The mission of the paramedic education program of Bassett Healthcare's Center for Rural Emergency Medical Services Education is to:

The goal of the paramedic education program is to graduate paramedics who are minimally able to:

1. comprehend, apply and evaluate the clinical information in the patient's presentation and determine the appropriate out – of – hospital diagnosis. Then the paramedic shall be able to institute a plan of care consistent with national, state and regional standards for care.
2. accomplish the skills required in that plan of care a.k.a. be minimally competent at the psychomotor skills of a paramedic.
3. demonstrate the kinds of professional behavior that is consistent with the expectations of employers and his or her peers.

The paramedic education program has established several enabling performas for our students:

1. An educated paramedic should be exposed to a broad variety of patient care environments (clinic, emergency, in-patient, aero-medical, pre-hospital, home healthcare, and wilderness.)
2. An educated paramedic should have achieved a sufficient depth of knowledge to be said to be competent as a paramedic provider.
3. An educated paramedic should be able to express him or herself clearly, completely, and accurately in all forms of communications; written, printed, or spoken.
4. An educated paramedic should be able to relate computational skills to the practice of medicine in the field.
5. An educated paramedic should be able to identify problems and to find efficient solutions to those problems found in the field.
6. An educated paramedic should develop the skills to understand, accept, and relate to people of different backgrounds and beliefs.
7. An educated paramedic should be expected to have some understanding of and experience in thinking about moral and ethical problems.
8. An educated paramedic should have conceptual ability: i.e. the ability to think rationally, to develop informed opinions, and to comprehend new ideas.