I've just completed my last shift as a second year student paramedic. This means I have less than a year to go before I apply to register as a paramedic with the HCPC. Though the thought of being so close to completing my course is slightly daunting, it's also exciting to know that I'm less than 12 months away from becoming an independent clinician. I've finished the year with some great exam results and I now have my competencies signed off, but I know I've still got a lot of room for improvement.
I have about a month of summer break before I return to university in September for my third and final year, and I've chosen to spend some time focusing on CPD. I'm planning on creating a CPD portfolio for the next academic year so that I'm familiar with the process when I'm qualified. While I'm still in education, one of the main aspects of my portfolio will reflect upon jobs I've experienced on placement.
Student paramedics from Oxford Brookes are encouraged to complete two mini reflections per week of placement, identifying the jobs that have been seen throughout a shift, what has been learned from the shift, and how further development can take place. Completing these mini reflections throughout the past 2 years has been a useful stepping stone to writing more developed reflections. They have taught me how to identify aspects of a job that went really well, and things that could have been improved. I now regularly select a job that I felt could've gone better and write a full reflection using Gibbs' Reflective Model or another reflective tool as a guide.
As well as writing reflections, I've endeavoured to attend CPD events put on by the Oxford Brookes Paramedic Society and by other organisations where possible. I've also begun to record clinical skills that I perform, such as airway management, on an app and print out the log of these skills once a month. This was recommended to me by a colleague and I've found it really helps to keep track of skills that I'm doing regularly. It also highlights the skills and drugs that I haven't used in a while so I know that I need to read up on them. By doing this, I'm able to stay up to date with the latest guidelines and I've developed a habit that I can maintain throughout my career.
I have less than a month of summer break before I'll be back at university for a 1-day introduction followed by a 4-week block of placement. At Brookes, students spend ambulance placements at a different station for each academic year and, for my final year, I'll be based at Didcot. I'll have plenty to learn from my new colleagues including the different alternative care pathways available in the area. And while I'm enjoying my well-earned summer, I can't wait to embark on the final year of my degree!