What is known about supporting the transition of paramedics from clinical practice into academic roles within higher education? A scoping review

The aim of this scoping review is to understand the extent and type of evidence that is available regarding supporting clinical paramedics transitioning into academia. The transition of paramedic academics is under researched. A contributing factor to this is that paramedics were only required to hold a degree to register with the health care professions council (HCPC) from 2021. This significantly shifted paramedic education from primarily being a vocational course, delivered within the ambulance service to being delivered by academics within a Higher Education Institute (HEI). According to HCPC (2025) there are 83 approved programmes delivering pre-registration paramedic courses ultimately increasing the amount of academics needing to deliver education within HEI’s.Recent reported literature highlighting the need for formalised mentoring and support to be developed to attract this transition and crucially maintain early-career academics to support the ever-growing need of future paramedics (Church et al., 2025; Council of Deans, 2025).