Student paramedics visit St Michael's as part of degree course training

Our Education team shares its knowledge and expertise with our staff here at St Michael’s, and those in external healthcare settings.

As part of this, we were delighted to welcome around 30 student paramedics to St Michael’s!

The Third Year students, who are all studying BSC (Hons) in Paramedic Science at University of Worcester, spent time in our specialist Education space learning more about appropriate care for palliative and end-of-life patients.

“The students find it incredibly valuable to come here,” said Nathan Caswell-Price, Senior Lecturer in BSC Paramedic Science.

Trainee paramedics learn about palliative care because it is an essential part of their role, even though it differs from the emergency-focused care they are most commonly associated with.

While paramedic training often centres on responding to life-threatening situations such as cardiac arrest, trauma, or acute illness, palliative care focuses on comfort, dignity, and quality of life for people with life-limiting conditions. This includes managing symptoms like pain and breathlessness, supporting patients to stay in their preferred place of care, and working in line with advance care plans and end-of-life wishes.

Visiting a hospice like ours helps trainee paramedics understand this different approach in practice. It gives them insight into how specialist teams provide compassionate, patient-centred care outside of the emergency setting, and highlights that sometimes the most appropriate care is not hospital admission, but comfort-focused support tailored to the individual.

We loved having them all here and wish them the best of luck for the rest of their studies and future careers!