continuing education

Imagine you’re going in with your child for a pediatric appointment; while you’re waiting in the room, you see all their degrees and accolade. You notice that the doctor graduated in 2000, a shocking twenty-two years ago. While you’re delighted they have experience, you can’t help but think about how much has changed for you since then. 

You wonder exactly how many new child studies have occurred since 2000 and how much new technology has come about since your doctor graduated. Suddenly you feel anxious and worried that your doctor isn’t as up-to-date as other doctors and wonder if you made the right choice. 

If something was to happen and your child was to have a medical emergency right there and then, is the doctor, nurse, or any other healthcare professional ready to spring into action? You sure hope so! 

If you’re a healthcare professional reading this, you might wonder what you could say or do to ease this type of patient nerves. If you’re this type of nervous patient, you’ll be happy to know that health practitioners have the ability and the duty to continue their education. 

Get to know what sort of continuing education is available, such as PALS certification, and other related information. 

What Are the Benefits of Continuing Education? 

Technology, rules, and information are constantly being evaluated and looked over in today’s society. With how fast things change, we are always finding better ways to help people and fix problems we’ve had for years. 

The medical field is no different; because of this, we have systems in place to require renewals and updated learning on specific certifications. All this is done to protect our health and safety and ensure we use the most cutting-edge information to treat, diagnose and make decisions that alter patients’ lives. 

Not only that but as impressive as our healthcare professionals are, they are ultimately human. Humans need reminders and to practice procedures to keep them fresh in their minds, especially if it’s something they don’t do every single day, like life-saving procedures. 

What Kind of Certification Is Available? 

The National Board of Emergency Care Certifications (NBECC) keeps track of the certifications needed as an emergency healthcare professional. BLS (basic life support), CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), ACLS (advanced cardiac life support), and PALS (pediatric advanced life support) are the certification programs they monitor and keep up to date. 

NBECC also uses standards, so there is consistency in the practices held in the United States. The American Heart Association (AHA) specifies that standard. When deciding where to receive training, it is crucial that these associations are involved on some level. 

All of the life-saving techniques listed have specific steps and situations when a healthcare professional would need to use them. Keeping up with and knowing the difference between these emergency care actions could mean the difference between life and death. 

PALS Certification 

If you’re our parent in the waiting room from the beginning, you will be ecstatic that your healthcare professional is up to date on this training. Pediatric Advanced Life Support training isn’t just for healthcare professionals, though. Anyone can benefit from knowing how to perform life-saving techniques on children. 

Getting PALS certified allows you to learn this information for yourself. There are plenty of ways to begin your certification, even online. Encourage a babysitter, dance coach, or fellow PTA members to learn. Courses vary depending on your previous understanding and ability. 

Someone who already has completed a medical degree will receive different training than someone who is learning for the sake of learning. However, as long as the organization you learn from has verification from the American Heart Association or The National Board of Emergency Care Certifications, you are in the right hands. 

The American Medical Resources Institute provides online classes for post-graduate students who want to continue their education and keep up to date on certifications. They are accredited and follow AHA guidelines, so they are a great place for healthcare professionals to refer to for updated training. 

Not only is an initial certification available through American Medical Resources, but they can also recertify. Having everything in one place makes keeping up to date with certification simple. Also, because they follow AHA guidelines, you are guaranteed that the information will be up-to-date, accurate, and accepted by medical practices. 

How Have Things Changed?

Let’s go back to the 1500s; your family member goes blue in the face you don’t think they can breathe! What do you do? If you had training in the latest health measures, you would grab a fireplace bellows, put it in the person’s mouth, and pump. It’ll take until the 1740s for someone to recommend mouth-to-mouth as an option. Only in 1903 would the world realize that chest compressions help, which would be first discovered on a dog. 

It takes until 1963 for the American Heart Association to form and start endorsing CPR as the correct way to treat a patient. In the 1980s, the idea of CPR needing to be different for children and the ability to spread CPR knowledge to the larger community came into play. The American Heart Association goes over the timeline in depth of how our knowledge and usage of this life-saving practice came to be. 

From the few examples, the closer we get to this day and age, the faster the discoveries come. There is much less time between 1960 and 1980 than between 1500 and 1700. Our understanding of the world is changing day by day. That is what makes keeping up with this certification so important. 

Does Continues Education Really Save Lives?

According to procpr.org, about 70% of Americans don’t feel comfortable performing CPR or other life-saving measures because they don’t know how to do CPR or their certification has lapsed, which renews every year or two. 

Since so much of whether or not these attacks become fatal depends on how quickly others identify the problem and act, how well you remember the steps and what to do is invaluable. Continuing your training and staying up to date on CPR, ACLS, and PALS certification can make an incredible difference. 


This article was contributed by Kate Macmorn the communications director for the American Medical Resource Institute, where they’ve trained over a million healthcare professionals to study for, earn and maintain life support certifications that allow them to better respond to cardiac emergencies. When not in the office, you can find Kate practicing her tennis skills. She also frequents live music venues and is always looking for her next creative hobby.

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