Paramedic Associate Degree Graduates Celebrate Their Achievement

On Sunday, June 26, about 40 friends and family gathered at the Chambers Street campus of Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC/CUNY) to celebrate 11 Associate in Paramedic graduates: Jacob Acevedo, Charlise Alvero, Rose-Ali Devis, Kevin Guartazaca, Carolina Justiniano, Izabela Kubis, Meriyina Sanchez, Supriya Sarker, Catherine Tlacopilco, Douglas Walker and Muneerah Yasin-Bradley.

“While this was a relatively small graduation ceremony, it was such an overwhelming expression of pride, joy, excitement, celebration and love,” said EMS Program Director and Assistant Professor Meghan Williams. “Family members expressed their admiration and love for the graduates. There were only a few dry eyes in the room as we acknowledged the amount of work, professionalism and maturity it took for the graduates to reach this moment.”

The EMT program, a partnership between BMCC and the Urban Assembly School for Emergency Management (UASEM), an NYC DOE Specialized High School, enabled the students to begin as high school seniors then enroll at BMCC, concurrently earning a high school diploma and Paramedic Associate degree. They also earned both New York State and national EMT certifications.

Speakers at the celebration included UASEM teacher and program leader Salvatore Puglisi, who presented the EMT Certificates with EMS Program Director Williams. The Oath of Geneva, an updated version of the Hippocrates Oath for medical professionals, was led by BMCC EMT Instructor Mark Moorer.

The EMT program is funded through BMCC Center for Continuing Education and Workforce Development under Director of Allied Health and Special Programs Donna McLean-Grant. It is part of the CUNY Strengthening Community Colleges Consortium funded through the U.S. Department of Labor.

“This grant partnered the UASEM high school, NYC DOE and BMCC Center for Continuing Education and Workforce Development to teach the high school seniors and credential them as Emergency Medical Technicians,” says EMS Program Director Williams.

She explains that the 11 graduates began the program in their senior year of high school at the specialized New York City Public High School, Urban Assembly School for Emergency Management.

The students completed three micro-credentials in the Fall 2021 semester as part of the EMT and Health Sciences Preparation Course, earning three separate badges in courses on Empathy, Critical Thinking and Creative Problem Solving.

Next, they enrolled as BMCC freshman for the Spring 2022 semester, completing four college credits while finishing their senior year of high school and earning their high school diploma.

The graduates are also certified as Emergency Medical Technician in New York State and earned a national certification as an EMT.

“These students completed six months of classes from Monday through Friday, three hours a day on the BMCC campus to earn their certification,” says Director Williams. “While this is the third year we have trained high school seniors at UASEM, this was an exciting cohort because it was the first cohort that was not impacted by the pandemic, and they were able to participate in so many more events.”

Those events and activities included the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) Medical Special Operations Conference (MSOC) competition that simulates victim emergencies in plane crashes and subway crashes.

They also competed in FDNY youth games with over 60 other students, earning second place.