EMT Certification Class at Amherst College

The Problem:

I am trying to solve the issue that EMT-B Certification is unfairly gated behind a multitude of hurdles that the student has to jump through. At most of the universities that offer a certification class (which is only about 700 in the US, and 500 of those are two year institutions), the classes are paid (generally at least $1500), and textbooks are required to be bought out of pocket for the student. And that’s just at universities that offer these classes. Those that don’t force students to take their own initiative and not just find and sign up for these classes by themselves (and pay for them, of course), which is not very intuitive for a profession that is constantly short on employees.

While Amherst College has part of the solution, we don’t have it entirely figured out. ACEMS, our student-run EMS program holds classes during January, and takes students who pass the certification exam onto the squad to be a (now) paid EMT. The problem with only having ACEMS, however, is that they are only able to take 30 students per year, and there are nearly 500 new students come to Amherst each semester. Additionally, ACEMS only accepts freshmen and sophomores, preventing juniors and seniors from attaining their certification. With an additional EMT certification course, students would actually be able to achieve their certifications from Amherst, and it would allow juniors and seniors to have this opportunity as well!

My Project and the Community:

I plan to invite the local EMS department to become part of the course. They will be essential in helping to contribute to ride time for the students (Being in an ambulance, really taking calls, is known as “ride time,” and is essential to the learning of new EMT students). From this, the EMS department would be able to hand pick new potential EMTs, further expanding their staff and providing Amherst College students an opportunity for a job and to gain experience. Seeing as there is a national EMT shortage, this would be a massive advantage, because it would mean that the town of Amherst gets better care quality, and has even more EMTs to take calls. Additionally, Amherst College’s campus will be more safe than ever before with countless more students being qualified to respond to emergencies than most other colleges.

Course Outline:

The class will be run once every other semester, will include a lab, and will earn students 6 college credits. Students would be able to sign up for the class for no more than their Amherst College tuition, and wouldn’t have to pay a dime except to test for their certification.

In terms of EMS skills, the class will focus on all areas of emergency responding, including, but not limited to: The legal parameters of being an EMT, how to interact with patients, how to assess patients, how to assess the scene, how to properly diagnose patients, how to treat patients, and a multitude of other skills. The class will also, however, integrate real world skills into the class in order to prepare students for how they will feel during these moments. These are major skills like staying calm under pressure, split second decision making, and even how to not hesitate. Along with these skills, students will also be reinforcing other life skills such as how to hold a conversation with a stranger, being polite, etc.

As of right now, the course will follow the outline below:
- It will run every spring semester (4 credits, lab is 2 credits, total of 6 credits)
- It will have 30 students per semester
- It will have a lab section (2 credits): This will be for clinicals, ambulance ride time, and other necessary training for the field.
- The lab will be primarily focused on strengthening the mental skills required for the field. Students will be trained to work under pressure, stress, and learn to assess a situation quickly and carefully.

What has been done:

Interest survey has been done
ACEMS has been contacted for community integration within ACEMS
The need for the class has been communicated effectively
Course has been mostly planned out

What still has to be done?

For the course:
- Figure out who will teach the course and recruit them if necessary.
- Find out how much funding will be necessary per semester, as well as the initial funding required for purchasing initial equipment
  - ACEMS may have training equipment that the class could borrow to help cut costs.
- Figure out what days/times the class will be run using the class heat map.
Campus partners and Community Outreach:
- Follow up with ACEMS to see how much integration they would be interested in and what you would do.
- Talk to Amherst EMS to see if they would be interested collaborating with the class and giving students ride time.
  - This could reduce the Town to College divide.
Administrative planning:
- Talk to the treasury department about funding.
- Talk to Michael Elliot about getting the course funded.
Evaluate and Adapt:
- Implement mechanisms for gathering feedback from students, faculty, and external partners throughout the course, especially during the first few iterations.
- Use this data to refine the curriculum, course structure, and partnerships for future semesters.
- The first year or two the course is run there may be a shortage of TAs. This could be rectified by asking ACEMS members if they would be interested in being a TA until the class has been run once or twice.

Liberal Arts and EMT Certification–how do they fit?

I’ve always believed that education should be more than a list of prerequisites—it should prepare us to handle the complexities and challenges of the world. That belief, shaped by both my time at Amherst and especially my experience in the HSTEM course, is what led me to begin the process of developing a free, accredited EMT certification course for students at Amherst College and the Five College Consortium. I want to make a case not only for its practical usability, but also for how deeply it supports the liberal arts ethos that Amherst claims to uphold, and how it aligns with the core principles of Being Human in STEM.

One of the first things we learned in HSTEM is that access is not equity. Amherst students are brilliant and extremely goal driven, but not everybody has the money, time, or resources to pursue EMT certification off-campus. That’s a structural barrier—not just an inconvenience. By creating a no-cost course with embedded support systems, we can directly address that inequality. This project isn’t only about creating a class; it’s about opening doors. Students from all majors and financial backgrounds could gain access to life-saving knowledge and community-based experience.

