New N.S. temporary licence to put paramedic grads on the job faster
Temporary licence allows graduates to work under experienced paramedics
A new temporary licensing program will allow paramedic graduates to get on the job faster in Nova Scotia.
The College of Paramedics has created a "restricted temporary licence" for paramedic graduates that allows them to start working in the field before passing their licensure exam.
Normally, graduates would have to wait to be licensed before starting work, which could take up to six months, according to the Department of Health and Wellness.
Amid a well-documented paramedic shortage in the province, the new policy is intended to clear the backlog of graduates waiting to take the Canadian Organization of Paramedic Regulators exam.
According to a news release from the Department of Health, the temporary licence applies to new graduates from Medavie HealthEd's Primary Care Paramedic Program in Nova Scotia and equivalent accredited programs elsewhere in Canada.
It allows them to work under the supervision of a paramedic with at least two years of practical experience while they wait to write the national exam and gain full licensure. In order to qualify for the temporary licence, graduates must prove they have signed up for the exam.
"[The policy] takes into consideration the fact that they are a new graduate that hasn't written the entire deposit exam yet and allows them to practice up until the point that they either pass that entry deposit exam or they don't," said Karl Kowalczyk, executive director and registrar of the College of Paramedics of Nova Scotia.
If the person hasn't passed the exam after three attempts, their temporary licence is revoked.
A similar type of temporary licence is used by other professional colleges in Nova Scotia, such as nurses, midwives and physiotherapists.
Kowalczyk said the College of Paramedics was approached by the Department of Health and Emergency Health Services Nova Scotia about creating the policy to get graduates into the field sooner.
"Each of them indicated that there was a need to have this type of policy put into place," he said.
Fewer graduates applying for the exam
Kowalczyk said COVID-19 has also had an impact on how many people are graduating from paramedic programs, and thus applying for the licensure exam. He said programs were delayed by the pandemic and practical experience was postponed in some cases.
"Typically we'd see anywhere between 100 and 120 applicants per year, but we haven't seen those numbers in the last two years," Kowalczyk said. "Definitively, you can see that there is a drop in the number of people that were applying."
In 2021, 81 Nova Scotians wrote the exam required to become a paramedic.
Kowalczyk said he hopes the people whose programs were delayed will be graduating this year and the number of new paramedics applying for licensure will return to normal.