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It should be obvious that a student is going to excel at the classes he or she really wants to take.  This doesn’t mean that someone won’t study whether that’s true–after all, how many other dictums did we take as gospel only to later have them turned on their heads?  Today’s case regards a group of researchers looking at what strategies an EMT-Basic program might use to improve pass rates on the board exams.  Under their first section, entitled “Select Students Who Are Highly Motivated to Succeed,” they note:

The most common situation of negative motivation involved students who were forced to attend an EMT course when certification was required for another job, such as a firefighter. The focus group identified the difficulty in teaching this group, as they tend to be focused on simply doing well enough to “pass the test” rather than learning what is necessary to become a competent EMT.

I’ve known this for years.  While most of my EMS career has been spent in private corporations or third-service, I’ve at least had the opportunity to observe some fire-based EMS in action, and my experiences suggest the problems of teaching people who don’t want to be taught.  Fire-based EMS can work, but only if the people practicing it fully buy into it.

Filed under: EMS Education, EMS Research