Campus to launch 4-year emergency medicine degree

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford is working with the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh to provide a new, four-year emergency medicine degree on the Bradford campus.

Students in the emergency medicine program will be Pitt-Bradford students for all four years, paying a lower Pitt-Bradford tuition and receiving Pitt-Bradford scholarships. Like all Pitt-Bradford students, they will earn a degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

Emergency medicine students will spend their first two years of college taking generalized college classes in basic subjects. Additionally, they will take a four-credit course to become an emergency medical technician. Then they may apply to the emergency medicine program, which will require a grade point average of 2.5 for admission, EMT certification and 54 completed credits, including prerequisites.

If accepted into the emergency medicine program, students will spend their junior year completing and obtaining their paramedic certification and gaining experience outside of the lab and classroom alongside emergency medical professionals. Senior year will be spent taking courses in critical care medicine and other program-related courses as well as completing graduation requirements.  

The emergency medicine junior and senior years of training will begin fall of 2027. Prospective students can begin working on their general college courses in the fall of 2025 while pursuing the pre-emergency medicine program.

Emergency medicine students will graduate ready to become certified paramedics, who have more training than emergency management technicians and are able to provide advanced life support and perform procedures such as providing oral and intravenous medication, monitoring electrocardiograms and performing tracheotomies.

“I think that this is an excellent opportunity for a true academic partnership using the resources available on and around our regional campus, as well as those on the Pittsburgh campus, to create an excellent learning experience for students,” said Dr. Thomas E. Platt, associate dean for academic partnerships in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at Pitt.

About 25% of graduates from the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences’ emergency medicine program go on to work in the field of emergency medicine.

The degree is also a popular preparation for medical school, which is where another 25% of the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences’ emergency medicine graduates end up.

Doug Graham, instructor of emergency medical services and health sciences at Pitt-Bradford, explained that medical schools look for students with commitment and experience in the medical profession.

Students graduating with an emergency medicine degree will complete a minimum of 544 hours of caregiving alongside mentors. And because they will have been able to become emergency medical technicians along the way, students can spend summers working with ambulance services to gain even more experience before undertaking the highly competitive medical school application process.

“This degree allows students to use their passion for helping others,” Graham said. “It offers students hands-on experience in the classroom and real-world settings as an EMT and paramedic to better prepare them for graduate school or provide them with a certification to begin working even before graduation.” As a certified athletic trainer, Graham said that having the EMT certification himself made him feel more confident as a caregiver.

Graham said the degree will also provide excellent training for students wishing to become physician assistants, occupational therapists, physical therapists, chiropractors, and athletic trainers.

Training more health professionals at a rural university also encourages those students to return to the area to practice. According to the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health, 26% of Pennsylvania’s rural population live in federally designated Health Professional Shortage Areas.

“Our role training health care workers for underserved areas is something that we take very seriously,” said Rick Esch, president of Pitt-Bradford. “We are excited to work with the University of Pittsburgh to provide this new opportunity in our region, and we hope students will consider returning to work in underserved areas when their training is complete.

“Additionally, since this is a rigorous course of study, we have the kind of supportive academic atmosphere that can help students of all backgrounds succeed and contribute to vital medical infrastructure. That’s true whether they choose to enter the workforce immediately as a paramedic or to pursue a medical degree or other advanced training.”

For more information on the new emergency medicine program at Pitt-Bradford, contact Doug Graham, visiting instructor of emergency medical services and health sciences, at djg86@pitt.edu or 814-362-7542.