Q: In Platinum Planner, why can’t my students sign up for an opportunity?

A: When trying to determine why a student cannot sign up for a specific opportunity, there are a few things to check: Is the opportunity associated with the correct class? If you edit the opportunity by going to “Manage Opportunities”, click “Edit” to the right of the opportunity, and go to the “Classes” tab, any […]

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Primum Non Nocere – First do no harm

This article was originally published in the November 2017 newlsetter by John Spencer/Customer Service Manager, Lead Medical Educator Listen carefully, do you hear it? Can you hear the cries for help? If not, listen a little more closely. It is the voice of our industry calling out in desperation, pleading for help because it has […]

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Q: In EMSTesting, can my students see their questions, rationale, and the correct answers on their Computer Adaptive Tests?

A: There is not a way for students to see the correct answer and rationale on the Computer Adaptive Testing when they finish a test. There are two reasons why we do not allow students to have access to this feedback. The first is that the CAT draws from the same question bank as the […]

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The Truth in Validity

The subject of testing validity comes up quite a bit in the EMS education industry. It’s a topic of tremendous importance because it descends from honesty and integrity. These are ideals held important to us in the EMS Education field. It is particularly significant to Platinum Educational Group, as it is the backbone of our […]

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Self-Motivation: How Can I Teach it to My Students?

This article was originally posted in our July 2017 Newsletter, by Tom Gottschalk, COO, Medical Educator When I began doing my research for this month’s article, I opened the old google machine and asked it about self-motivation. This is what it spat out. “Wake up with determination, and go to bed with satisfaction.” “It is […]

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Why can’t I get feedback on Platinum CAT exams? (Ah, but you can!)

This article was originally posted in our July 2017 Newsletter, by Doug Smith, CEO, Medical Educator Students often mention that on the CAT exams they do not receive any feedback. We demonstrated in the past (Sept. 2014 ) that we do provide a tremendous amount of constructive feedback to the students regarding weak and strong […]

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Q: When setting up a class in EMSTesting, what do the different “Grade Type Descriptions” mean?

A: In the “Grade Book” tab of a class, there are 5 default categories listed under “Grade Type Descriptions”. These are Quiz, Test, Module Exam, Final Exam, and Other. To the right of these categories are “Test Pass %”(which is the score students need to meet to count as “passing”) and “% of Grade”(which is […]

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Q: My student purchased an access code for the wrong provider level from the bookstore (or online vender). Can they still use that to pay their course enrollment fee, or do they need to return it and exchange it for the correct one?

A: The answer used to be that students had to return the access code to whoever they purchased it from, as access codes have different values based on the provider level, and based on whether it is an EMSTesting.com access code or a Platinum Planner access code. There was not a way for a student […]

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Q: When creating classes in Platinum Planner for my Paramedic course, what is the difference between a “Clinical” class and a “Field Internship” class?

A: A “Clinical” class would be a class that is tracking student skill competencies in a hospital or clinical setting. This would also include ambulance time, or “Field Experience”, which CoAEMSP defines as: “Planned, scheduled, educational student time spent on an EMS unit, which may include observation and skill development, but which does not include […]

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Scenario versus Simulation: What, Where, Why, & When

This article was originally posted in our June 2017 Newsletter, by John Spencer, Customer Service Manager, Lead Medical Educator The advent of the NREMT’s Paramedic Psychomotor Competency Portfolio Program (Portfolio) has brought about a renewed focus, and some confusion, surrounding the use of scenarios and simulations. The Portfolio program requires the use of testing “scenarios” […]

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