~ Curator’s Field Notes ~

Increasing my Emergency medicine skills
first responder, training, pre-hospital, paramedicine, pathway to paramedic, paramedic, remote environments, endeavour, remote adventure, expedition training, medicine in remote areas, medicine, remote medicine, EMT, Emergency medicine training Chris Shirley MA FRGS first responder, training, pre-hospital, paramedicine, pathway to paramedic, paramedic, remote environments, endeavour, remote adventure, expedition training, medicine in remote areas, medicine, remote medicine, EMT, Emergency medicine training Chris Shirley MA FRGS

Increasing my Emergency medicine skills

My search for Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) providers started with the Australasian registry of EMT (AREMT) - this is one of the better-known registries that are able to validate your skills and quantify your knowledge. This led me to PPA - a medical training provider based in Denmark, led by Nick, a former close protection Team Leader with a hugely impressive CV of medical experience (which was bought out during the course in vignettes to add real life relevance to the learning).

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Learning to fly: What it’s like to enter ‘the gig economy’.
Going freelance, no performance bonus, no medical care, no holiday entitlement, no more paid sick days, no more guaranteed monthly income, Oxford Circus, Philosopher, Martial Artist, Actor, Bruce Lee, skydiving, wingsuit, London, organisational politics, freelancer, full-time job, handcuffs, golden handcuffs, freelance community, Learning to fly, freelance, the gig economy, Gig economy, digital nomad, professional resilience Chris Shirley MA FRGS Going freelance, no performance bonus, no medical care, no holiday entitlement, no more paid sick days, no more guaranteed monthly income, Oxford Circus, Philosopher, Martial Artist, Actor, Bruce Lee, skydiving, wingsuit, London, organisational politics, freelancer, full-time job, handcuffs, golden handcuffs, freelance community, Learning to fly, freelance, the gig economy, Gig economy, digital nomad, professional resilience Chris Shirley MA FRGS

Learning to fly: What it’s like to enter ‘the gig economy’.

Around 4 months ago, I decided to join the freelance community. I wanted control of everything in my life.

Earlier this year, I had decided to leave a career in the military and start a new path in a London-based global media organisation. Life was simple – you just turn up, do your job, don’t rock the boat too much, go home, get paid, buy nice things. It’s that straightforward. But simple isn’t always the best and by now, I’d had enough of my life being defined by a safe career path that led to an unknown horizon.

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The artist and the scientist: My thoughts on the complexity of leadership
Leadership, Management, Artist, Scientist Chris Shirley MA FRGS Leadership, Management, Artist, Scientist Chris Shirley MA FRGS

The artist and the scientist: My thoughts on the complexity of leadership

Naturally, It got me thinking about becoming a good leader in my chosen field. Not just an effective leader - that implies you're good effectuating other’s judgements even when you don't necessarily believe in it. A good leader knows how and when to push back. And so I realised the artist and the scientist metaphor of duality:

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