO/ATA for. Few years from 2020 for a few privateers and although I'm waiting on a grad year currently, I have seen and experienced some cultural workplace horrors beyond believe.

Things like:

ATAs bullying / beating down on PTOs, PTOs being sacked for speaking up

Risky / dangerous malpractice / OHS stuff including expired, unlocked meds, unroadworthy ambulances from 2006 etc.

People who can't read 3-leads elevated to "clinical instructor" (?)

People who basically should not be near other people or in healthcare and end up in charge of a patients welfare.

Notably in VIC (NPT, PSV, St. John), but im sure there's more. My CI from back in my PTO/ATA days has also given me some horror stories too from his current workplace.

I also find it horrifying these companies can and do respond to 000 calls, even if code 4's. I've seen them butchered in my junior years.

Glad to be getting out of it, has anyone else experienced this? What on earth is going on?

I graduated with my bachelor earlier this year and registered with AHPRA in May. From my understanding I need to complete at least 15 hours of CPD (according to the pro rata requirement of 7.5 hours per 3 months of registration) before renewal in November.

I’m currently looking for a grad job/waiting on offers and was wondering if anyone had suggestions for CPD activities, especially interactive ones. I’m based in Vic and have seen that ACP has an upcoming conference in September. Would that count as interactive hours for my CPD?

Thanks in advance!

Saw this article and haven't seen someone bring it up yet outside of Facebook groups, so I wanted to see what everyone thinks

I've personally defected a Corpuls only around 2-3 times after a pre-shift check, either ETCO malfunction or network connectivity issues, but haven't had an adverse effect from a failure, but being at a busy superstation, I have heard the fair share of stories.

I have spoken to someone who was on the selection committee who alleges that the Corpuls was not even in the top 3 choices they recommended - and yet NSW Health purchased the device.

I wanted to see anybody else's opinion on the matter, experiences etc, also what direction do you think NSWA will go for the next Defib/Monitor in 5 years when the contract is up?

Looking to hear from people who have worked as full time on road paramedics in Australia and have transitioned away from the job. Especially interested to hear from people who did 10-15 years on road and then moved on to something outside of ambulance.

How did you know it was time to make a change?

What were the main reasons to leave ambulance?

What did you move on to?

2nd year student here getting ready to do my preferences for my 2nd placement.

I did a placement in the Gold Coast last year and it was great but spent a lot of time ramped. My mentors suggested somewhere like Toowoomba or Ipswich is good because you get a mix of rural/metro jobs.

Can anyone else please add to this or argue against it?

Contemplating going to somewhere like Rockhampton just for the sake of getting out of brissy for a bit.

For context i aplready have a bachelor of biomedicine applied chem major and almost 23yrs old now and was HD for most units.

Biomed and chem jobs r incredibly boring plus dont pay as much as i expted. im considering studying paramed now. Ive always wanted to do more patient focus medicine, plus i get to skip about 8 units due to shared units. Is it worth studying?

Ive always had a high tolerance to bullshit due to previously working in sales, admin, waitering and childcare. I did consider doing paramed before i did biomed but was concerned at the time i wouldnt be ablr to do the job due to crippling social anxiety but now my social anxiety is non existent.

can a dying person refuse a paramedics help?

can they refuse life saving medicine?

Ect

Asking because I'm considering becoming a paramedic but I want to know more about this aspect of the job, sorry I'm not knowledgable, thank you!

