Not Clear On The Concept

I received an email from a younger friend of mine who is a paramedic. He’s  been expanding his EMS horizons and is writing for his state’s EMS magazine.  Here is his email,

So, I've been writing a con-ed article for the state's EMS magazine about
airway assessment.  The state employees who edit the magazine aren't EMS
certified, so they sent the article to some paramedics they knew to review  it.

The paramedics complained that the article covered things they didn't know
about.  Isn't that the point of continuing education?

Oh, what a naive young man he is. Doesn’t he know that EMS continuing education is supposed to consist of continuing to repeat the same old material, often with bad and outdated information? What could possibly make him think that anyone in EMS would want to learn something new? It’s not like medical science ever advances or that new techniques are discovered or that old theories are proven to be wrong and must be discarded. No, it’s well established the medicine, particularly EMS, is tried and true and there can be no new material to be learned.

Why, if we followed his lecture, paramedic refreshers might not consist of repeating the same lectures that were given during paramedic school. How are tired paramedics supposed to get any sleep during class if lecturers insist on abandoning the tired old droning lecture, lame ancient jokes and all, and replacing that with NEW material. Why, this could lead to people having to pay attention. Hell, they might even learn something that they can use to treat patients more effectively.

That. Will. Just. Not. Do.

I understand those paramedics criticism, I wholeheartedly support their insistence on not improving their minds or learning anything new.

Next thing you know, people like my young friend will insist that we have some scientific basis of administering the treatments we do.

Someone is just not clear on the concept of continuing education. I’m just not sure who it is.