When a medical emergency strikes, the skill and judgment of the professionals who respond can make a critical difference. A newly launched paramedic program at UDC is preparing the next generation of paramedics to meet that responsibility, underscoring the university’s commitment to serving as the District’s workforce and economic mobility engine while creating new opportunities for emergency medical technicians, or EMTs, to advance their careers.
Established in collaboration with DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services (DCFEMS), the program combines higher education with hands-on training to strengthen the District's health care workforce. UDC is now the first public higher education institution in the District offering both a paramedic certificate and an Associate of Science in paramedicine, filling a critical need for local EMTs who want to advance into paramedic roles.
The program is following standards set by the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the EMS Professions and approved by the DC Department of Health, and as UDC Community College Associate Dean Bushra Ahmad Saeed says, “We’re launching this program with high standards in place. We’re making sure we have high-quality and high-impact curriculum so that the students are meeting the current requirements and learning the current skills and trends.” Saeed credits UDC President Maurice D. Edington, Vice President for Innovation and Transformation Maria Byrd and Community College Dean Marilyn Hamilton for their hard work that began two years ago to bring this partnership with the District to fruition. Now, she says, “It’s going to directly serve the workforce needs of the District.”
UDC’s accelerated program will take current EMTs through a series of core paramedic courses lasting about 12 months for students pursuing a paramedic certificate, with an additional semester of general coursework required for an associate degree. Foundational classes are underway now for the 18 students in the inaugural cohort, covering everything from airway and cardiac emergencies and traumatic injuries to chronic conditions and other essentials of patient care. The students will then take those skills to clinical sites, working with other key partners like Howard University Hospital and Children’s National Hospital and following hospital professionals in rotations through emergency departments, operating rooms, psychiatric care, labor and delivery and more. Finally, they’ll take that knowledge into the field, riding on ambulances and working alongside current paramedics.
The first graduates will receive their certificates and degrees in the summer of 2027. By then, each student will have done over 500 hours of clinical work in the community. The final step will be passing the national registry exam, after which graduates may be able to command an immediate $15,000 to $20,000 salary increase as they reenter the workforce as fully licensed paramedics. As Saeed says, “That is our success. That’s when I celebrate . . . Then I will consider that the circle has closed.”
UDC is launching this program just as new possibilities are opening nationally in the field of emergency medicine education. As UDC’s EMS Program Director Emma Carraway explains, the expanding scope of paramedic duties is creating new opportunities for career advancement. “There are a lot of paramedics who have gone to med school, PA (physician assistant) school and nursing programs,” she says. “There’s a lot of potential.”
That potential at UDC might include advanced continuing education and certification courses that could be open to the public, deeper partnerships with other UDC programs and more. Carraway adds: “The program is set up so well. We have amazing support, from the instructors to the communities within the city, the opportunities with the clinical sites that we have here, the support we have had to get certain equipment that is exciting to use in a training capacity . . . I have a lot of ideas for future plans that are exciting to think about.”
The excitement is spreading. For UDC, the paramedic program represents more than a new academic offering. It’s another way the university is connecting education with the needs of the District, creating opportunities for residents to advance professionally while preparing skilled public servants to care for their neighbors and reinforcing UDC’s commitment to accessible education, workforce development and community service.