CMC improves paramedic program

Collegewide program offers hands-on lab work, internships and clinicals

By Mike McKibbin, Colorado Mountain College

Interested in a career as a paramedic or emergency medical technician? Learn what it takes through the recently revamped and improved Colorado Mountain College paramedic education program. The program is based at CMC Vail Valley in Edwards though extends to students throughout the CMC district.

Applications are being accepted for the 2026-27 program. Grant Middlebrook, the program’s lead faculty member said the college plans to enroll approximately 16 to 18 students per cohort, allowing for small class sizes and hands-on training.

The program is focused on developing critical skills needed to succeed in emergency medical services, including:

• advanced patient assessment and stabilization;
• airway management and ventilation techniques;
• medication administration and pharmacology;
• cardiac and trauma care interventions; and
• leadership in scene management and decision-making.

Graduates can work in emergency and health-care settings, such as ambulance services, fire protection districts, hospitals, ski areas and rural health agencies. Potential students are those who want to work at doctors’ offices, fire departments and other agencies, noted Middlebrook.

A pause before improvement

Middlebrook noted the program was paused for about a year between 2023 and 2024 for improvements.

“From clinicals to scheduling to equipment, we reorganized and reformatted the program to a higher level,” he said. “Every aspect of the program, including our curriculum, has improved.”

Middlebrook added it took “a ton of work improving and expanding clinical internships.”

The program also received nearly $500,000 from the college for better task trainers, simulators and lab flooring, he said.

The improvements during the pause appear to have paid off. Middlebrook mentioned that students from the 2024-25 cohort enjoyed a 100% pass rate on the national exam. More importantly, each one of those students is now employed as a paramedic.

“For many of our students, it’s a huge factor to be able to stay in the mountains and learn rural medicine,” Middlebrook said. “Our program gives them scenarios they’re likely to encounter in those settings.”

But the program also prepares students for higher-volume, urban environments.

“We offer clinical placements in busier settings like Denver as well,” he said. “Some students are specifically interested in gaining experience in higher-call-volume settings, and we support that.”

Live anywhere, attend weekly labs in Edwards

Middlebrook noted students can live anywhere in CMC’s eight-county district, as long as they attend required weekly, in-person, hands-on labs in Edwards. The specialized EMS lab has an ambulance mock-up and two simulation rooms, he added.

This academic-year-long program — from August to August — also features online and classroom instruction and clinical practice of over 1,200 hours of learning, clinical rotations and field internships.

The first two semesters are "didactic,” consisting of two remote lectures students must attend real-time either online or in-person, along with weekly labs. At the same time, students must spend 250 hours as unpaid interns at area hospitals.

For the third summer semester, students complete a 500-hour field internship. Middlebrook added that internship differs from the hospital internship “because it's ‘third rides’ on a 911 ambulance. They actually work as a paramedic, with supervision.”

Upon program completion, students earn a certificate of occupational proficiency and can take National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians and Colorado certification exams. Graduates may also apply credits toward an Associate of Arts and Sciences paramedic degree.

For more information, visit CMC paramedic program.