I've got a question

weretiger13

Forum Probie
Messages
25
Reaction score
0
Points
0
I've got a question, and I'm hoping somebody here knows. For my Paramedic internship, one of the things we are being graded on is the following:

"Student shows interest in EMS, studies in the down time or engages the preceptor in activities that increase the students knowledge of patient care and EMT systems."

Ok, now my question. What activities can the preceptor be engaged in that increase student knowledge? I have no idea at all where to proceed with that. Any suggestions?
 
hmm

Im no genious or anyone special but I would just say show a willingness and eagerness to learn and you would be fine. You should always ask your "trainer" questions, volenteer to do everything and jus show a love for the skills and knowledge.

Just a guess. But who am I! :P
 
Well,one thing you can look into is doing some ride time with the local ambulance service or paramedic service,if they will let you do ride-along with them,but you also might have to apply with that service to get onboard their ambulance. Another idea is to check with the local hospital and see what their policies are and see if you can hang out and observe.
 
What this is implying is to ask your preceptor questions in regards to patient care.
Such as .." what is your protocol involving this last call".. or "I am studying anaphylaxis, does your service carry any other H2 blockers other than Benadryl or I was informed most EMS no longer give Epi and use steroids, how do you feel about this ?".....

Your instructors and school is wanting you to get "real" knowledge and opinions from those that actually provide care, not just what is in the book. Most do not understand that textbooks takes about 5-10 years to be published and many are out of date before publication. As well to learn the "gray" areas, read in-between the lines and use the class and texts as guidelines. Or "what is your opinion on field termination, or abuse of 911 and what can be done?".. Talk and discuss about national dilemmas and questions regarding EMS.

As interactions between crew members is imperative. One can be an Einstein but if they have no persoanality or work ethics makes one a lousy employee and partner. Inner act between with demonstrated interest in assisting them cleaning equipment, asks to be shown how to use something if you are not
familiar with it.
 
I think what they are looking for is for you to make an effort at LEARNING and studing during your down-time. If you have down-time, are you napping? are you watching TV? Are you sitting in the kitchen swapping "fire-side" war stories with the firefighters? What your instructor has done, and it seems like a good thing, is to communicate that you are expected to be LEARNING all the time... even in station. Talk about WHY the preceptor had you do something that was "different" from what you learned in school for a patient. Talk about the odd equipment you see on their ambulance that you may not have seen before... do they have WMD kits? Do they have fireground rehab equipment? what are their protocols for said equipment?

In short... ask questions and/or study.
 
thanks

thanks for all the suggestions. I do study as much as I can during shift, but my brain fries before the 24 hrs are up. It hit me the other day how much I don't know, even though my class is done. We had to completely pass the paramedic class before we were allowed to do our internship, but book smarts are way different from street smarts. For our internship, we are actually the functioning paramedic on the rig. It was kind of intimidating the first time I had to tell a medic what to do. Wow. Well anyways, again, thanks for the help.
 
Back
Top