I've focused a lot during this blog on the current evaluation and teaching methods used within my program, and what changes might be made to improve upon these. There is another component in discussion currently, which is adjusting our entry requirements. Currently we require a collection of college stream high-school courses, typical of any program, and upon a conditional offer of acceptance, we require these applicants to attend a June/July information session where we ensure these students understand the rigors of our program, including the fitness component. To do this, we put the students through the Beep Test and Obstacle Run; we demonstrate but avoid doing the lifting tests as it requires certain safety apparel and lifting techniques taught once within the program.
Our information session fitness component is participation only, we do not hold any requirements, however there are other colleges that do. To demonstrate the relevance of this, last year we lost fifteen students to fitness in first semester. This is the high end of a normal range. We view this number as unacceptable, particularly since we let the students know they need to start training in June, for a test that occurs in December. I'll reiterate that the levels we ask for barely meet what most sources would call below average, and even unhealthy. Our proposal is that we implement a fitness requirement. Based upon Canadian Military evidence, there is research to clearly show the progression one can make and improve; for example, if you can only run to level 2 in June, there is evidence that this applicant will not be able to obtain a passing level of 5 by December. This applicant would then be denied admission, sent home with their results and a worksheet on how to improve, should they desire. Judging from last year, this would have denied six applicants entry into our program. These six were ultimately unsuccessful, and we could have used these seats in our limited enrollment program for students with a higher chance of success. We make it clear in June of the hard work necessary and the statistics of success, however students and parents always believe they'll be able to do it. I do believe statistics can be beat, but it requires such a drastic lifestyle change for these applicants that I have yet to see it happen. Our initial proposal to administration was met with hesitation, with thoughts of human rights being questioned. I admit I need to investigate this further, and within the context of my college policies, however is it any better to set students up for failure? Perhaps after another couple of years of tracking these initial results with eventual class grades we will have sufficient internal evidence to approach this again. Our program's biggest issue from an administrative point of view is retention, and we believe this is a valid method to improve upon this - we implemented the information sessions to attempt to improve retention and inform applicants about the fitness requirements, however it does not seem to dissuade anyone.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorI teach Paramedicine at Cambrian College, in Sudbury, Ontario. I also continue to work as a paramedic, and ride bikes. This is my third semester in the PME program, and I look forward to learning with everyone! Archives
March 2017
Categories |