It has been a satisfying and successful journey for Rebecca Cash from being a working EMT to becoming Dr. Cash and publishing a research study in the Center for Disease Control Journal as the lead author.
“I took an EMT class in college to get out of taking a physical education class,” Rebecca jokes. Within just a few years, that decision paid serious dividend. “We treat patients every day and I knew it was important to use the information we collected to provide better care in the prehospital setting.”
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As an EMS research fellow with the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians, Rebecca got the opportunity to translate what she had seen in an ambulance to helping shape the future of EMS through research.
EMS research is one area of the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians that remains relatively unknown to many members of the EMS community. Yet, the National Registry’s research team has been at the forefront of prehospital care research and methodologies for well over a decade and continues to make inroads at the highest levels of academic research in conjunction with The Ohio State University. The research fellowship offered by the National Registry is a way to contribute to the larger EMS community and the public.
“This is an amazing opportunity for our fellows, who are past EMS professionals, because they are able to immediately engage on a national level to improve prehospital care,” says Dr. Ashish Panchal, research and fellowship director for the National Registry. “Add to this, the fellows receive a degree from The Ohio State University and are mentored continually by EMS medical directors and professionals.”
It is a powerful combination that sets the fellows up for a successful EMS career. In the past three years alone, the National Registry’s EMS research fellows have gone on to become a faculty member at one of Boston’s leading medical schools, the director of COVID-19 operations at a prestigious college and a research scientist for an EMS software company.
The unique opportunity offered by the National Registry and Ohio State is extremely competitive and openings happen only every couple of years. Fellows receive a salary, benefits, tuition and support for completing a PhD program. They also receive access to data for research, support to travel to professional conferences to present their work, and the opportunity to work with nationally recognized scholars in EMS research.
The fellowship is open to those with a National EMS certification at the EMT level or higher, and also has previously earned a bachelor’s or master’s degree in statistics, public health or a related field.
To learn more about the position or to apply, click here.
