Author: Kaleb Lachenicht, Director Epic EM and Chief Clinical Officer of ROCKET
I’ve always believed that teaching isn’t just about sharing knowledge—it’s about creating the space for people to wrestle with new ideas, challenge old habits, and push themselves beyond what they thought they knew. This week, standing in a room with experienced ECPs in Limpopo, I watched that process unfold in real time. The lightbulb moments, the tension of unlearning outdated practices, the quiet nods of understanding as something just clicked—this is why I teach!
The Privilege of Teaching
I have been teaching in emergency medical care and resuscitation for just over 12 years, and it never fails to amaze me that when I stand up to present a concept, or share some learning, people are willing to listen. Each time I am able to engage with other providers to both teach and learn, I am humbled by the calibre of paramedic we are so lucky to have in South Africa.
Teaching in EM is not just about updating knowledge, or changing minds, it feels like the privilege of reigniting a passion and excitement for the patient’s best possible outcome, and the realisation that we can always be better. This week has without a doubt reminded me of my excitement for teaching, and learning, and my excitement for Emergency Medical Care, particularly in the prehospital environments. Seeing the team realise that despite many speedbumps and red-tape challenges, there are ways that every single one of us can change the experience for the patient, and with that, possibly the outcome.
Once we have qualified, there are very few opportunities for groups of providers to get together in a resource-limited setting to share experiences, and learn and grow through sharing these experiences. Access to high quality learning environments is not always a given, and even more importantly, access to a safe learning environment where fears and failures can be shared are even fewer and further between.
We owe it to each other to make these spaces more accessible!
The Challenge of Staying Evidence-Based and Up to Date
“Best practice” is a moving target – and staying current means reading EVERYDAY! Engaging everyday in learning, conversations and experiences to keep our knowledge and practice in line with the advancing field.
What I often find the most difficult for myself is having to take the time and energy to “unlearn” something that is no longer relevant, and something more difficult is unlearning my “knee-jerk” responses that are based on outdated information. Watching the tension between the “known” information and the newly presented evidence in my students is always a highlight for me, seeing the student wrestle with the new concept or data, and then work through it to implement in a simulation or real-life patient is the place where the magic of education happens for me.
Spending time this week with a team of long qualified providers, all willing to engage in the mind bend of changing practice with me, has been a highlight of this short year so far.
We need more of these spaces—spaces where paramedics (and all healthcare providers) can come together, not just to learn but to challenge, to question, and to refine their craft. Spaces where it’s safe to admit what we don’t know and to wrestle with what we need to change. Because the work we do isn’t static, and neither should our learning be. If you have the opportunity to teach, embrace the responsibility of keeping the profession moving forward.
If you have the opportunity to learn, take it—lean into the discomfort, ask the hard questions, and commit to being better for the next patient who needs you.
