The international Paramedic PhD registry: an overview of paramedic doctorates

The paramedic profession is developing at speed internationally. To stabilise this growth, the profession must produce, maintain and enhance its own evidence base. This requires doctoral-level training and development of paramedics to join and lead multidisciplinary research teams in order to produce robust science. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of paramedics across the globe who have completed, or are studying for, a doctoral-level qualification in the field of paramedicine.

The Paramedic PhD registry - an English-language open-access voluntary submission platform established in November 2017 - was used as the primary source of data to inform this article. The registry relied on voluntary submissions of doctoral-level qualification details from the field of paramedicine, including doctorate title, details, institution, primary supervisor and date range. The registry was publicly available and received no funding or sponsorship. Paramedics, along with other clinical and non-clinical researchers, were able to submit their doctorate details to the registry at any time.

From its inception to February 2025, 305 doctorates have been registered on Paramedic PhD. Of these, 268 were from self-identified paramedics. These paramedics were spread across the United Kingdom (n = 80), Australia (n = 75), the United States (n = 27), Saudi Arabia (n = 21), Canada (n = 17) and South Africa (n = 13), along with 18 other countries. The earliest doctoral qualification by a paramedic was completed in 2002. Paramedics undertook the Doctor of Philosophy (n = 224), the Professional Doctorate (n = 32) and the Doctor of Education (n = 12) routes, with 129 registered as complete. The most popular categories were education (n = 55), professional development (n = 39) and cardiac arrest (n = 21).

As more paramedics focus their careers on research and the pursuit of doctoral-level qualifications, the volume and quality of evidence will continue to rise, improving outcomes for patients and staff across the globe.