Page 144 - Mind, Body and Spirit No. 105 2021/22

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JOINT SERVICE SCHOOL OF EXERCISE REHABILITATION INSTRUCTORS
Joint Service School of Exercise Rehabilitation Instructors (JSSERI) has been through a lot of change over the last few years. Firstly, there was a unit move, secondly, the course was
aligned to Birmingham City University (BCU) to provide a civilian recognised qualification (Level 6 Advanced Diploma) & lastly, there was a shift to online teaching throughout the pandemic. Additionally, this has been done with gapped postings throughout. As of Sep 21, JSSERI has been fully staffed, as WO2 (QMSI) Leach replaced WO1 (SMI) Dan Brown as the Army Tutor delivering exercise therapy and WO1 (SMI) Paul ‘Percy’ Percival replaced now Capt John Craig, as the Training Warrant Officer (TWO).
Since arriving myself in April 2021, I’ve seen the final module of course 62, which was mainly delivered remotely and subsequently delivered the full 6-month course to course 63, mainly via face- to-face teachings. Currently, we are delivering course 64, which will finish in Jun 22. With the unit move, integrating BCU, COVID and staff replacements, JSSERI has had a turbulent time. However, what has remained is the quality of the output, for which credit needs to go to my predecessors. Now that we are in a more stable position, the focus is on enhancing the learning experience of the students whilst also developing our own teaching skillset.
With the integration of BCU to the JSSERI course, this has also brought opportunities for the staff. All staff are now enrolled on a PG Cert in Higher Education whilst on assignment at JSSERI. This enables the tutors to collaborate with other tutors in other fields, all of whom facilitate education (in some form) at BCU. We are already starting to see improvements in the way we teach, we are challenging each other as well as trying new ideas. This enhances student engagement whilst ensuring we are catering for their individual needs. Additionally, the COVID pandemic has highlighted some key opportunities for this, especially in the use of remote teaching. We now have the platforms available to support the students individually or collectively whilst off site.
JSSERI is a lodger unit at DMRC Stanford Hall, and we rely on them for facility usage. JSSERI have established an excellent relationship with the staff at DMRC and utilise their expertise on the course throughout. Lately, we have re-introduced a visit to the Academic Department of Military Rehabilitation (ADMR) and WO1 (SMI) Percival is investigating the possibility of module visits to Leicester University dissection rooms to improve the student’s anatomy learning. Those that qualified many years ago will fully appreciate the learning benefit from the visits that used to take place at UCL when DMRC was based at Headley Court.
There will be many people reading this who qualified as an ERI way before I did. However, I am sure everyone will agree that the ERI course (or RI course depending on when you completed the course) is something that you remember fondly. We recognise this and we also recognise the importance of teamwork to help everyone complete the course. For this reason, each course has a Force Development Day in London. The aim of this is for the course to bond, link military history to rehabilitation and finally,
London Force Development Day: Course 63
develop the student’s presentation skills (the following day) in readiness for the BCU assignments. Both course 63 & 64 have had this opportunity and enjoyed it thoroughly.
Personally, tutoring at JSSERI was an ambition of mine and I feel very fortunate to be in this post. Rehabilitation is something that I really believe in and being able to help the future cohort of JSSERI students is something I relish. The team at JSSERI is of high quality and we are continually looking to develop the course and each other.
In closing, I’d like to thank all the RTSAs and Lead ERIs that have assisted the course delivery on clinical placements, its hugely appreciated by all staff at JSSERI. The feedback is continually high and goes a long way in developing the students.
WO2 (QMSI) B Leach RAPTC
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