The JRCALC Scholarship Awards

Three meritorious paramedics formally received their awards at a short presentation at this year’s Conference held at the Royal College of Physicians in November. The scholarships were awarded as follows:

The Mike McGovern Travel Scholarship
Simon Blackburn, Education & Development Lead for the Surrey Ambulance Service NHS Trust was the recipient of the “Mike McGovern Travel Scholarship” awarded in the memory of Mike and his much valued contribution as a Department of Health representative on the Committee. Simon intends to visit the Durban Institute of Technology in South Africa for four weeks to determine whether the practical assessment processes used in their paramedic education programs might be applicable to our own British programs. Following this evaluation, and having made any necessary procedural adjustments to take account of UK practice, the processes will be trialled within Surrey and the results shared with other ambulance services within the UK.

The Douglas Chamberlain Research Scholarship
Martyn Box, a Clinical Support Officer with Dorset Ambulance NHS Trust, was the successful applicant for the “Douglas Chamberlain Research Scholarship” and intends to pursue a study under the title “Does ventricular fibrillation coarsen during chest compression?” The aim of this study will be to systematically analyse data downloads from defibrillators to examine the factors that could indicate coarsening of ventricular fibrillation in adult cardiac arrest and thus the likely effectiveness of therapy used to treat this cardiac arrest rhythm.

The Chairman’s Educational Scholarship
David Wells is an Emergency Care Practitioner with the Sussex Ambulance Service NHS Trust and the successful recipient of the “Chairman’s Educational Scholarship”. He intends to undertake a BSc (Hons) Clinical Practice (Emergency Care) module at Surrey University. Having already completed the ECP and mentorship modules this degree programme will lead on to a recognised professional Higher Educational Qualification to help him further develop his clinical skills thus enhancing patient care and ensuring a quality service.

A condition of the awards is that each recipient returns to the annual JRCALC Conference in 2006 to give a full account of how they have used the opportunities offered by their awards.

Tom Clarke, JRCALC Chair Dec. 2005