Course Options
Initial Course (4 weeks total)
For nurses, paramedics, and military Combat Medical Technicians transitioning to offshore practice. The course follows a blended learning format: distance learning modules completed at your own pace, followed by two weeks of intensive practical training at our training centre, and a 60-hour clinical placement in a hospital or ambulance setting.
The distance learning phase covers the theoretical foundations: offshore medicine, occupational hygiene, COSHH regulations, Controlled Drugs legislation, medical record-keeping, and the legal framework governing medical practice on installations. Candidates complete this phase online before attending practical sessions.
The practical phase is where the theory becomes operational. Over two intensive weeks, candidates practise advanced life support, trauma management, suturing and wound care, limb immobilisation, dental emergencies, and the practical skills of sickbay management. Training uses industry-standard equipment in realistic scenarios that replicate the conditions they’ll face on a platform.
The clinical placement: 60 hours in a hospital emergency department or ambulance service, provides exposure to acute patient presentations under supervision. This bridges the gap between classroom training and operational deployment, giving candidates confidence in managing real patients with real clinical complexity.
Refresher Course (2 weeks)
For qualified offshore medics renewing their certificate every three years. One week of practical training to update clinical skills, confirm continuing competence, and address any changes in clinical protocols, legislation, or equipment since the previous qualification. The refresher includes assessment, and successful candidates receive a renewed certificate valid for a further three years.
What You’ll Learn
Trauma management. Advanced Life Support, pre-hospital trauma care, haemorrhage control, fracture management, spinal immobilisation, and casualty packaging for helicopter evacuation. These are the skills that save lives when someone falls from a derrick or is struck by moving equipment.
Primary care. Assessment and treatment of the conditions medics encounter most frequently offshore: ENT infections, skin complaints, musculoskeletal injuries, gastrointestinal illness, and minor surgical procedures. The medic is the only healthcare professional available, so they need to manage the full spectrum of primary care presentations.
Clinical governance. Controlled Drugs management, Patient Group Directions, medical record-keeping, incident reporting, and sickbay administration. Good clinical governance protects the patient, protects the medic, and protects the operator.
Occupational health. Risk assessment, workplace hygiene inspections, biological monitoring, noise and vibration assessment, and COSHH compliance. These duties are a regulatory requirement and a core part of the medic’s role.
Dental emergencies. Temporary fillings, pain management, and abscess drainage. Dental problems are one of the most common reasons for offshore medevac. A medic who can manage dental emergencies effectively prevents unnecessary evacuations and keeps crew members at work.
Why Train With Us?
Instructors are active practitioners. Our training team includes clinicians who currently deploy offshore. They teach from lived experience, not from textbooks written by people who’ve never set foot on a platform. When they describe managing a casualty on a drilling floor at 3am in the North Sea, they’re describing something they’ve actually done.
Training-to-deployment pipeline. Graduates of our course have the opportunity to deploy operationally through MCL’s offshore medic staffing service. We train you, and we can deploy you, backed by 24/7 topside support from our physician team. No other training provider offers this integrated pathway from qualification to operational deployment.
Industry-standard equipment. Training uses the same equipment candidates will use offshore: defibrillators, monitoring equipment, airway management devices, and trauma kits. Familiarity with the equipment before deployment improves confidence and reduces errors.
Clinical placement assistance. The 60-hour clinical placement is mandatory and can be challenging to arrange independently. We assist with finding and coordinating suitable placements in hospital emergency departments and ambulance services.
Employer-Sponsored Training
Many employers in the energy sector sponsor nurses and paramedics through the Offshore Medic qualification as part of their workforce development strategy. If you’re looking to transition clinical staff from onshore practice to offshore deployment, we can arrange group bookings, tailor the clinical placement arrangements, and coordinate the transition into your operational deployment schedule.
Employer-sponsored training is a cost-effective way to build a pipeline of qualified medics who already understand your organisation’s culture, safety standards, and operational requirements. The transition from clinical professional to offshore medic is significant, and having a training provider who also understands the deployment environment produces better-prepared candidates.
What This Means for Your Business
The HSE Offshore Medic Certificate is the gateway qualification for a career in offshore medicine. For employers sponsoring clinical staff through the course, it’s an investment in a pipeline of qualified medics who understand your organisation’s culture and operational requirements from day one.
