Here We Go Again

Back near when I began this blog, I wrote a post about a time when a new EMT was actively discouraged from training.

Well. Here we are ten months later, and the same thing just happened to me.

At a meeting, when I reminded people that I have been going to some regional training about an hour away, I was told that I shouldn't do that, because I can get "all the CME you need locally."

I responded that I LIKE going there, that I've found all the presentations I've attended to be excellent. I think it is a wonderful opportunity.

I was then told that all I need to do for CME credit is have <the person who was talking to me> sign off after any meeting we have, any time we discuss EMS things.

???

Seriously?
This is considered "all the CME you need"?

I don't know how to get through to people that I am not interested, at all, in doing the minimum legally required (and I don't think sitting around yacking even qualifies for that). I am not interested in what is easiest, or most convenient.

I want to have the best education I can manage to find. I want to learn from the best teachers and presenters.

I don't think they realize, or can even grasp the concept, that I actively work on this EVERY DAY. I go to conferences and training events. I do online CME classes. I read magazines and books. I practice my technical skills. I discuss all of this with other EMTs on an ongoing basis. My training is not limited to one evening a week.

I may be "just a volunteer," but this is something I am VERY interested in being good at. That is, actively interested, as in I ENJOY learning.

Why is that so strange? Surely I'm not the only one who takes this seriously. I know I'm not. I know plenty of people who are at least as serious.

I don't know why it is so impossible for some people to understand.