March J A, Scott J, Camarillo N, Bailey S, Holley J E, Taylor S E
Prehosp Emerg Care. 2022 Sep-Oct;26(5):617-622. doi: 10.1080/10903127.2021.1977876. Epub 2021 Oct 20.
The COVID pandemic has significantly impacted educational development and delivery, yet there is little quantitative research on this topic. The primary objective of this study was to compare the total number of Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Refresher (ER) course completions during 2020 versus prior years. Secondary outcomes examined in person versus on-line/distributive learning during the study period. The Commission on Accreditation for Prehospital Continuing Education (CAPCE) is the only national organization that accredits continuing education (CE) for paramedics and EMTs and currently has a database with over 14 million CE records. The total number of ER course completions each month in 2020 were compared to 2019 and 2018. We also compared the different educational format types: live in-person (LIP), asynchronous on-line distributive learning (DL), and virtual instructor lead training (VILT) synchronous DL courses. Data was analyzed using descriptive and two-way ANOVA statistics. There were 1,922,783 ER course completions in 2020 versus 1,166,335 in 2019 and 1,074,636 in 2018, representing a 179% increase during the study period. Asynchronous DL course completions in 2020 were 1,830,513 EMS versus 1,078,580 in 2019 and 987,749 in 2018 a 185% increase over the three-year study period. Asynchronous DL monthly means by year was statistically significant, F(2, 99) = 95.632, p < .001. Mean monthly LIP and VLIT educational deliveries by year were not significantly different, p = .802, p = .754, respectively. Total LIP course completions in 2020 were 20,045 versus 51,552 in 2019 and 63,058 in 2018. In 2020 LIP courses made up only 1.0% (20,045/1,922,783) of all ER completions. This study was limited to only EMS professionals taking ER course completions in the CAPCE database. However EMS is not unique, since previous research has suggested that DL has flourished in other health care disciplines while LIP courses have continued to decrease. This large nationwide study of EMS profession has shown the trend toward DL education and a trend away from LIP courses. Future studies should examine the advantages and disadvantages of DL education.
新冠疫情对教育发展和教学产生了重大影响，但关于这一主题的定量研究却很少。本研究的主要目的是比较2020年与前几年紧急医疗服务（EMS）进修课程的结业总数。次要结果考察了研究期间的面授学习与在线/分布式学习情况。院前继续教育认证委员会（CAPCE）是唯一一家为护理人员和急救医疗技术员的继续教育进行认证的全国性组织，目前拥有一个包含超过1400万条继续教育记录的数据库。将2020年每月的急救课程结业总数与2019年和2018年进行比较。我们还比较了不同的教育形式类型：现场面授（LIP）、异步在线分布式学习（DL）和虚拟教师主导培训（VILT）同步DL课程。使用描述性统计和双向方差分析对数据进行分析。2020年有1922783人次完成急救课程，2019年为1166335人次，2018年为1074636人次，在研究期间增长了179%。2020年异步DL课程结业人数为1830513人次，而2019年为1078580人次，2018年为987749人次，在三年研究期间增长了185%。按年份计算的异步DL月度平均值具有统计学意义，F(2, 99) = 95.632，p <.001。按年份计算的LIP和VILT月度平均教学量没有显著差异，p分别为.802和.754。2020年LIP课程结业总数为20045人次，2019年为51552人次，2018年为63058人次。2020年LIP课程仅占所有急救课程结业人数的1.0%（20045/1922783）。本研究仅限于CAPCE数据库中完成急救课程的EMS专业人员。然而，EMS并非个例，因为先前的研究表明，DL在其他医疗保健学科中蓬勃发展，而LIP课程则持续减少。这项针对EMS行业的大型全国性研究显示了向DL教育发展的趋势以及远离LIP课程的趋势。未来的研究应考察DL教育的优缺点。
