Comparing rural and urban paramedical practice: A case study approach

Asking the question how can the differences in rural paramedical practice and urban paramedical practice inform rural paramedical curriculum, is a Masters project titled “Rural paramedics: Bridging the gap between education, training and practice”. The decision to use a case study approach is discussed. Multiple cases from sites in Tasmania and Victoria are used as a means to increase generalization of results, and mixed methodology utilized with the introduction of quantitative data. Purposeful selection of units if analysis for cases has been designed around ensuring correct terminology for ‘paramedics’, and defining what will be rural and what will be urban. An important feature of selection is the use of proposed models of paramedical practice in order to provide a unique approach to comparison of rural and urban paramedical practice.