About Scott
Scott Dickeson
Former Access to Paramedic Science SWAP student
Now doing Paramedic Science at Glasgow Caledonian University
I left school just before my 16th birthday and signed up to the British army as a young soldier. Main stream Army is 17-year-old, so I attended the army foundation college for a year, during which I completed my phase 1 training and also achieved various NVQs in technology and communications, and completed the Duke of Edinburgh award. I was based in Germany for a couple off years, served overseas on operations in Bosnia (peacekeeping with SFOR) and was one of the first units to enter Iraq in 2003 (war). On leaving the army I became a service engineer for a company called Note machine, this job entailed servicing and maintaining Cash machine in Scotland, England, and N Ireland.
I decided to do the Access course because it was the best option for me to gain the grades needed to apply to the Paramedic programme at university.
Kelvin was the closest college to me, plus it had the necessary course that would aid my ambition of going to university and on asking people who had attended the college for various courses, they all came back with great reviews.
During the course I gained a lot or skills including learning how to write essays and ensuring that they are of a high standard. Also, Biology was a new subject for me, so this was very interesting to learn and through this my knowledge on the human system has widened greatly.
The whole course in general was excellent. Learning new skills and being around a large group of adults all aiming to achieve the same goal was pretty cool.
The staff were great from start to finish, always there if you needed extra support. I started the course while nearing the end of the pandemic so face to face didn’t happen till block 3. Getting the chance to finally meet the lectures in person was great.
The course has given me great confidence in the important things that are needed to become a paramedic. Learning skills like essay written and research has been invaluable.
I have moved onto university and just recently finished my first year of studies at GCU. My journey to becoming a paramedic is starting to shape and in the coming week I’m out on an 8-week placement on the ambulance.
My advice to anyone who is thinking about taken the step back into education would be, go for it, it’s scary and at times puts you under great pressure. We only get one shot at this so don't live to regret the chances you didn't take, if it's something you really want to do in life then what's stopping you? Go for it!
Find out more about the Access Paramedic Science & Healthcare course.