A proposal for student assessment in paramedic education

This paper develops a concept of assessment for paramedic education. The aim is to provide an improved learning environment for students as well as to increase the success of the school by providing alternative teaching methods to the current methods used, thus enabling the institution to reach its educational goals ('learning through assessment'). In order for this concept to be fully successful, a valid and reliable procedure must be implemented for these goals to be achieved. This concept was developed and implemented at a private paramedic school in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. First we must identify the strengths, unused opportunities, faults and threats of the actual procedures, so that a new concept can be established. As there are only a limited number of published papers available concerning Assessment in Emergency Medical Service (EMS), it has been necessary to look into other healthcare publications, especially those on medicine and nursing. The following areas are relevant for assessment: knowledge, communication skills, decision-making, technical skills, professionalism, ability for self-reflection, creativity and enthusiasm. For the assessment, nine methods have been selected and made into a blueprint. For the judgement, the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) for learning achievements has been adopted. The outcome is essentially determined by a triangulation of methods: orientation towards methods stimulating learning, flexible and continual judgement on learning achievements and arrival at high-quality criteria for assessment.