Learning Opportunities for Students

Learning Opportunities for Students:

NMCC’s Community Leadership Program Provides Great Learning Opportunities for Students

Daryl Boucher, MS, RN, CCEMT-P, PNCCT

Introduction:

With the approval of the Training Center Approval Process by the MEMS board recently, a key change within the Clinical Behavioral Objectives was the replacement of elective hours with a required Service Learning Project for ALS students. This article will describe briefly Northern Maine Community College’s Community Leadership Program and the impact it has had on the education of EMS students. Thanks to Robert Hawkes, Eric Wellman and the SMCC staff for sharing with NMCC the structure of the SMCC leadership program, which has been successful for many years.

For the past three years, Northern Maine Community College’s EMS ALS students have been required to complete 10 hours of community or civic leadership per semester. The program is modeled after a similar program developed at SMCC, and was initially designed to meet an accreditation requirement for service learning. Service learning has long been used in traditional college settings to allow students to learn outside of the traditional classroom experience. According to the National Service Learning Clearinghouse (www.servicelearning.org):

Service-learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. It promotes learning through active participation in service experiences. Service learning:

§ Provides structured time for students to reflect by thinking, discussing and/or writing about their service experience

§ Provides an opportunity for students to use skills and knowledge in real-life situations

§ Extends learning beyond the classroom and into the community

§ Fosters a sense of caring for others

(as adapted from the National and Community Service Act of 1990)

Program leaders at NMCC recognize that a key responsibility of licensed EMS providers is civic and community involvement. The community leadership project orientation starts with a discussion about professions as compared to occupations. Students learn the components of a profession, and what has held EMS back from being considered one, followed by a discussion about what the future holds. As we strive to make EMS a true profession, civic and community involvement is one of the important components that must be strengthened during the initial education of our EMS students. A key role of any professional is to give back to the profession to which they belong. Experts agree that for an “occupation to be considered a profession, this giving back is expected to be completely altruistic and without expectation for payment or remuneration of any sort. It is what we owe to belong to the profession.” In fact, one of the defining characteristics when comparing a profession to an occupation is the requirement of “supporting the profession through professional involvement.”*

Initially, it was hoped that the Community Leadership Program at NMCC would instill in students a sense of confidence and comfort in helping grow and promote EMS to a broader population. We wanted to really show students how professionals behave, and what the expectations of the profession were. We have been surprised and frankly amazed at the results. Since its inception, students have donated hundreds of hours at health fairs, elementary and high schools, or job fairs. Some students have become active in state or regional EMS meetings, have assisted in teaching or mentoring new students, or have volunteered to help at Special Olympics or trade conferences. Because the program was developed with loose guidelines regarding which activities count towards leadership time, students have been creative in getting their projects approved. Some have become certified to be examiners at practical exams, while others have developed programs at their church. One student actually volunteered in a dental clinical in a third world country.

Although we knew that we would be providing a positive service for the community by developing this program, we were initially unsure about what impact this would have on the students. Would they see the value of such a program, or would they see it as just one more hoop they had to jump through to complete the course? Recently, at a Special Olympics event, I had the opportunity to witness firsthand the impact of this experience on three EMS students. Though they were assigned to the first aid response team, it quickly became obvious how this experience was impacting them positively. They became cheerleaders for the athletes who overcame tremendous personal challenges to succeed in their selected events. They helped with basic tasks such as helping the athletes dress or don their skis, but little of their activities involved first aid skills. I was expecting them to be disappointed — after all, all new students are anxious to use their newly learned skills. Instead, they observed leadership and organization in action. They learned to appreciate the importance of negotiation in achieving goals. They watched insurance company CEOs and bankers, doctors, nurses, and teachers come together for a common cause — and then they realized that they were a part of it. One of the students commented that he was ready to volunteer again, and he would no longer complain about the difficulties of struggling through class or with minor setbacks after having seen what he had seen. Though this was just one example of the impact of the program, it told me that the program had absolutely accomplished its main goal: that the activity would have as much impact on the student as the student had on the activity.

Of course, we have had some growing pains, and there is always the student who will choose to take the easy path to meet the minimum requirement. However, overall, the experiences gained have been amazing. Equally amazing has been the impact that this has had on the instructors and the instruction process. Community leadership projects are now a common discussion during class or informally during breaks. Students talk about their pending projects as if the projects were their own, because in many cases they are. The faculty are able to see students in a different light, and students who in the past were difficult to engage are now engaged much sooner. Faculty members are eager to watch and evaluate the students’ projects, and students are proud of their work and accomplishments. At the end of the project, students are asked to share their experiences and what they learned and how they think this may help them in their professional practice. Without exception, students see this as the first step in their professional growth, and often comment about how this program will make them better leaders in the field.

The starting point of the program:

Definition of a Profession: An occupation whose core element is work based upon the mastery of a complex body of knowledge and skills. It is a vocation in which knowledge of some department of science or learning is used in the service of others. Its members are governed by codes of ethics and profess a commitment to competence, integrity and morality, altruism, and the promotion of the public good within their domain. These commitments form the basis of a social contract between a profession and society, which in return grants the profession a monopoly over the use of its knowledge base, the right to considerable autonomy in practice and the privilege of self-regulation. Professions and their members are accountable to those served and to society.*

*Cruess SR, Johnston S, & Cruess RL.(2004, Winter). “Profession: a working definition for medical educators.” Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 16(1), 74-6.