The Education Conundrum

I recently attended the EMS World Expo in Las Vegas and heard many ideas on how to improve EMS as a whole from responder to system. Surprisingly, one of the more controversial suggestions was higher education for EMS providers affiliated with current training. One side argues that providers will be no more than mere technicians without collegiate stature. The other side argues that continuing education is more than adequate since most providers across the nation are volunteer and time constraints would cause less volunteerism and more shifts to be covered. Of course, EMS is a tangled ball of interconnected arguments that have left us in an adolescent quagmire of how to proceed in our growing pains and the above discussion can lead in several different directions, none of which discuss the place of higher education in EMS.

Before you all get too excited, I am not going to trumpet the benefits of either side as it pertains to EMS. I would like to point out general benefits to attending college, even if you don’t graduate for several years and take the sloooooooooow road (like this author).  An important point to note is that your degree does not necessarily need to be EMS related, and it is probably a benefit if it is not.  Take a look at degrees related to business, public administration, government or anything that will assist in a management/ leadership role as an alternative to nursing or medical related degrees.

 Higher Education provides critical thinking skills. These skills are well used throughout your entire life. In elementary school we are generally taught by reading, remembering and repeating. Not many kids question, “Why?” and the ones that do usually get branded as troublemakers. In college, they WANT you to ask why (to a point) and teach you to do the research to form your own opinion or understanding and not just ingest the information being fed to you.

EMS Provider Benefit: Critical thinking can help you understand the why behind treatment protocols and disease processes, how to best treat the patient and maybe even why your boss just doesn’t make any sense.

 Higher education improves your writing skills. At some point, especially since the advent of the internet, we will all be expected to correspond in the written word. Even an associate’s degree will provide the benefit of learning to write adequately if not well and how to perform research and present it professionally. Yes, people do judge you for text speak/ misspelling/ bad punctuation and construction. No, they don’t care that you don’t like it.

EMS Provider Benefit: Improved documentation skills beyond, “ Patient looked bad.  Took them to hospital.”

EMS Provider Benefit: Improves your ability to think on your feet while speaking with angry drunks and crazy family members.  Speaking well improves your credibility and level of respect with other providers instead of using slang and jargon.

 

 

EMS Provider Benefit: You gain a broader experience in your education enabling you to appreciate the vast differences between our patients and their cultures.

 

Higher education improves your self-confidence and maturity.Completing each class and interacting with other students and professors increases self-confidence and maturity of the student. Doing well and succeeding at school makes students feel accomplished and encourages them to move on and continue doing well both academically and professionally. Maturity is nurtured during the education process through team work and expectations from professors and fellow students. Self-confidence can help students reach for opportunities they never would have imagined being able to obtain prior to academic success.

EMS Provider Benefit: Marketability can increase your value to get hired or promoted by your current employer opening new opportunities in the administration, education, or planning section of your department.