PlatinumPlanner.com now supports the National Registry Portfolio requirements! What is Portfolio?

On August 10th, 2014 PlatinumPlanner.com released an improved version that now includes support for the National Registry Portfolio. What is Portfolio?

While not a common question for many EMS program directors to ask today, we are certain it should be on the minds of most paramedic schools sending students on for NREMT Paramedic certification in the future. Here is what we know based on conversation with our peers, meetings with participants in the pilot study of the Portfolio project and other resources:

The Portfolio Project is a result of the National Registry’s desire to accomplish their mission of evaluating competent “entry-level” Paramedics at the practical level.

This concept is for the project to be required for Paramedics wanting to be evaluated by the National Registry. Though this is a National Registry initiative, the CoAEMSP organization has indicated they support the process as a best practice.

Currently the paramedic level National Registry practical exam has a number of skills the student must perform to “entry-level” standards as well as pass several table top (oral) exam “patient-management” stations. We understand the new format will focus entirely on the management of the patient (more in-line with the job practice) and not focus on the performance of specific skills. The skill performance will be verified through the student’s EMS initial training program and that is the whole reason for the Portfolio Project.

The Portfolio Project can best be understood as a flow chart. Students must be competent in specific skills before they participate in scenarios (simulated patient encounters).

Successful performance in scenarios should then qualify the candidates to participate in related clinical and field rotations. Finally and most importantly, within the clinical and field rotations there are minimum performance standards the student must reliably complete in order to satisfy the portfolio requirement.

There are of course many details of this program we have not addressed in this short synopsis. For further details, we recommend you reach out to us or the NREMT to go over more of the specific details including the actual task analysis forms, status of the research and proposed deployment date.

Having spent a considerable amount of our company resources reviewing, programming and testing this projects goals on our clinical management platform; we are very confident that this is a great opportunity for improving EMS education and is capable of producing highly competent entry-level paramedics. We also recognize with the concept still in the pilot phase there is much to learn about it.

Stay in touch with us and we will do the same!

Platinum Educational Group
616.818.7877
info@platinumed.com