Doctoral Student Keith Blalock is a native Georgian and grew up in Cobb County. He currently serves as the Director of EMS Education at the Grady EMS Academy, part of the Grady Health System in Atlanta, Ga. There, he oversees and provides program direction for the initial education of EMTs, Advanced EMTs, and Paramedics. In addition to his primary responsibility as Director of EMS Education, he is also adjunct faculty with the Morehouse School of Medicine and George Washington University. Keith is pragmatic and enjoys focusing on client relationships, fairness, and encouraging others through his own life experiences. Keith earned his undergraduate degree from Kennesaw State University in 2003 and a Master’s of Chemical and Life Science from the University of Maryland College Park in 2017. As a veteran and with almost 30 years of work as a paramedic, Keith would like to advance the paramedic profession through higher education as a degree-seeking profession, similar to countries such as the UK and Australia. In his spare time, Keith enjoys traveling and spending time in beautiful mountainous landscapes, either out west or in the southern Appalachian Mountains. There, he finds further peace and joy in fly fishing the calming waters of creeks and rivers with his wife.