Photo by John Rudd Garrett College hosted a certificate ceremony last Monday night for the first cohort of eight students to complete the College’s 14-month hybrid paramedic certificate program. Pictured, left to right, are Program Director James Koon, Program Medical Director Dr. Janelle Martin, Program Clinical Coordinator Steve Adams, students Sara Gant (Cumberland), Billie Jo Bane (Keyser, WV), Kayley Mullaney (Cumberland), Malia Martin (Swanton), Anna Orendorf (Oakland), Joel Rush (Oakland), Corey Vodicka (Cumberland), and Bailie Warnick (Lonaconing), Lead Instructor Josh Hook, and Program Coordinator Doug Beitzel.
It wasn’t easy – but it sure was memorable.
“We completed a journey together that challenged, transformed, and rewarded us in countless ways,” Valedictorian Kayley Mullaney said during last Monday night’s certificate ceremony honoring Garrett College’s first accelerated hybrid paramedic program cohort.
“Yes, it was very hard,” added Mullaney. “But . . . we did it together.”
GC’s eight-member cohort used the combination of online lectures, in-person hands-on activities, and clinical rotations to complete in 14 months what takes two years in a traditional paramedic program. While the program was quicker and possibly more convenient in some ways, speakers emphasized the program’s rigor.
“While your education looked different than our previous paramedic cohorts, the result has been the same,” said Dr. Richard Midcap, Garrett College’s president. “This class is fully prepared for the challenges in front of them.”
Steve Adams, the program’s clinical coordinator, noted each student completed more than 1,000 total hours of classwork and training. Despite all that training, Salutatorian Malia Martin cautioned classmates against ever becoming complacent. Martin shared a thought from Dr. David Persse, the chief medical officer for Houston, TX.
“Caring for patients in the EMS environment is like riding a motorcycle,” she said, quoting Persse. “The moment you get comfortable and think you’ve seen everything, you become dangerous.”
Martin said she and her classmates “have learned a lot over the past year, but we still have a long way to go.”
“Every day brings the opportunity of a new lesson that might surprise us – and we have to be ready to rise to the challenge,” said Martin.
Dr. Elizabeth Wooster, director of trauma and injury specialty care for the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems, said in her keynote address that the cohort needs to be ready for the highs and lows of their field.
“You’re going to have days that are terrible and shifts where you say, ‘What am I doing?’ ” said Wooster, who is also a registered nurse. “You’ll also have amazing days.
“The greatest privilege of life is to care for another human life,” added Wooster. “You and I get to do that in the medical field. And it doesn’t get any better than that.”
Notes: The eight graduates were: Martin, Mullaney, Billie Jo Bane, Sara Gant, Anna Orendorf, Joel Rush, Corey Vodicka, and Bailey Warnick. . . .
Bane and Rush are scheduled to complete Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degrees in Paramedic Studies in December. Martin and Orendorf are scheduled to complete their AAS degrees next May.
Garrett College was one of the first colleges in the state to create a degree pathway that fully articulated certificate coursework into credit-bearing degrees. . . .
Speakers also recognized the key contributions of Dean of Continuing Education & Workforce Development Julie Yoder, Program Director James Koon, Program Coordinator Doug Beitzel, Program Medical Director Janelle Martin, Program Clinical Coordinator Steve Adams, Program Lead Instructor Josh Hook, instructors, preceptors, mentors, and clinical site staff.