This kind of experiential learning is exactly what a liberal arts education should support. It provides students the chance to act ethically and empathetically in real-world settings—not just in hypothetical ones. In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire criticizes the “banking model” of education, in which students are treated as passive recipients of knowledge. Instead, he advocates for an approach where students are co-creators in the learning process (Freire). An EMT course embodies this shift. Students wouldn’t just memorize protocols; they would engage with the messy, emotional, urgent realities of healthcare, applying what they know under pressure and evolving as learners.

When I spoke with ACEMS and started sketching out how this class might work, I realized just how many parts of the Amherst and local community could be connected through it. Ride-alongs with Amherst EMS would provide students with the opportunity to experience real world scenarios. Students would not only observe emergencies but be trained to respond. That kind of preparation requires practicing for high-stress environments—and as Driskell et al. (2001) demonstrates, this kind of stress training meaningfully improves performance, especially in unpredictable settings. Training isn’t just about readiness—it’s about your ability to adapt and remain calm. This class indirectly teaches those skills through exposure to chaos and the real world of medicine.

This focus on embodied experience ties closely to what Robin Wall Kimmerer describes in Braiding Sweetgrass. “Yes I have learned the names of all the bushes,” she writes, “but I have yet to learn their songs” (Kimmerer 47). Learning the protocols and theory behind emergency response is like knowing the names. But stepping into a moment of crisis, responding with composure and care—that’s the song. It’s what transforms learning from abstract to human. This EMT course is a chance for Amherst students to hear that song, and to respond in harmony. Whether they choose to take their training to work as an EMT in the future, or they choose to cover that song with other areas of their life, this class will provide experience that students will reap the rewards of for the rest of their lives.

And yet, this course isn’t only for students going into healthcare. It serves anyone who wants to better understand and support others. A neuroscience major could witness the effects of trauma on cognition. A political science major might gain insight into healthcare disparities or the logistics of emergency medical systems. A philosophy major may walk away with new ethical frameworks grounded in practice. An economics major may walk away with the ability to command the room in a meeting. These interdisciplinary bridges are not only welcome in a liberal arts context—they are essential to its mission.

One of Amherst’s missions is educating the whole student. This is an excellent opportunity to create a class where the whole student is not just educated, but challenged. Philosopher Agnes Callard explains that aspiration means seeking out values that may conflict with those we already hold. “The aspirant sets out to acquire a way of being that need not serve, and may well clash with her pre-existing values… she is in search of a new self” (Callard 9). Becoming an EMT changes you. It asks you to reconsider your priorities, your hesitations, your sense of responsibility. You are in charge of a real person’s life. Students aren’t just adding knowledge; they’re reshaping themselves to become a secondary thought, and the patient becomes the primary thought.

If we take this seriously, then we must treat student transformation not as incidental but as central to the Amherst mission. This course isn’t just skill training. It’s value formation. It creates moments where students reflect not only on what they know, but on who they are—and who they’re becoming.

A course like this can also heal gaps within Amherst itself. Many students, especially those from less privileged backgrounds, feel alienated by the abstract nature of academic work. The opportunity to do something real—to care for another human being in a moment of crisis—can restore meaning and belonging. As Dionne Brand writes, “I could have been someone else. I could have drowned in the volume…I could have suffocated” (Brand 53). Students shouldn’t have to drown in theory. They should be allowed to breathe, to act, to matter. The ability to contribute to society and learn at the same time is a core principle of the Amherst College student, and this class gives anybody the opportunity to do just that.

Of course, making this class happen will take work. We’ll need to secure funding, coordinate with Amherst EMS, and find qualified instructors. But the steps are all achievable. Barbara Jacoby’s Service-Learning Essentials outlines nine key steps to developing effective partnerships in courses like this, emphasizing mutual benefit, preparation, reflection, and sustained community engagement. Following such frameworks can help ensure this course is not only successful, but sustainable.

Ultimately, what’s at stake here isn’t just whether a class gets added to the registry. It’s a question of what Amherst believes education is for. If we truly want to create thinkers and leaders who understand their place in the world, we have to stop pretending that academic knowledge alone is enough. We need learning that meets people where they are—in moments of stress, uncertainty, and need. We need learning that changes not only what students know, but how they live.

And so the question remains: What kind of institution does Amherst want to be? One that tells students they can be anything? Or one that helps them become someone truly capable of shaping—and serving—the world?

Works Cited

Brand, Dionne. Salvage. McClelland & Stewart, 2020.

Callard, Agnes. “Liberal Education and the Possibility of Valuational Progress.” 2025: Spring Presidential Library, 2025, pp. 1–15.

Driskell, James E., Eduardo Salas, and Joan A. Johnston. “Does Stress Training Improve Performance?” Human Factors, vol. 43, no. 1, 2001, pp. 99–114. Sage Journals, https://doi.org/10.1518/001872001775992462.

Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Continuum, 1970.

Jacoby, Barbara. Service-Learning Essentials: Questions, Answers, and Lessons Learned. Jossey-Bass, 2015.

Jordan, June. Civil Wars: Observations from the Front Lines. Touchstone, 1981.

Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions, 2013.

Love, Bettina L. We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom. Beacon Press, 2019.