Continuing Professional Development System Research Articles

Continuing professional development opportunities for Australian endorsed for scheduled medicines podiatrists-What's out there and is it accessible, relevant, and meaningful? A cross-sectional survey.

Non-medical prescribing is a valuable strategy to enable equitable access to medications in the context of the increasing demands on health services globally. Australian podiatrists have been able to seek endorsement for scheduled medicines (ESM) for over a decade. This project investigates the perceptions and habits of ESM podiatrists in meeting the extra continuing professional development (CPD) requirements associated with their ESM status. Australian ESM podiatrists completed an anonymous, online survey capturing demographics; CPD engagement; and self-reflections of CPD activities. Twenty percent (n = 33) of Australian ESM registered podiatrists (N = 167) responded to the survey (18 female; median ESM status 2.5 years, (IQR 1.0, 9.0)). For the previous registration period, 88% (n = 29) completed the mandatory CPD hours, with only 35% (n = 11) completing a CPD learning goal plan. Over 80% identified their last ESM CPD activity as accessible, affordable, and could recommend to colleagues. Conversely, 50% or less agreed the activity increased confidence; changed their practice; improved communication skills; or enabled networking. Most respondents (81%, n = 27) indicated improvements should be made to the content, relevance, accessibility, and meaningfulness of CPD. These findings were supported by responses to the open-ended questions. Our findings suggest ESM podiatrists engage in CPD that is accessible rather than learning goal driven. Concerningly, CPD activities resulted in low translation of learnings to practice. This brings in to question the value of mandatory CPD systems based on minimum hours, rather than meaningfulness.

Continuing Professional Development for Mariners

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is now a part of our life in exponentially changing posture of the world. We are living in disrupted development which requires to adopt new technologies in our profession as well as to support emerging new professions. It is important for professionals to keep up with technologic developments and enable themselves to adopt challenging requirements. All the leading parties of maritime industry should understand and evaluate the future of the maritime business and advice the Maritime Education and Training (MET) and research institutes to prepare CPD programmes for mariners. More important the maritime industry should decide their requirement for CPD and manage themselves to get benefit from the CPD to secure their business ensuring their employers’ career development to adapt to challenging requirements. The purpose of this research is to evaluate what kind of initiatives should be started to achieve a reliable and sustainable CPD system for mariners as well as encouraging them to get benefit from CPD programmes. As a continuation of this investigation, possible CPD providers and suitable delivery methods for mariners will be defined. This paper argues for a more realistic approach for CPD for mariners who have very limited access to regular education opportunities due to nature of their job at sea. A detailed literature has been conducted to understand CPD concept and applications supported with a survey conducted with respective persons in the industry to realize the facts which directly affecting CPD opportunities for people working in the shipping industry. We review related data to evaluate how we can develop an effective and reliable CPD system considering existing limitations. Herein lies the contribution of this paper; it is argued that how we can assist the mariners providing them a practical CPD system and meet the new requirements which sector needs under the pressure of rapidly changing technology and its effects on the professions. This is an initial study and results of this study may be used by other researchers who will make further studies on the facilitation of CPD.

Continuing professional development requirements for UK health professionals: a scoping review

ObjectivesThis paper sets out to establish the numbers and titles of regulated healthcare professionals in the UK and uses a review of how continuing professional development (CPD) for health professionals...

Continuing professional development (CPD): a necessary component in the workplace or not?

Background: Continuing professional development (CPD) is important because it delivers benefits to the individual, their profession and the public. CPD increases credibility, maintains skills and knowledge to deliver a professional healthcare service. It also ensures that individuals are up to date with industry change by constantly updating their skill set, and filling in gaps in competencies and knowledge. Objective: The objective of this brief review is to investigate whether CPD should be a necessary component in the professional work field or not. Method: A literature review was conducted using electronic databases Science Direct, Wiley Online Library, Google Scholar, ERIC, Research Gate, African Journals Online and Emerald Insight. Results: The results have shown that a number of barriers played a role related to the participation of professionals in CPD programmes. The barriers most professionals face which prevent them from participating in CPD are either the attitudes of professionals towards CPD or time constraints due to workload. Conclusion: Although many barriers have been identified, the outcome was in favour of having the CPD system in the workplace.

