# Please help me help my EMTB students.



## emt4life (Nov 30, 2009)

I am looking for ideas from both instructors and students on how best to help my class.  I am looking mainly on what to give them as far as study tips for the exams.  They seem to really be struggling with that.  Plus taking notes.  Some of my students way of taking notes is to sit in lecture and highlight the book, now part of that is my fault for folllowing the book too closely. My next class(starts in January) will get an entire 2hrs devoted to how to study.  How can I make it fun and helpful at the same time?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


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## mcdonl (Nov 30, 2009)

emt4life said:


> I am looking mainly on what to give them as far as study tips for the exams.



I had an instructor, in a different field who would tap his foot when something was important and needed to be memorized and would tap his foot 3 times when it was something that would cause you to fail the exam.

I know, in EMS *EVERYTHING* is important, but this helped me as a student when it came to note taking. If he tapped three times, I wrote it down.


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## thatJeffguy (Nov 30, 2009)

I've never subscribed to the notion that teachers have to develop innovative ideas to "teach" students. 


If you want to learn something, you will.  All the cutesy powerpoints, note hand-outs, hour long classes about how to study.... bee-ess.  

If someone wants to be an EMT, they'll study, take notes and do well on tests.  Replace "EMT" with "any profession" or "attain any degree".


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## wyoskibum (Nov 30, 2009)

*Folks get lernid differently...*



emt4life said:


> I am looking for ideas from both instructors and students on how best to help my class.



It is always difficult as each person in the class learns differently...

1. Workbooks are valuable study aids.  They usually have the lesson objectives spelled out.  There usually are puzzles, games, and practice quiz's.

2. Encourage them to form study groups.  When I was taking my college A&P, we would have study group sessions where we would discuss the material.  We would always meet a couple of hours before the exams and discuss what we thought would be crucial to know for the test.

3. Offer extra sessions with an instructor on had to answer any questions.  This is very valuable for practical labs as well.   Setup stations for "mock" practical exams.


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## Medix821 (Nov 30, 2009)

*How to study*



emt4life said:


> I am looking for ideas from both instructors and students on how best to help my class.  I am looking mainly on what to give them as far as study tips for the exams.



I just finished my EMR course and had to learn to study again at 39. It's been a while since I cracked a book. Adults who never went to college, may never have learned HOW to study. Sometimes things just came easy to them in high school, or they just didn't care way back then. A class to teach them or remind them how to study is a really good idea. These are my suggestions of what worked for me:

- Our instructor handed out prints of the powerpoint presentation so we could just take notes on what she was saying rather than what was on the board. 

- The instructor used plenty of real-life examples to help us visualize what the topic was

- When we covered something that was behavioral, eg seizures, I had never seen one, so I googled YouTube for "seizures" to get an idea what it looked like and how I would handle it. Obstetrics was another one. I have never had children, so I needed to know what was going on down there...

- The instructor has an alter-ego called Zelda where she dresses up as a bum, right down to taking her teeth out... :wacko:  so we have to lift, carry, treat and sometimes deal with a difficult personality, altered LOC, etc.

- She fell short in one way, in that the scenario for each topic covered ONLY that topic. Although there were always vital signs to take, I think she could have used more cumulative scenarios - eg we're covering a fracture but maybe they had a medical issue that caused the person to fall so we had to think through the call not just treat the fracture.  There wasn't enough critical thinking for me - but maybe that's an EMR thing. (I'm applying for EMT school next)

- When I study I take notes while I read and highlight. By *just reading* you are using only one side of your brain. By *reading and writing*, you are using both sides of your brain, and you are more likely to remember words in your own handwriting, than just printed words in a book. 

- Memorize by saying things out loud - sometimes when you hear your voice you remember better as well. The brain is a wonderful thing...

- Lists make EMS lives easier - it invokes structure right? Well to remember the lists we make anagrams...SAMPLE or DCAPBLS-TIC-PMS.  I write those lists over and over again - sometimes I'm studing chapter 9 and will randomly make lists just to make sure I remember them from chapter 2 (whatever)... I recite them when I'm commuting. I make up new ones, for example, Routes of parenteral Drug Administration - 4I-SNEUTD. It may make no sense but it helped me remember the list for the exams. Remember, you don't *always* have to remember something in the order in which it was taught. Sometimes, but not always, especially for exams.

- It helps to do multiple choice tests online just to get practice at recognizing questions, kinds of questions, and how they're answered - even helps you to realize what topics you are weak on.  Just google _free EMT or EMR Practice Exams_ and voila - tons of practice tests. If you have certain protocols in your province or state, you will probably know or recognize to question their answer but 90% of the time, the answer is standard across the board.

