Author Archives: coaemsp1

September, 2022

Kim McKenna
Rick Ellis
Jeff McDonald
Megan Corry

It is widely acknowledged that the capstone field experience represents the synthesis of all learning in a paramedic program. This phase of the program is critical to assess the paramedic student’s ability to integrate all elements of learning gained in the classroom, lab, clinical, and field experience. During the capstone field internship, the student must successfully team lead with minimal prompting and be provided accurate, honest feedback by expert field preceptors. The selection, training, and ongoing feedback between the program staff and capstone field internship preceptors is essential to assure that the student is progressing appropriately and to intervene with remediation measures when communication between program staff and preceptors indicates that the learner is not reaching entry-level practice as a paramedic.

This panel discussion explores these issues and provide guidance on how to design an effective capstone experience to maximize the student’s success at this most critical phase of their program.

• Describe the goals of the capstone experience.
• Determine selection criterion for capstone preceptors.
• Outline strategies to assure the capstone preceptor(s) know their expectations.
• Explain effective approaches capstone preceptors may use to provide feedback to students.
• Discuss the techniques to monitor student progress during the capstone experience.
• Identify measures to remediate learners who are struggling during the capstone experience.
• Locate resources on the CoAEMSP website with information related to the capstone experience.

Recorded on August 17, 2022

Facilitated by:
Pat Tritt

Student experiences in the clinical and EMS field environments are essential to developing critical thinking skills and the application of the theory and practice components of any Paramedic program. Program faculty play a key role in identifying appropriate partners for those rotations, scheduling students, and most importantly, guiding the students as they develop the necessary assessment and management skills. Communication and observation of students during this experience and communication with preceptors are keys to developing and assessing competency.

At the conclusion of this presentation, participants were able to:

• Discuss sequencing options of clinical and field assignments.
• Identify challenges in selecting the best sites and preceptors to facilitate the student experience.
• Describe the role of the Clinical Coordinator.

Recorded on June 8, 2022

Facilitated by:
Megan Corry and Lori Burns

Program directors are responsible for the continuous quality review, improvement, long range planning, and ongoing development of the accredited paramedic program (Standard III.B.1.a.). This is achieved through a strategic planning process involving the program sponsor, personnel, students, and advisory committee members. This webinar will discuss the best practices of accredited programs in the process of strategic planning and ongoing program improvement.

At the conclusion of this presentation, the participant will be able to:

• Describe the tools used to evaluate program resources and outcomes in accredited paramedic programs.
• Integrate data from the resource assessments and outcomes surveys into the long-term planning process.
• Examine the roles of the students, graduates, program personnel, sponsor, and advisory committee in the strategic planning process.

Recorded on April 6

Facilitated by:
Michael Miller, EdD, RN, NRP, Assistant Director
Patricia Tritt, MA, RN, Technical Consultant

Education programs across the country are being held accountable for program outcomes, typically including passing rates on credentialing examinations, placement of graduates, and attrition/retention of students. Of these three outcomes, retention tends to be the most challenging for programs. The reasons students leave are varied and include academic, financial, personal, and pursuing other career opportunities. This session will explore the outcome threshold metric, how it is established, why retention is important and approaches to increasing retention in Paramedic programs.

At the conclusion of this presentation, the participant will be able to:

• Discuss the rationale for the CoAEMSP retention threshold.
• Discuss why retention is an important metric in higher education.
• Describe strategies to retain students in the Paramedic program.

Recorded on December 2, 2021

Dennis Edgerly, BS, EMT-P, and Patricia Tritt, MA, RN

In this conversational style presentation, Pat and Dennis discusses the technique of simulation. Effective use of simulation is discussed both in the context of design and implementation. Topics include placement of simulation within the curriculum, the efficacy of simulation for student evaluation, and the importance of debriefing. Simulation has become a key piece in medical education, at all levels, and has the potential to expand student opportunities far beyond what educational programs have been able to offer in the past.