Paramedic student encounters with patients during clinical placements: A multi‐institutional cohort study
Abstract Objective Paramedic students in the US are required to complete clinical placements to gain supervised experience with real patient encounters. Given wide variation in clinical placement practices, an evidence‐based approach is needed to guide programs in setting realistic and attainable go...
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Elsevier
2021-04-01
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| Series: | Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/emp2.12391 |
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| author | David Page Tom Brazelton Gordon Kokx Paul A Jennings Brett Williams |
| author_facet | David Page Tom Brazelton Gordon Kokx Paul A Jennings Brett Williams |
| author_sort | David Page |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Objective Paramedic students in the US are required to complete clinical placements to gain supervised experience with real patient encounters. Given wide variation in clinical placement practices, an evidence‐based approach is needed to guide programs in setting realistic and attainable goals for students. This study's goal was to describe patient encounters and hours logged by paramedic students during clinical placements. Methods A retrospective review of prospectively collected quality assurance data entered by US paramedic students between 2010 and 2014 was conducted. De‐identified electronic records entered in the Field Internship Student Data Acquisition Project (FISDAP) Skill Tracker database were included from consenting paramedic students whose records were audited and approved by instructors. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Results A total of 10,645 students encountered 2,239,027 patients; most encounters occurred in hospital settings (n = 1,311,967, 59%). The median total number of patient encounters per paramedic student was 206 (142–269) and the median total clinical placement hours per student was 626 (504–752). The median number of team leads per student was 56 (30–84). Students encountered a median of 22 (12–31) pediatric patients, ages 0–12 years, and 181 (126–238) adolescent or adult patients. For pediatric patient encounters, the most common clinical impressions were respiratory distress, other medical complaints, and extremity trauma. Among adult patient encounters, the most common clinical impressions included other medical, trauma, and cardiac conditions. Conclusions US paramedic students experienced a variable range of patient encounter types and volumes. The findings of this study offer an evidence base from which programs can set realistic and attainable clinical placement requirements. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-303fa732d4ef481cbbf36f5331de811d |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2688-1152 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-303fa732d4ef481cbbf36f5331de811d2025-08-20T03:20:24ZengElsevierJournal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open2688-11522021-04-0122n/an/a10.1002/emp2.12391Paramedic student encounters with patients during clinical placements: A multi‐institutional cohort studyDavid Page0Tom Brazelton1Gordon Kokx2Paul A Jennings3Brett Williams4Prehospital Care Research Forum University of California Los Angeles Los Angeles California USASchool of Medicine and Public Health University of Wisconsin Madison Madison Wisconsin USACommittee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the EMS Professions Rowlett Texas USADepartment of Paramedicine Monash University Melbourne AustraliaDepartment of Paramedicine Monash University Melbourne AustraliaAbstract Objective Paramedic students in the US are required to complete clinical placements to gain supervised experience with real patient encounters. Given wide variation in clinical placement practices, an evidence‐based approach is needed to guide programs in setting realistic and attainable goals for students. This study's goal was to describe patient encounters and hours logged by paramedic students during clinical placements. Methods A retrospective review of prospectively collected quality assurance data entered by US paramedic students between 2010 and 2014 was conducted. De‐identified electronic records entered in the Field Internship Student Data Acquisition Project (FISDAP) Skill Tracker database were included from consenting paramedic students whose records were audited and approved by instructors. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Results A total of 10,645 students encountered 2,239,027 patients; most encounters occurred in hospital settings (n = 1,311,967, 59%). The median total number of patient encounters per paramedic student was 206 (142–269) and the median total clinical placement hours per student was 626 (504–752). The median number of team leads per student was 56 (30–84). Students encountered a median of 22 (12–31) pediatric patients, ages 0–12 years, and 181 (126–238) adolescent or adult patients. For pediatric patient encounters, the most common clinical impressions were respiratory distress, other medical complaints, and extremity trauma. Among adult patient encounters, the most common clinical impressions included other medical, trauma, and cardiac conditions. Conclusions US paramedic students experienced a variable range of patient encounter types and volumes. The findings of this study offer an evidence base from which programs can set realistic and attainable clinical placement requirements.https://doi.org/10.1002/emp2.12391educational measurementemergency medical techniciansinternshipresidencyprogram evaluationretrospective studies |
| spellingShingle | David Page Tom Brazelton Gordon Kokx Paul A Jennings Brett Williams Paramedic student encounters with patients during clinical placements: A multi‐institutional cohort study Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open educational measurement emergency medical technicians internship residency program evaluation retrospective studies |
| title | Paramedic student encounters with patients during clinical placements: A multi‐institutional cohort study |
| title_full | Paramedic student encounters with patients during clinical placements: A multi‐institutional cohort study |
| title_fullStr | Paramedic student encounters with patients during clinical placements: A multi‐institutional cohort study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Paramedic student encounters with patients during clinical placements: A multi‐institutional cohort study |
| title_short | Paramedic student encounters with patients during clinical placements: A multi‐institutional cohort study |
| title_sort | paramedic student encounters with patients during clinical placements a multi institutional cohort study |
| topic | educational measurement emergency medical technicians internship residency program evaluation retrospective studies |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/emp2.12391 |
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