- For the Midterm and Final exams - and for my provincial exam, I redid every weekly test we had.  The more you practice, the more familiar you will become with writing tests. AND most importantly, the more confidence you get, the less exam anxiety that you hopefully will experience.


I got over 90% on every weekly test, 92% on my midterm, 93% on my final and I'm pretty sure I only got 3 wrong on the provincial exam.  

I hope this helps. Sorry it is such a long email.


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## rescue99 (Nov 30, 2009)

thatJeffguy said:


> I've never subscribed to the notion that teachers have to develop innovative ideas to "teach" students.
> 
> 
> If you want to learn something, you will.  All the cutesy powerpoints, note hand-outs, hour long classes about how to study.... bee-ess.
> ...



 Really, it's all in the introduction anyway so, we may as well focus a little on study expectations. 2 hours is a bit too long though. 30 minutes is enough. 

Powerpoints are great tools. Educators add-lib them typically..or should anyway. Heck, I can read from a PPT, right? Put a copy of them on disc along with any skills sheets, clinical paperwork, abreviations ect. and distribute them on day one of the class. No excuses that way. 


NO spoon feeding the book to them. Assign (10-15 questions, mixed) homework that has to be handed in BEFORE class. That will ensure the majority has read the day's assignment. "Study it forward!" I mix up homework assignments to include study forward quizzes, writing assignments or whatever. Once gave extra credit to anyone who went to an AP science exhibit if they came in with a one page AP paper and a receipt to the science center. Assessment projects, in class group projects ...the list could go on. Nothing is for free...not where education is concerned. Their job is to learn. My job is to promote the process. Homework and special assignments add up to 10% of the student grade (all or nothing) therefore I will make them earn it. If they learn better study habits in the process, great! I've done my job. 

It is important to remember our role as educators. Lectures are meant to be a part of, not be, the learning process. Students are responsible for what is in thier text, not the educator. Our primary role is to be that active facilitator in bringing understanding to the next level.


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## medichopeful (Nov 30, 2009)

Medix821 said:


> DCAPBLS-TIC-PMS.



Care to elaborate on this one?  I have heard DCAP-BTLS and PMS, but never this list.  I know some of the things, but I'm just curious as to what this all stands for for you.

Thanks!


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## bunkie (Nov 30, 2009)

Our instructor would * things as he wrote them down so we knew it was extremely important/potential test and/or exam question. He used many of his real world experiences to make points of what he was teaching and he did not power point. Ever. We did four hour lectures of nothing but note writing. He'd ask us to read the chapter before coming to class. Then in class he taught the chapter and dang near wrote the entire thing up on the board. :lol: He'd break it down, explain it as easily as he could, draw pictures and the like. He also asked us a lot of questions and repeated important knowledge over and over. If he said something two days ago in lecture, he kept saying it in all of his next lectures. I dont know how many times I wrote down the flow and form of pt assessment, dcapbtls and the a&p of body. If I had a dollar for each time I found those things in my notes I could have made back my entire course cost. :lol: If the heart came up, he went straight through the A&P of the heart again. And again. He drove everything into our brains. Then he took it to other levels by challenging us to know more. During practicals we were quizzed and practiced/treated by each other. I've been ventilated, back-boarded, c-collared, (mock) epi-penned... if it's in our scope of practice to do, it was pretty much done by and to everyone. I felt that really helped the hands on learners as well. Then he also did dissection so those hands on learners could see/feel the actual thing to better understand a&p as well. 

In all, I felt he was an extraordinary instructor. He was fun, challenged us and really knew how to teach. But even as good as he was, he still had students that just never caught on. And even as much as he drilled study habits into us and did everything in his power, there are simply some people that can't handle the knowledge load/stress and work of the program. So thats something to keep in mind for yourself, you can't teach them all but do your damnedest anyway. Good luck!


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## Medix821 (Nov 30, 2009)

medichopeful said:


> Care to elaborate on this one?  I have heard DCAP-BTLS and PMS, but never this list.  I know some of the things, but I'm just curious as to what this all stands for for you.
> 
> Thanks!


Routes of Parenteral Drug Administration
4INERTTS
IV
IM
Interosseous
Inhalation
Nasal
Endotracheal
Rectal
Transdermal
Topical
Subcuetaneous

Do you have any cool ones?


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## emt4life (Dec 2, 2009)

Sounds great everyone, thanks for the advice. Are there any instructors out their teaching to the new guidelines?  I am looking for advice about teaching pathophysiology to my EMTB without getting ridiculously in depth.  Any tips?


