Paramedics with doctorates: providing an original contribution to paramedic knowledge?

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to open a discourse around, and to draw attention to, the relative paucity of paramedic-specific research available in the highly specialised area of out-of-hospital care. It recognises the potential of education for filling this void through paramedics undertaking doctoral qualifications as part of their individual lifelong learning and for advancing the profession. It argues the importance of doctoral qualifications as catalysts for progressing modern paramedicine and highlights the benefits and challenges likely to be experienced during the doctoral programme. The article reinforces the need for a strong profession-specific evidence base, combined with expertise, to be able to provide safe clinical care and it argues for engagement with an emerging paradigmatic framework steeped in philosophy to drive modern paramedicine forwards