ChrisD Posted January 21, 2015 Posted January 21, 2015 Does anyone have any actual Research that supports "Boot Camps." Everyone I speak with about this has various opinions, mostly that in six months they can't remember a thing and if they had to take the EMT test again they couldn't. Actual research about learning and these accelerated schools. It seems the supporters of these camps are the camps themselves and I can't help but think of the conflict of interest. Every College professor I speak with just starts to laugh about the efficacy of this type of teaching and points to how even in the university setting they are trying to get away from lectures as much as they can, but the biggest block is the tradition. I need some nuts and bolts on this subject??? Anyone? I mean the EMS at the crossroads books from the Fed are a start, but not the complete kind of information that I need. Link: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11629/emergency-medical-services-at-the-crossroads It seems that as EMT/Medics this type of course is just shooting ourselves in the foot. I think it contributes to the low pay scale, constant exchange of new faces and overall low quality of care. I took my classes at a Hospital based course and compared to these private courses there is a world of difference. Additionally every MD I speak with asks the same question about how has the medical community lost control of these courses??? I mean as an example my kindergarten teacher went to school for 5 years to learn to teach. But to teach an EMT course in my state you only need to take a 6 hour course, that mostly covers how to fill out the paperwork, technically you don't even need a GED to teach. A hairdresser needs 300 hours of instruction to get their license, but here I see stuff like: " Learn a new Career as an EMT in 2 weeks" ??? Truthfully this is an embarrassment to me when I see this kind of advertisement! Am I alone here? Thanks.
island emt Posted January 22, 2015 Posted January 22, 2015 unfortunately these types of cram courses tend to spend the majority of their limited time teaching you to pass the test, instead of teaching prehospital emergency medicine. This is similar to many of the for profit agencies that seem to be proliferating . In a recent class instructed by XXXX near here, out of 15 students entered 13 passed the course and 3 [ yes three ] managed to pass the national registry on the first try. These were not young school kids either. the majority of the students were in their 30's, & 40's , with several in their 50's. Several of them had been EMT's in the past & had some street experience in the past. Most of them commented on how much harder the course is now compared to in the past???????
Just Plain Ruff Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 It's sort of like Public School, teach to the test and nothing more.
scubanurse Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 I did a 5 week accelerated EMT-B program when I was in high school. It had over the minimum requirements, and I feel that I came out a half way decent EMT for only being 16 at the time. I know several nurses as well who have done accelerated nursing programs who are great nurses. I think 2 weeks is too short, but I know I personally learn better when there is more frequent instruction, especially when I was younger and did not have the motivation to study daily. On a side note...I've been in healthcare for 11 years next month... makes me feel old.
rock_shoes Posted January 26, 2015 Posted January 26, 2015 I think it depends on how the course is accelerated. Medical school at the University of Calgary is a three year program for example. It's 3 years because prior to entry applicants are expected to have completed a minimum of two years post secondary (the majority have a Bachelors) and the program itself runs straight through without taking summer semesters off (3 semesters a year instead of 2). It's accelerated not because instructional time is less but because there is less time between instructional periods. An EMT program could do the same to some degree. Pre-read the material and have class 5 days a week for the duration instead of just on the weekends. Please don't mistake this as my defending the pitifully inadequate EMT education requirements. I'm speaking strictly in terms of delivering an equal volume of material over a shorter time frame.
Recommended Posts