London Ambulance Service (LAS) offered jobs to 55 Charles Sturt University (CSU) paramedic graduates or third-year students when it visited Melbourne and Sydney in March to recruit Australian paramedics.

CSU accounted for nearly 25 per cent of the 226 employment offers made by LAS to start in 2016, and some of the CSU paramedic recruits don't graduate until the end of 2015.

Mr Joe Acker, paramedic senior lecturer in the CSU School of Biomedical Sciences in Port Macquarie, said, "This is an outstanding testimony to the strength and value of the Bachelor of Clinical Practice (Paramedic) at Charles Sturt University.

"In 1995 this University became one of the first universities in the world to teach paramedicine, and now, 20 years later, with more than 15 universities teaching paramedics in Australia, we remain committed to excellence and innovation in paramedic education.

"A unique advantage of Charles Sturt University is that we prepare paramedics for the world," he said. "Our paramedic academic team comes from Canada, the USA, Ireland, the UK, New Zealand, Thailand, and Australia. Our teaching is informed by international best practices that we instil in our students.

"We also provide international study opportunities for paramedic students through CSU Global to places like London, Vancouver, New York, New Zealand, Thailand, and China. Not only are our graduates confident and competent paramedics, they are global citizens prepared for any international opportunities that arise."

CSU and LAS signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for academic cooperation to enable them to work together to enhance learning and teaching of paramedics on both continents, and to work collaboratively on cutting-edge paramedic research. The MoU also gives CSU the opportunity to send a group of its students to London for their ambulance clinical placement in June-July 2015.

As part of the MoU, CSU supported the LAS recruitment process in Sydney by providing patient manikins and medical equipment for the clinical assessments.

Mr Jason Killens, Operations Director with London Ambulance Service, said, "Across two cohorts of international recruitment to LAS from Australia, paramedic students from Charles Sturt University have proved that they are fantastic candidates. With nearly a quarter of the international paramedics recruited to LAS in March 2015 coming from this University, the quality of the degree program and the students completing it is really very high. The University has produced some outstanding paramedic students who will make their way to England to start their career as a London paramedic."

Paramedic lecturer in the CSU School of Biomedical Sciences in Bathurst, Mr Philip Walker, said, "This is an exciting opportunity for graduate paramedics to work with one of the world's busiest ambulance services, which responds to over 4 000 calls a day. The security of an offer of employment up to 10 months before graduation is an achievement in itself. The well-established paramedic program at Charles Sturt University prepares graduate paramedics to work almost anywhere in the world, and now they are doing just that. We have graduates working in Australia, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, Ireland, and the UK. This University's paramedic graduates will be a familiar sight to patients across the globe."

Ms Ebony Langdon, one of the recruited paramedic students at CSU in Port Macquarie, said, "This amazing opportunity to work for one of the world's largest and busiest ambulance services will enable me to grow professionally, and I will be able to return to Australia with a wealth of experience. It's a fantastic opportunity to be able to travel and professionally develop my future career as a paramedic."

CSU in Bathurst paramedic recruit Mr Andrew McIlveen, said, "Being in my final year of study and having a LAS job offer for 2016 is extremely exciting and rewarding. This opportunity will allow me to work as part of an internationally recognised profession in one of the largest and busiest cities in the world, with the potential to return to rural Australia with a high level of skills, training and experience."