New Program to Prepare Students Helps to Lessen Test Taker’s Blues

Taking a test is usually pretty stressful.  Many people tend to get nervous or anxious while at the same time hoping they will perform well – not a good combination of emotions to have when taking a test.

 

What’s more, these emotions don’t necessarily reflect a person’s competency level.  Very skilled individuals sometimes find that all the study and knowledge in the world can be thwarted by a case of the nerves.

 

MEMSA’s practical test for paramedics is by no means exempt from causing just such stress for those hoping to become licensed in the EMS field.  But now students can say goodbye to the butterflies by participating in our Paramedic Practical Familiarization program.  All test takers may now arrive at their testing location a day in advance to take advantage of a hands-on preparation course that takes them through every station in their practical exam, offers test equipment training and an overall tour of the testing facility.

 

An example of this is the Paramedic Practical Familiarization course on October 19 – the evening before the October 20 testing at Blue River College.  This was MEMSA’s first ever course to allow sixty test takers a chance to shake the jitters by reviewing pass/fail criteria, using the specific equipment that will be used for the test,  including mannequins for adult and pediatric airways, IV meds, IO needles, cardiac defibrillator and more.

 

Program coordinator and MEMSA board member, George Miller, says he is very excited to offer a program that will give test takers the best chance possible for great testing results.

 

“It’s tough to study everything you have to know and then travel to the testing site and show up to equipment you’ve never used before,” Miller says.  “One may be highly proficient using a defibrillator back home, but then they show up for a test and have to use something totally different.  That’s unnecessary pressure in a testing environment and doesn’t reflect the general reality of what will be faced in the field.”

 

Miller says the decision to make practical familiarization a part of the testing process came from other states providing similar training and gaining successful results with it.  MEMSA board members met with the Missouri Unit of EMS and other training entities in August at the Combined Clinical Conference at Tan-Tar-A and decided then to include the program.  Decisions and planning have been swift making the first practical familiarization program possible at the October paramedic testing site.

 

Throughout the orientation process small groups will tour every testing station and have ample time for questions and answers.  At the end of the process the entire group will be given another opportunity for questions and answers.  Five Practical Station Facilitators will be on hand throughout the entire process.

 

A pizza dinner will also be provided before each practical tour to better accommodate those traveling for the test and to simply make the evening easier for all involved.

 

In the near future a new flyer will be disseminated to agencies across Missouri to inform them of the new program!

 

“We feel this program will really help to put test takers at ease, allowing them to be at their best for the real thing,” said Miller.

For more information on the Practical Familiarization program, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it