When it’s time to think about studying towards creating a better life for yourself, choosing the career that matches your interests, personality and expectations can take a lot of thought. One of the big questions to ask yourself is, can you afford to take time off work and study pre-hospital emergency health care qualifications at TAFE – or study in your spare time at a private college such as APC?
For some, full-time study may be the only option, yet for others, they say, “I don’t think I can go to TAFE full time, I need to keep working and earn a living, but I really want to study and work towards my dream of becoming a medic or Paramedic”.
TAFE (Technical and Further Education), for the most part offers paramedical training courses via a loan through the Australian government VET Student Loan Study Assist program. Choosing to study at TAFE means a 20% government loan fee is automatically added to the cost of the course, which can add $2000 to the total price of the course.
Your loan to study with TAFE is repaid through the Australian Tax Office (ATO) when your income reaches $45,881 per annum. The more you earn, the more money the ATO automatically takes out of your bank account; you really don’t have a choice.
Quite often you may come across a university offering a Diploma of Emergency Health Care, which is rather unusual when you consider a university is a tertiary institution. This means, they don’t offer Vocational Education and Training qualifications as standard. To get around this, they may often partner with a local TAFE college, whose role it is to delivery the course on behalf of the university.
The HLT51020 – Diploma of Emergency Health Care (formerly known as Diploma of Paramedical Science) is the flexible online paramedical (pre-hospital emergency health care) pathway training that delivers the foundation for a career in private emergency healthcare. The diploma is a safe option to test if you really wish to work in the pre-hospital emergency health care sector. Note: To become a Registered Ambulance Paramedic with a State Ambulance Service, you’ll need the Bachelor of Paramedical Science degree.
If university is not for you, the HLT51020 – Diploma of Emergency Health Care delivers, industry-recognised qualifications to develop a career as a private sector medic, Event Medic, Mining Medic (ESO), Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) etc. As a Basic/Advanced Life Support medic, you can work locally at a footy game, golf event or outdoor concert?
There are 3 emergency health care qualifications you can study online at Australian Paramedical College. As we said earlier, each qualification is nationally recognised and has been designed (recently updated) in consultation with the emergency health care industry organisations whose role it is to develop up-to-date, relevant training packages to meet the needs of the community.
Course completion can take anywhere between 6-12 month (Certificate III in Non-Emergency Patient Transport), 12-18 months (HLT41120 – Certificate IV in Health Care) and 12-24 months for the HLT51020 – Diploma of Emergency Health Care.
At APC, we’ve made it easy to study from anywhere, when it suits you. There’s no immediate rush to hand in assignments every week – just study in your own time (although there is a limit of 2 years to complete the diploma).
One of the most appealing benefits of learning online is the freedom to choose your own study timetable. APC offers unlimited support and mentoring from tutors, a Student Success Team and Course advisors. There’s also huge Facebook group full of students who are always willing to lend a hand and help when you need it
No matter which pathway you choose, TAFE or otherwise – you need a plan and a clear view of where you want to take your career. With a clear plan, you can develop an amazing career in the pre-hospital health care sector by making the right choices on which training option ticks all your boxes. You’re probably wondering where to start, which courses to do and how to develop your skills.
With the right mix of skills and experience you can pick and choose the jobs ad and working conditions that fit in with your idea of a well-balanced work/family life. Balance is important; and being happy and fulfilled in your work makes such a difference in your life. You’ll be working a long time – so you’d agree when we say you have to make good choices early on.
Whilst you’re thinking about how safe and secure a career in health care could be, now more than ever, the whole world has come to recognise the great work every health care worker does. It’s the perfect time to work in health.
Is it time you made a different and gave something back to your community and one of the first steps to achieving that is by completing a Paramedical career development plan!