Road resilience: adaptive education for emerging challenges

02 December 2019
Volume 11 · Issue 12

Abstract

The reality of paramedicine can cause students emotional distress, especially if this tests their values or beliefs. Therefore, educating students to be resilient and prepared for unpredictable, distressing events should be considered. The need to increase professional longevity in paramedicine has shifted employers' focus from road readiness to road resilience, which presents a complex challenge for educators. This article is the first of a series to discuss the use of supporting sciences to build road resilience in undergraduate paramedicine programmes. A review of the literature on paramedic education demonstrates there is new knowledge, based on experience in clinical practice and research, that paramedic educators can draw on to develop their discipline. Paramedics with postgraduate qualifications can shape the future of their professional discipline when their research produces a new discourse that informs a curriculum which can meet contemporary challenges. Discussion of a fictional case study illustrates how an emotional crisis could provide a platform for reflective learning and make a student more effective as a paramedic, and the educational environment needed to facilitate this.

The seeds of road resilience are sown in the non-clinical dimensions of paramedic education—the supporting sciences. Within these sciences are tools to address practice issues that researchers have labelled ‘wicked problems’ (Mertens et al, 2016), a phrase covering a raft of contemporary issues such as institutional complexity, technologies, inequity, risk, and increasing accountability and governance requirements, as well as interpersonal attitudes unique to those born at the turn of the century. Paramedic work is changing rapidly and diversifying, which is why practice education is moving to universities. Evidence-based, non-clinical subjects develop deep learning and reflective practitioners, providing insights into the self and others.

This discussion draws on the perspectives of educational theorist George Siemens (Siemens, 2004; 2014), who offers insights into the influence of technologies on 21st century teaching and learning. Technology is the first of the wicked problems, because of its impact on the younger generation. Siemens' work has informed educators who found 20th century paradigms were unworkable for producing employment-ready graduates. This is, first, because today's undergraduates will not have a fixed career trajectory and, second, because the social world and needs of the millennial student have been given scant recognition. Skills now have a shorter shelf life.

Subscribe to get full access to the Journal of Paramedic Practice

Thank you for visiting the Journal of Paramedic Practice and reading our archive of expert clinical content. If you would like to read more from the only journal dedicated to those working in emergency care, you can start your subscription today for just £48.

What's included

  • CPD Focus

  • Develop your career

  • Stay informed