From Paramedic to Professor

Malcolm Woollard has made history by becoming the first paramedic in the UK to be awarded the title of Professor.

He has been conferred as a Visiting Professor in Pre-hospital Emergency Care by the University of Teesside, the first person in the UK to hold the title.

As the Director of the Faculty of Pre-hospital Care Research Unit at the James Cook University Hospital, Malcolm no longer works with an ambulance crew. Instead, he is responsible for research into new emergency treatments and procedures for patients. Although most medical research is conducted by doctors, Malcolm leads the growing number of paramedics working in this area.

Prior to his appointment in 2004, Malcolm worked for the Welsh Ambulance Service and was a paramedic for more than 20 years. He started his career as a qualified nurse before moving into emergency care.

Malcolm, 44, from Brecon Beacons in Wales, said: “This is fantastic news for paramedics and ambulance emergency medical technicians. My ambition is to just be the first of many paramedics to hold the title of Professor. Receiving this title is an explicit recognition of our developing professional status and the importance placed on our contribution to patient care. Clearly, it would not have been possible for me to achieve this honour without the support and encouragement of many very talented colleagues and mentors from the ambulance, medical and nursing professions. I truly am fortunate to be standing on the shoulders of giants.

“The ambulance service has a proud record in adapting to new ideas and to being committed to developing new skills. We are a relatively young discipline: training of ambulance staff to paramedic level only became a national requirement in 1990. But paramedics always strive to do their job better and I hope I can help others to do this. I know several colleagues who are studying a variety of courses, and combined with all of our on-the-job experience, I hope we can help create a new era of skill levels and training for all paramedics.”

In his new role at the University of Teesside Malcolm will teach and help develop academic courses to support training and skills for paramedics. In addition, Malcolm hopes to support the introduction of a course for existing ambulance crews to enable them to achieve a BSc qualification that will formally recognise their skills.

Malcolm achieved his first degree, a Masters in Public Health (awarded with distinction) from the University of Wales, College of Medicine in 2001, after winning a National Assembly for Wales research scholarship. Since then he has obtained a Masters Degree in Business Administration, from the University of Glamorgan, and a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (with distinction) from the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff. He also has a Diploma in Immediate Care from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

Malcolm’s most recent qualification is a Masters in Education from the University of Teesside. He has been named as the best all-round performer in the subject and will receive an academic prize at this November’s graduation ceremony at Middlesbrough Town Hall. He is a Fellow of the Ambulance Service Institute and a Member of the Higher Education Academy.

Outside of work Malcolm enjoys reading fiction, learning to play the drums, and spending time with his wife Julie and their pets.

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