Primary Care Paramedic Program Selection Process: Does It
Promote Student Success?
Mills S. and Harms K.

Unselected Provincial Average vs. Selected Student Outcomes

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND

DISCUSSION:

87
86

The Primary Care Paramedic (PCP) program at the Justice
Institute of BC (JIBC) School of Health Sciences (SoHS) trains
approximately 200 paramedic students annually. Historically the
PCP program was filled by candidates on a “first-come, firstserved” basis. That enrolment method generated a lengthy wait
list for entry into the program. Some students decided not to wait,
and moved on to other programs. Other students who were
accepted into the program, were neither academically or
emotionally ready to take the PCP program, as was evidenced by
the significant number of academic exits and student withdrawals
at the conclusion of the first component of the program, the
Clinical Science 200 (CS200) evaluations
evaluations.

85
84
83
Class Average
82
81
80
79
78
Unselected VA 11‐07
Provincial
Average

VA 12‐01

VI 11‐09
Class
Name VI 12‐02

KE 11‐08

KE 12‐03

Overall Scores by Campus

Lastly, we found there to be a direct correlation between the
selection process scores, and the cohort outcomes at each
campus, that is, lower selection scores translated into lower
overall scores for that cohort. We feel this correlation validates the
selection tools we are using
using.

85
84
83
82
Unselected Scores

Scores
81

Selected Scores

80
79
78
Kelowna

In 2010, the PCP program moved to three intakes per year, and
developed a process and tools to select candidates into the
program that had the best chance of being successful .

Victoria

Vancouver

Our next steps will be to look at the same data for our Distributed
Learning programs, and study the difference in student outcomes
between students studying in a part time/online model, versus a
fulltime face to face model.

Unselected CS200 Provincial Average vs. Selected CS200 Outcomes
90

88.9

88
86.17
86

METHODS
We compared
p
academic outcomes,, in the form of written
evaluations, of the 2010 cohorts with the academic outcomes of
the 2011 cohorts that were enrolled through the selection process.
We also compared the outcomes of the CS200 exams between
the two groups, as the CS200 evaluation has traditionally led to
numerous academic exits and student withdrawals. Finally, we
looked at the relationship between overall selection scores and
overall cohort outcomes.
The data was extracted from our school-wide
school wide database
database, and from
our selection tracking tools.

83.58

84
Class Average 82
80

81.53

81.19

80.83

80

APPLICATION:

78
76
74
Unselected
Provincial
Average

VA 11‐07

VA 12‐01

Class
Name
VI 11‐09

VI 12‐02

We found an overall increase in the academic scores for each
selected cohort, over 2010 students who did not participate in a
selection process. We also found an increase in the percent of
students who were successful in the CS200 evaluations.
evaluations
Lastly, we found a correlation between the selection scores, and
the overall academic scores for the selected cohorts.

KE 11‐08

KE 12‐03

Overall Selection Scores vs: Overall Course Scores
90

85

80

The trends discovered in this project will allow us to improve
student success in two ways. Further review of the demographics
of the students who have achieved the highest selection and
overall course scores will allow us to target and focus our
marketing efforts. Inversely, recognizing that lower selection
scores lead to lower overall scores, we can increase student
support to those with lower selection scores and work with them
earlier to improve their chances of success.

Overall Selection Score

Scores 75

RESULTS

We found an increase in overall scores in the selected 2011
cohorts over the 2010 cohort. We also found increases in the
scores at each campus in the 2011 cohorts over the 2010 cohort.
When looking at only the CS200 scores, we noticed that each
selected cohort at all campuses scored higher than the previous
unselected cohorts. We found this to be significant.

Overall Course Score
Linear (Overall Selection Score)

70

Linear (Overall Course Score)

65

60
VI 11‐09

VA 11‐07

VA 12‐01

KE 11‐08
Class

VI 12‐02

KE 12‐03

KEY REFERENCES:
Turner T. (2010) Selection interviewer Training guide. T.S. Turner
Consulting Inc.

JUSTICE INSTITUTE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA