Now the 20-year-old is being taught by his father Adam, as he studies his degree at the university's School of Nursing, Paramedicine and Healthcare Sciences.

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That is when his dad is not at his 'day job', managing three ambulance stations in Dubbo, Warren and Tottenham.

Mr Parker, a duty operations manager and intensive care paramedic with NSW Ambulance, has been doing casual academic work with Charles Sturt University since 2012.

The 20-year veteran paramedic said he found that students were completely intrigued by the frontline experiences he and other paramedicine academics have and bring to the students.

"It's probably one of the things I enjoy most," he said.

"The fact that the students respond so well to paramedics who are currently out on the road working, who can come in to the classroom, take the theory content of their course and put it into context and into practice, helping the students grasp concepts and build that into the clinical scenarios that we run," he said.

Mr Parker originally studied a nursing degree and worked as a registered nurse for a few years, but said he always wanted to work in the pre-hospital environment, and later transitioned to paramedicine.

His son Tom said, growing up with health professional parents meant he had always been around the health care environment.

"I've always been exposed to that growing up, and medicine in general, so health is always something I've considered having a career in, I found it really intriguing," he said.

"When the opportunity came up for me to study a fantastic course with great people at Charles Sturt University, I leapt at it.

"I think that the overall course structure and the opportunities are just fantastic, and it really is a great program."

Adam said that the COVID-19 pandemic had changed the way the paramedic workforce addresses safety and protection.

"Paramedics have always been a very situationally-aware and safety-conscious workforce, primarily due to the fact we work in such a variety of out-of-hospital environments," he said.

"But I think COVID-19 has really woken us all up to the importance of personal safety and placed greater emphasis on our personal protective equipment, complying with best practice standards, and I think this will have a lasting impact on the way we do business."

He said while it might have been confronting for some of the general public to see paramedics arrive with masks and gowns on, that moving forward would continue as an element of caution.

The father and son agree that one of the strengths of the program at Charles Sturt, is the diversity in the academic workforce.

"Having paramedics from across the world, from Canada and from the UK, working with the Australian cohort, really makes our students very well-rounded in their exposure to work-based experience, both internationally and locally, and that's a real credit to the University," Mr Parker said.

While Tom is just 20-years-old, he's open to the possibilities that the paramedicine career offers for both international work as well as closer to home if he chooses.

"Whether I end up here in NSW or go overseas, I'm just excited to continue with my studies at the moment and get involved in this experience as much as I can and really broaden my scope and perception of what's out there," he said.

"But I'm really inspired by my parents and looking forward to the opportunities that will present themselves."

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