Emergency Medical Services

Program Description

The emergency medical services (EMS) degree program at the University of Utah's Center for Emergency Programs prepares students to serve as allied health professionals in emergency medical response. The program trains students to provide critical care and transport services to the community. Students will complete EMS core courses and then select one of the emphasis areas below.

EMS Management emphasis: This emphasis area provides students with courses to support leadership and promotion in EMS careers.  The flexibility in choosing electives in this emphasis gives students the opportunity to take a variety of classes to support management responsibilities in many different areas of EMS organizations.  

Paramedic Care emphasis: This emphasis gives our students specific courses at the highest level of care for prehospital providers.  This one-year, intensive emphasis provides students with a foundation for paramedic practice that includes certification and licensure with successful completion of NREMT examinations.

Wilderness & Technical Rescue emphasis: Students in this emphasis learn wilderness and technical rescue skills frequently used in the wilderness response industry. These skills are also adapted and used frequently in urban settings during rescue operations for people that are trapped in a vehicle or involved in a commercial or industrial emergency.  

Occupational Safety & Health emphasis: Students participating in the Occupational Safety and Health emphasis build on their emergency medical response knowledge and skills with a focus on the health and safety of the worker through injury prevention practices, risk management principles and health promotion strategies.

The Student Experience

Students in the EMS program will gain hands-on training and practical experiences through EMT Training, Internship, and other EMS opportunities. EMT, AEMT, and Paramedic courses will provide students with the opportunity to earn certification and licensure with successful completion of examinations that can be used while still in school and after graduation to gain important patient care experience and skills. Students may also consider joining EMS U, the program’s student club, for the opportunity to connect with other EMS students and also participate in community activities events on and off campus.

Career Opportunities

The U’s EMS program will prepare students with hands-on and practical experiences for careers in the field of EMS and healthcare as well as supporting roles in mass gathering and events, medicine, disaster and emergency management and in outdoor recreation settings.  Students may pursue employment working as a 911 paramedic responder with a fire service, a first response EMS agency or even in clinic and hospital settings such as the Emergency Room.

The knowledge and skills from this degree are foundational to a career as a Critical Care Transport provider, Flight Paramedic, or Community Paramedic. Our wilderness and technical rescue emphasis prepares providers to work on search and rescue teams, or as outdoor river guides and ski patrollers. Students may also utilize skills and knowledge gained from the EMS program to pursue further education in careers such as physician, physician’s associate (PA), dentistry, nursing, athletic training, respiratory therapy, and other prehealth professions.

More Info

• Department of Health and Kinesiology
• College of Health
• Department Advising
• U Career Success
• University of Utah Center for Emergency Program

Catalog

• Emergency Medical Services

Exploratory Classes

• H EDU 5950 - EMT Training
• H EDU 2095 - Intro to Wilderness Medicine
• H EDU 2020 - Community Health Issues