Introduction. Occupational burnout is a multifaceted phenomenon and a problem often encountered among medical personnel. An example of such a group are workers of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The aim of the present study was to make an attempt to assess the level of job burnout among professionally active employees of the EMS and to compare the different occupational groups (paramedics, nurses of the system, doctors of the system) according to four analyzed factors. Materials and methods. A cross-sectional study was performed using an on-line questionnaire. Four factors impacting the level of burnout were analyzed: 1) attitude to work; 2) workload; 3) contact with the patient; 4) attitude to stress). The minimum possible result on the scale is 36 points and the maximum-252. Data were analysed by means of the Cronbach's alpha coefficient, the Spearman correlation, the Ramsey RESET test, the Chow test, VIF statistics. Results. The average score for occupational burnout was 131.0 points (SD ± 31.47). The tool's reliability measured by means of Cronbach's alpha was 0.910). Both nurses and doctors obtained higher results throughout the scale (β stand. 0.147 and 0.215). Significant differences were shown between the group working only in the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) teams and the other services (land EMS, emergency rooms, etc.) at the level of p < 0.000. Conclusions. EMS employees encounter varying degrees of threat by occupational burnout. Doctors working in the system are shown to have the highest level of burnout, while paramedics the lowest. Among all the jobs analyzed, the lowest level of occupational burnout has been demonstrated by employees of HEMS.

Abstract. The process of continuing education of paramedics is based on gaining educational credits during five-year educational periods. One of the forms of self-improvement are Internet-based educational programs. The lack of regulations concerning the organizational and technical aspects of e-learning made the authors attempt to analyze the phenomenon. The aim of the article is to present an initial analysis of the role of online educational programs in comparison with other forms of professional training of paramedics. One in three respondents has recently used one of the methods of distance learning. Despite the low awareness of the effectiveness of e-learning, almost 70% of the interviewees expressed a positive opinion about it and over 50% were willing to use such forms in the future. The respondents preferred online trainings in the asynchronous version, containing audio-visual materials and providing the possibility to obtain a certificate issued to the participant after completing the course. The demand for topics in the area of professional training included mainly the fields of Drug Therapy, electrotherapy, electrocardiogram (ECG) evaluation, medical segregation, and help in delivery in pre-hospital conditions. Modern forms of distance learning do not make it possible to acquire practical skills, yet their role in professional training of paramedics is still significant. According to the authors, online educational programs constitute an effective complement to traditional training through the performance of tasks in a mixed form, known as blended-learning.

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The epidemiological situation resulting from the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic caused the Polish universities to fully switch to distance education in March 2020. Medical e-learning has not yet been broadly implemented into the education process. Therefore, examples of successful e-learning implementations or the organization of the process of medical e-learning offer a valuable source of knowledge today, which is needed immediately. The article presents e-learning practices at the Polish medical universities during the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic during the period from March to September 2020, covering seven universities in Poland that offer medical and health studies. The organization and implementation of e-learning classes is presented, including knowledge evaluation practices, providing example decisions issued by university rectors, on which the teaching process was based. A detailed presentation of the schools’ organizational units or workgroups that played an important role in the process of coordination of measures supporting e-education is also included. The article also presents a description of the software applications, utilities, and services used at the schools in the course of the process of online education. Below are some examples of specific such implementations in selected university courses.