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## rescue99 (Dec 2, 2009)

emt4life said:


> Sounds great everyone, thanks for the advice. Are there any instructors out their teaching to the new guidelines?  I am looking for advice about teaching pathophysiology to my EMTB without getting ridiculously in depth.  Any tips?



You mean the guidelines that have been proposed for the last few years? 
The instructor notes that come with your PPT/instructors material do a pretty decent job of outlining all of the points you need to hit on. Read the test yourself first. This makes lecturing on the material so much more natural and easy.


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## DT4EMS (Dec 2, 2009)

Let me throw a curve ball at you……….

If you are teaching, obviously you attended and completed some sort of instructor/coordinator training correct?

Remember when you learned about the different learning styles you may see in your classroom? The emphasis was on trying to reach (each) the visual, auditory and kinesthetic learner by using several different methods.

For all of us EMS’ers…….. have you ever thought you had ADD? The reason I ask is there were some suggestions that EMS, Fire and Police are very visual…. Some studies have estimated over 90% of our learning is visual…..not the 60-70% that study from the ‘40s suggested.

So you wanna engage your class to have evals that are off the charts? I have two suggestions (and hundreds of course evals to prove my methods)

#1- Be very, very visual with all lectures.
#2- Get them moving! There is not a single subject I taught in EMS that required the content be all lecture!

Regardless of the material presented. If you have a good time, they will have a good time. Here is another secret……… people remember because of EMOTION. If you can stimulate emotion you will stimulate memory.

Here’s proof…….. What were you wearing last Tuesday? Be specific……..
Now……. Where were you on 9-11 ? I bet you can recall a ton of details about that day.

I hope it helps.


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## Lifeguards For Life (Dec 2, 2009)

Medix821 said:


> Routes of Parenteral Drug Administration
> 4INERTTS
> IV
> IM
> ...


rectal is an enteral drug route...


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## FourEyes (Dec 8, 2009)

Let me second everyone who has recommended using the internet/youtube as a supplemental teaching aid. I'm finishing up my EMT-B course and video has been a hugely helpful part of the course -- there are some things that just have to be seen to be understood!


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## WarDance (Dec 9, 2009)

I think one of the best things we did in my class was when we would come back from a break everyone would remain standing and the instructor would ask questions.  To sit down you had to get it right.  If you got it wrong you remained standing until it came back around to you.  That pressured you to study just a little bit!

Also we would have a quiz at the start of every class and if everyone got a 90 or above we didn't have to do secnarios that night and got to go home early.  Everything was a little like the military but I think it was a highly effective way of teaching.


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## apumic (Dec 9, 2009)

New here but been a lurker for quite awhile. I used to teach lifeguarding for the YMCA and was a guard for a number of years before taking an EMT-B class and am now pursuing med school. Anyway, the best part of my EMT-B class was the "real-life" scenarios. The instructor did a good job of creating difficult situations that forced one to think about how to apply what we had learned in class to effectively manage the situation and get the pt out quickly and safely.

Other than that, I am a firm believer in EMTs knowing _why_ they are doing things. If you don't know why you're doing a particular sequence of steps, you won't know when to throw the rules out the window. If you don't understand what a given drug does physiologically (including side effects, masking effects, etc.), IMO, you have no business giving it. Teaching your students using the formulaic guidelines of the DOT may be a necessary evil but the more you can get away from it the better, IMO. I found it difficult to remember lists of Tx steps and assessment steps until I thought about the why of each thing. Once I got those whys down, the rest became extremely easy because it got rid of the memorization element and also allowed me to connect EMT w/ my past lifeguarding experience as well as advanced coursework in biology, chemistry, psychology, etc. It also made me far more effective in scenarios because I was no longer thinking in the book's stilted format but in realworld methods. You have to get students to think critically. Make them problem-solve. They can read their books at home. Whatever you do, _don't_ follow the book!


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## tacorican (Dec 9, 2009)

I know someone may have already posted this, but I may have missed it. My instructor sends out the slides a week prior to the day the lecture will be given. This would help all students pay attention in class rather than having their heads down taking notes and trying to catch up. He also tapped on the desk when something was a MUST KNOW item from that specific lecture.


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## 8jimi8 (Dec 9, 2009)

Medix821 said:


> Routes of Parenteral Drug Administration
> 4INERTTS
> IV
> IM
> ...



intrathecal


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## 8jimi8 (Dec 9, 2009)

Back on topic, maybe i'm just being an *** by saying this...


if someone hasn't developed, or is not willing to develop a "help me help myself" attitude about learning for an EMS class, then i'm not willing to "catch you up," so you can "pass."  

This profession needs more than people who just barely passed emt school going and and gaining even more precious responsibility.


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