Hi! im in a bit of a pickle. I graduated a dual degree with nursing at the end of 2024 (im not sure when exactly it counts as my final placement went over to feb 2025). My dream was to travel to the UK to work there. As we all know, the UK has frozen international paramedic recruitment so I've had to put off moving for now. I started working as an RN in an ED instead, as i didnt want to start QAS as i feel I'd get too attached and never want to leave the job OR if the UK opened up and i couldn't apply due to fear of being blacklisted here. Where I've messed up is not getting hours under my paramedic license. At first i put off getting my rego until the start of this year, where I intended to start working as an event medic but hadn't got around to organising that yet as i am part of a company but just as a first repsonder. Now that its getting later in the year i realise i might not qualify for the hours required for recency of practice by rego renewal time. I'm applying for ALS medic jobs today and hoping I can start soon but if i do happen to lose it, what do i do next? I've looked online for re-entry to practice and it seems the only one avaliable is in ballarat.

also please dont be mean about this, I know i should have been more responsible. I would just like advice from people who might know. Thank you!

Not talking about the massive jobs, just those ordinary shifts where everything seems to go wrong. Back-to-back jobs, no proper break, long waits at hospital, getting sent to the next job just as you’re about to clear, or finishing the shift absolutely wrecked. Those shifts where nothing major even happened but you still go home completely cooked.

Hi,

I am interested in learning more about how AV works - e.g. planning holidays (how often do you get a break), needing certain days off how does that work?

Also interested in knowing if working part time is an option? How often do you do nights?

Anything else you think would be good to know before starting in the role. I want to make the work fit into my life instead of having it revolve around work if possible.

Thank you!

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping some of you kind folk would be nice enough to clear a few things up for me.

I’m a newly qualified paramedic in the UK and my partner and I are hoping to move down to your beautiful lands in the near future. She is a nurse with about 6 years experience, and as I say, I’m fresh out of uni but have had 3 years of placements with an ambulance trust.

I understand that we both will have to register with Ahpra to seek employment. I don’t think she’ll have any real issues but I’m just wondering if I will. I’d just like to ask what the job market is like for newly qualified paramedics / paramedics in general. Where more opportunities might be and if you think I’d have any luck coming over from the UK?

We’ve have a couple of aussies in our services and from what I could gather from chatting it’s hard for your NQPs to get jobs over there because you don’t really have ambulance placements like we do (please correct me if I’m wrong). So they come to the UK or other places to get some experience before heading back. This has me wondering if my 3 years of placements will be enough to bag myself a job over there.

Alternatively, I’d be very happy taking other roles like EMA, EMT, Patient Transport and HCA. Are there many opportunities in these roles and would I be suitable for them?

I’ve reached out to everyone I can think of in terms of ambulance services and governing bodies, and they’ve been very helpful in pointing me towards Ahpra and getting registered. But my questions and concerns really lie in the number of actual opportunities available. So I thought I’d ask the people with boots on the ground.

Give it to me straight. What are my chances looking like and any recommendations on what to do and where to go (Please keep in mind I scream at spiders bigger than a £1 coin and would rather set myself on fire than come within eye sight of a huntsman).

Love you all and thanks for any help.

Hey guys,

Bit of a different post but I'm starting my second semester of uni, and facing a bit of a problem with finding a casual/part time job. I have a bit over a year of experience working fast food, but that was from about 3 years ago so there's a big gap on my resume from there until now, where I've just been essentially unemployed and supporting myself through other ways.

I've been looking for a casual/part time retail role for quite a while and applying to a bunch of different positions on websites, but I've barely even gotten an interview. It feels really hard to find a job as an adult teenager, and especially difficult given due to uni I'm unavailable multiple days of the week.

Should I just bite the bullet and try go back to fast food? I'm aware that it probably won't be what ambulance employers are looking for on a resume, but it's probably better than nothing and I need a more stable gig anyway. I've been looking for a position where I can develop my interpersonal skills, and retail seemed best for that but yeah it's just been a struggle finding a job.

Another thing I've considered is trying to get a job as an event medic/first aid medic, but I kinda of feel like I'm not prepared for that role given it's only been a semester of uni and there's a lot we haven't covered yet. But maybe that's an opportunity to learn a lot about treating patients.

Really love to hear your advice, as I feel like I'm already behind the mark compared to my cohort given the big gap on my resume.

Cheers!