Personal Development Plan — Paul Causer HCPC · NWAS

Teaching & Professional
Resilience Pathway

Building genuine alternatives to frontline ambulance work — before you need them.

The Problem

Income, identity, and professional standing are tied to a single role requiring physical capacity and a driving licence. That's one point of failure.

The Strategy

Monetise knowledge and experience rather than your body and licence — through teaching and medico-legal work that run parallel to, then alongside, paramedicine.

The Timeline

If something happened now, options would be thin. In 3 years of deliberate work, they would be genuinely solid. That is not a long time.

A
Teaching / Education
AET → CAVA → Level 5 DET. Sessional university and FE work leading to substantive lecturer post.
B
Expert Witness / Medico-Legal
Report writing qualification, CPD portfolio, agency registration. Scales with reputation over time.
Year 1 Foundation 2026

Priority: AET qualification + first teaching contacts

Enrol on AET Q3 2026
  • Providers: Highfield, NCFE, Laser Learning, Open Study College — all distance learning
  • Cost: £300–500. Time: roughly 3–4 hours per week alongside shifts
  • One observed microteach session required — you arrange the setting (NWAS colleagues, community group)
  • Level 3 Award in Education and Training — no formal entry requirements
Start networking — while you're still studying Q3–Q4 2026
  • Contact NWAS Training & Education: express interest in delivering clinical skills updates or student paramedic sessions. You don't need AET to start this conversation
  • Email paramedic science programme leads at MMU or Salford — introduce yourself, mention your degree and clinical experience, ask about sessional associate work for skills labs or OSCEs
  • This networking is uncomfortable but it is the whole game at this stage
Track B — lay the groundwork Research Bond Solon's medico-legal report writing course (online, ~£500–800). No need to enrol yet — understand what it covers and what agencies want from paramedic expert witnesses. Start a formal CPD log specifically evidencing clinical decision-making.
By end of Year 1 AET certificate ≥1 teaching session delivered HE / NWAS contacts established
Year 2 Building Evidence 2026–2027

Priority: CAVA qualification + accumulate real teaching hours

CAVA — Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement
  • Lets you formally assess competencies — essential for university placement supervision and NHS training roles
  • Distance learning with workplace assessment evidence — the teaching hours you're accumulating provide this
  • Cost: £400–700
  • Do this alongside sessional teaching; they feed each other
Teaching hours — the critical bit
  • Target: 20–40 hours across the year. Does not have to be paid initially
  • Sources: NWAS training days, university skills labs, first aid provider sessional work, community CPR sessions
  • Keep a reflective log of every session — you will need this evidence for Level 5 DET
  • Sessional first aid training work (St John, Red Cross, independents) pays £15–25/hr and is readily available
Track B — Expert Witness groundwork Enrol on Bond Solon report writing course (online). Register interest with one or two medico-legal agencies — you won't get cases yet but you'll understand exactly what they require. Continue building your CPD portfolio with clinical decision-making evidence.
By end of Year 2 CAVA certificate 20–40 documented teaching hours Bond Solon certificate Medico-legal portfolio started
Year 3 Credibility 2027–2028

Priority: Level 5 DET + first paid teaching + first expert witness case

Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training
  • The substantive qualification — equivalent to a PGCE for FE/HE
  • Distance learning available through Pearson, City & Guilds, or direct through some universities
  • Requires 100 hours of observed teaching practice — this is why building hours in Year 2 matters
  • Cost: £1,500–2,500 but some employers part-fund or fully fund
  • Treat it like your OU degree: long game, steady consistent effort
Paid teaching — this becomes realistic now
  • With AET, CAVA, and documented hours you are competitive for sessional lecturer posts
  • University associate teaching: typically £35–50/hr
  • FE college health & social care: typically £25–35/hr
  • NWAS / NHS training: variable but often on Agenda for Change banding
Track B — First expert witness cases With your CPD portfolio and report writing certificate, approach medico-legal agencies properly. First cases will likely be straightforward liability or condition & prognosis reports. Entry level typically £150–300 per report, rising significantly with track record. You need to be a credible HCPC-registered paramedic who writes clearly and stands behind their opinion — not a guru.
By end of Year 3 Level 5 DET underway or complete Paid sessional teaching on CV First expert witness report(s) completed Alternative income stream beginning
Years 4–5 Consolidation 2028–2030

What this looks like if you've done the work

Teaching
  • Level 5 DET complete — fully qualified to apply for substantive lecturer posts in FE or HE
  • Substantive HE lecturer post (paramedic science): Band 7–8a equivalent, £43,000–60,000
  • Combined sessional teaching income realistically £5,000–12,000/year alongside paramedicine
Expert Witness
  • Income scales with reputation — established paramedic experts earn £500–1,500 per case
  • Realistic to build to £3,000–8,000/year from medico-legal work by this point
  • HCPC registration remains the foundation — protect it at all times
The position you're in If something forces you off the road at this point, you have real options — not theoretical ones, with actual evidence and income history behind them. You are no longer one bad shift, one accident, or one medical event away from a desk job you didn't choose.

Distance Learning Summary

Qualification Distance Learning? Face to Face Required? Approx. Cost
AET (Level 3) ✓ Yes One microteach observation — you arrange the venue £300–500
CAVA ✓ Yes Workplace assessment evidence (your own sessions) £400–700
Bond Solon Report Writing ✓ Yes None £500–800
Level 5 DET ✓ Yes 100 hrs teaching practice — you arrange settings £1,500–2,500

Right now — the minimum viable start

Three actions. None cost money.
All cost a small amount of courage.

  1. Enrol on AET by September 2026 Pick one provider — Highfield or NCFE are reliable. Don't overthink it. The qualification is the qualification.
  2. Email NWAS Training & Education this month Just an expression of interest in delivering clinical skills sessions. No commitment. You're already qualified, experienced, and credible — they will not laugh at you.
  3. Email one university paramedic programme lead MMU or Salford. Introduce yourself — degree, years of experience, AET in progress. Ask about sessional associate work for skills labs or OSCEs. One email.
The honest truth The worst outcome is not making the wrong choice about teaching. It's still being in exactly this position in five years because you never started. The pathway above only works if those first conversations have happened.