Is it time to ban the skills lab and immersify your Paramedic Education?

Too often we practice clinical skills in the relative comfort of the clinical skills lab. The walls are usually white with blue wipe clean floors and good lighting. I have asked many Paramedics if they have ever attended a resuscitation call in a clinical skills lab - so far the answer has always been no.

That being the case, why do we practice for this event in the lab?

The human factors of resuscitation are frequently discussed, with recent inventions like the ‘pit crew’ approach and identifying a team leader beginning to assist us with a standardised resus attempt.

Why then, do we learn to manage the human factors in the skills lab?

If we are truly going to prepare clinicians to operate to the best of their ability, surely we must train and educate them in the right environment. We should run simulation with noise, at different temperatures and with different levels of light. We should use environments to challenge and shape behaviour at an early stage, to adequately prepare students for the clinical practice settings they go into.

The Academy of Professional Development uses fully interactive immersive classrooms to challenge student behaviour. We control smell, temperature, light and noise and use video debriefing technology to promote student learning.

We are running a series of confidence builder courses in June and July,https://www.academyprodev.com/confidence-builders.html using immersive simulation to increase your clinical confidence.

Contact wb@academyprodev.com to discuss how we could work with your team to immersify and enhance your continuing medical education.