The College of Western Idaho (CWI) Paramedic program is celebrating the completion of a significant milestone that keeps the program on par with national standards. The Paramedic program, which is offered through CWI’s Workforce Development Division, learned in January it is approved for initial accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP).
On December 31, 2013, paramedic training programs in the United States were mandated to be accredited by the CAAHEP. The designation allows paramedic graduates to test for the National Paramedic Registry. For the past two years, CWI’s Paramedic program worked through the rigorous requirements, which culminated with a site visit in March of 2015.
“This accreditation means that we can continue to develop and teach the highest quality paramedics,” says Dexter Hunt, chair of CWI’s Paramedic program. “For graduates, it means that they were trained in a program that has the highest standards of academic compliance meeting the accepted National standards for paramedicine.”
The CWI Paramedic program can be completed in approximately one year and includes instruction, clinical rotations, and field internships. Instruction is done at the College’s Canyon County Center in Nampa. Enrollment is limited to 15 students. The program boasts an average employment rate over 85 percent.