Comparison of the quality assurance system of dental professionals in Japan, the EU and the ASEAN.

In recent years, the society requires a flexible response of the dental society to deal with changes in disease structure in the super-aging society in Japan. Regarding quality of dental care, we need to ensure quality of clinical environment, dental professionals and the system. As globalization expands, the health care professionals move to another country to work. In the European Union(EU), the quality assurance system for the graduated European dentist through the activities in undergraduate education has been established and a similar approach is ongoing in the region of the Association of South-East Asian Nations. After the registration, the continuing professional development (CPD) system takes a role on quality assurance for dentist. The DentCPD was an approach to create a standard for CPD in the EU. Regarding the quality assurance system in Japanese dentistry, there were systematic approaches, establishing the model core curriculum in dental education, the common achievement test. Besides them, the quality assurance system for dentist has not been established except the voluntary life-long learning program of the Japan Dental Association. Predicting changes of the society to have quality control for dental professionals, we should prepare the system like the CPD system which matches level of the global standard.

CPD? What happened to CME? CME and beyond

Continuing medical education (CME) has been evolving into continuing professional development (CPD) and more recently into competency-based continuing professional development (CBCPD). We will describe this progression and the consequent changes in CPD programs developed by educators, appraise emerging challenges in CPD, propose strategies to overcome them and conclude by recommending research in CPD as the best way to consistently guide effective CPD programs and systems aligned with the public healthcare needs and expectations.

Striving for the best: WONCA global standards for continuing professional development for family doctors

While all physicians must continue to learn new knowledge through their careers, their post-training continuing professional development (CPD) has received less attention. Problems include lack of support for physicians, frequent deviations from best practices such as mandatory participation, focus on community need, and clear conflicts of interest amongst providers. Additionally, specialists from other disciplines catering to different patient populations often provide CPD for family doctors. The Working Party on Education of the World Organisation of Family Doctors (WONCA) sought to develop global standards in CPD for family doctors. The standards were developed through an iterative process with reference to published best practices for effective CPD. Adapted for family doctors from the World Federation for Medical Education’s CPD for Medical Doctors: WFME Global Standards for Quality Improvement’, the WONCA CPD Standards for Family Doctors were approved by WONCA Council in November 2016. The objectives of the standards are to: (1) Provide a resource for family doctors and/or groups of family doctors to design and structure a program of CPD to reinforce lifelong learning; (2) Optimise current CPD systems such that, through more effective program design and delivery, family doctors are advancing in patient care and their discipline; (3) Offer a set of globally recognised standards developed through a family medicine perspective to provide feedback on existing CPD programs and systems and encourage international recognition of CPD activities. The WONCA Global CPD Standards should inspire best practices in family medicine CPD, assisting family doctors in providing excellent care.

CPD of the future: a partnership between quality improvement and competency-based education.

Many of those involved in continuing professional development (CPD) over the past 10 years have engaged in discussions about its goals and activities. Whereas in the past CPD was viewed as an education intervention directed towards the medical expert role, recent research highlights the need to expand the scope of CPD and to promote its more explicit role in improving patient care and health outcomes. Recent developments in quality improvement (QI) and competency-based medical education (CBME), guided by appropriate theories of learning and change, can shed light on how the field might best advance. This paper describes principles of QI and CBME and how they might contribute to CPD, explores theoretical perspectives that inform such an integration and suggests a future model of CPD. Continuing professional development seeks to improve patient outcomes by increasing physician knowledge and skills and changing behaviours, whereas QI takes the approach of system and process change. Combining the strengths of a CPD approach with strategies known to be effective from the field of QI has the potential to harmonise the contributions of each, and thereby to lead to better patient outcomes. Similarly, competency-based CPD is envisioned to place health needs and patient outcomes at the centre of a CPD system that will be guided by a set of competencies to enhance the quality of practice and the safety of the health system. We propose that the future CPD system should adhere to the following principles: it should be grounded in the everyday workplace, integrated into the health care system, oriented to patient outcomes, guided by multiple sources of performance and outcome data, and team-based; it should employ the principles and strategies of QI, and should be taken on as a collective responsibility by physicians, CPD provider organisations, regulators and the health system.

