44 New Paramedics Graduate

As emergency medical response teams across the country struggle with worker shortages, a ceremony at the Yale School of Medicine highlighted a new statewide program meant to boost paramedic recruitment. 

Ten of the 44 students who graduated at that Friday ceremony were part of a new, statewide ​“Earn While You Learn” program — which pays aspiring paramedics as they learn the ropes.

The ​“Earn While You Learn” (EWYL) program is run by American Medical Response (AMR), an ambulance company that contracts with New Haven to provide emergency medical services. 

The program aims at making it easier and more affordable to become a paramedic — a role with greater responsibilities and higher training requirements than an emergency medical technician (EMT) role. 

The ten EWYL students who graduated on Friday worked as EMTs across AMR’s four Connecticut branches — in Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, and Waterbury — before enrolling in Yale’s 20-month-long paramedic education program. AMR covered their tuition and compensated them for time spent in the classroom and on field training. 

After passing state and national certification exams, the new graduates will officially become paramedics.

In recent years, AMR has begun to offer EWYL programs for aspiring EMTs in Connecticut and other states. New Haven’s EWYL program for EMT training launched in 2021. The opportunity championed at Friday’s event was distinct, as it is Connecticut’s first EWYL program specifically for aspiring paramedics. 

Michael Turcio, operations manager at AMR, said that two of the honored students received both their EMT and their paramedic training through AMR-sponsored EWYL programs.

The students’ graduation is especially important given the dire staffing shortages facing local governments across the nation. New Haven’s fire department — which helps hire and oversee the city’s paramedics — reported in 2024 that it was at a 10-year low in paramedic staffing, with only 15 paramedics working out of a target 50. 

AMR’s EWYL programming attempts to close this gap by reducing the cost of EMT and paramedic education and providing students with supplementary wages as they train. 

Alyssa Letis, the student spokesperson for the 2025 graduating class, did not participate in EWYL while at Yale, meaning her tuition wasn’t covered by AMR. Nevertheless, she told the Independent that the program is a great opportunity that makes paramedic training ​“a lot more accessible for people who have to support their family or have other obligations.” 

EWYL also aims to boost AMR’s worker recruitment. 

Kane Andrecheck has worked as an EMT for 12 years and was one of the ten EWYL students honored on Friday. He told the Independent that after students graduate from the EWYL paramedic program, they must work for AMR Connecticut for three years — a clause which he said removes some flexibility from students’ long-term planning and limits the program’s appeal to certain paramedics-in-training. 

For those like Andrecheck, who are older or financially independent, EWYL can be really beneficial. But, Andrecheck said, ​“if you’re a young kid who’s maybe in your early 20s, who lives with your parents or whose parents might be willing to pay for your paramedic school, there’s no reason to do this.” 

Turcio, the AMR operations manager, confirmed that the EWYL program is meant to be mutually beneficial for participating students and AMR. The company invested $1 million in the program. ​“This was one way to help combat the national staffing shortages throughout EMS,” Turcio stated. ​“But it’s also meant to think about, how do we build up bench strength within our organization?” He said that the goals of EWYL are ​“to create career pathways, break down barriers, and promote long-term longevity within AMR.”

One example of an appealing candidate for the EWYL paramedic program was shown in Friday’s ceremony. The student valedictorian for the group of graduating paramedics was Erica Robertson, who spent a decade as an EMT in AMR’s Hartford branch. Now set to become a paramedic, Robertson mentioned in her valedictory speech that she has five children — all of whom she was able to support while juggling paramedic training. 

Speeches at Friday’s event were full of praise for the graduating students, their professors, and AMR itself. Scott Martus, dean of Yale’s Center for Emergency Medical Services, said that the company ​“has done an incredible job of reshaping the way we think about educating our paramedics” by launching the EWYL program. And their management was ​“smart,” he said, to work with paramedics educated at Yale. 

In a conversation with the Independent, Turcio of AMR in turn praised Yale’s educational programming. He emphasized that AMR takes pride in its close relationship with Yale and with the broader New Haven community that their ambulances serve. While an expansion of the program hasn’t been announced yet, as of this spring Connecticut can be sure that its supply of paramedics will grow by at least ten.

Paramedics from the New Haven Fire Department are required to respond to all medical calls and work in conjunction with AMR ambulances, EMTs, and other paramedics to treat and transport patients. 

City Assistant Fire Chief Daniel Coughlin told the Independent that New Haven currently has 13 paramedics, out of a desired 25 to 30. Paramedics who graduated on Friday (and are not already contracted to work with AMR) can choose to work for the city’s fire department once they’ve passed their required tests. ​“We will happily take them,” Coughlin said.

He described the EWYL program as a ​“brilliant” idea on AMR’s part by enabling the organization to build out its bench of paramedics. These paramedics might improve emergency medical response rates in New Haven, by equipping AMR with additional manpower to draw on if the fire department’s paramedics are unavailable to immediately respond to a medical emergency — something that happens daily due to shortages, Coughlin said.