Family physicians’ continuing professional development activities: current practices and potential for new options

As part of needs assessment processes, our Faculty of Medicine (FOM) continuing professional development office investigated the differences between physicians who do and those who do not frequently participate in planned group learning to gain insight into their interest in new forms of continuing professional development (CPD). We sent a 19 item questionnaire to 485 randomly selected physicians of the 1050 family physicians in Eastern Ontario. The questionnaire examined present participation and satisfaction with CPD activities and perceptions regarding the potential impact of those; and appetite for new opportunities to meet their learning needs. Of the 151 (31%) physicians responding, 61% reported attending at least one FOM group learning program in the past 18 months (attenders) and 39% had not (non-attenders). Non-attenders indicated less satisfaction (p = 0.04) with present opportunities and requested development in newer approaches such as support for self-learning, on-line opportunities, and simulation. Although there are high levels of satisfaction with the present CPD system that predominantly offers large group learning options, a substantial number of physicians expressed interest in accessing new options such as personal study and on-line resources.

Continuing professional development in implant dentistry in Europe

Training for dental practitioners in implant dentistry ranges from 1- or 2-day short Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses to certificate/diploma programmes run by universities. In general, the teaching of implant dentistry in Europe lacks structure and standardisation. This paper aims to: (i) identify the current trends in CPD in implant dentistry in Europe; (ii) identify potential and limitations with regards to the design and implementation of CPD activities in implant dentistry; (iii) provide recommendations on the future structure and development of CPD activities in implant dentistry. A search of the literature was undertaken in PubMed for manuscripts published in English after 2000 reporting on CPD in dentistry and in implant dentistry in particular. In addition, an electronic survey was conducted, investigating the attitudes towards CPD among a wide group of stakeholders in implant dentistry education. There is a wide diversity of educational pathways towards achieving competences in implant dentistry through CPD. At present, there is a need for improving the CPD structures in implant dentistry, strengthening the quality assurance and encouraging standardisation and transparency of the learning outcomes. Development of a structured CPD system with clearly defined educational objectives mapped against specific levels of competence is recommended.

Map of opportunity

Nursing is one of the most mobile professions in Europe, helped by a system that allows for automatic recognition of relevant nursing qualifi cations by countries in the European Economic Area. Registered adult nurses are recognised across Europe as nurses in general care. Recognition for other nurses is assessed on a case by case basis. The long-standing system, based on common minimum standards for nurse education, needed revision to refl ect contemporary nursing. The new arrangements came into force in November and countries will have two years to implement them (see box). In future, the Nursing and Midwifery Council will be able to check the language abilities of nurses from the EU who want to register in the UK, and regulators will also have to exchange details of nurses who have been banned from practising in their country. The new system speeds up the process of nurses’ getting recognition in another country, and requires regulators to respond more rapidly to requests for recognition. Regulators will use the existing online European Internal Market Information System so that documents can be exchanged swiftly. The European Commission (EC) is championing an electronic certifi cate or European professional card that regulators can use to process applications faster. Another change requires governments to introduce a national contact point, which holds all information for nurses wanting to register in that country. There is also a new focus on continuing professional development (CPD). Securing funding and time for CPD is a problem in many countries and the RCN lobbied for CPD systems to be in place in all countries. The fi nal legislation fell short of this but, in future, EU countries will have to promote CPD for healthcare professionals and report progress regularly to the EC NS

The transformation of continuing medical education (CME) in the United States.

This article describes five major themes that inform and highlight the transformation of continuing medical education in the USA. Over the past decade, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and other national entities have voiced concern over the cost of health care, prevalence of medical errors, fragmentation of care, commercial influence, and competence of health professionals. The recommendations from these entities, as well as the work of other regulatory, professional, academic, and government organizations, have fostered discussion and development of strategies to address these challenges. The five themes in this paper reflect the changing expectations of multiple stakeholders engaged in health care. Each theme is grounded in educational, politico-economic priorities for health care in the USA. The themes include (1) a shift in expectation from simple attendance or a time-based metric (credit) to a measurement that infers competence in performance for successful continuing professional development (CPD); (2) an increased focus on interprofessional education to augment profession-specific continuing education; (3) the integration of CPD with quality improvement; (4) the expansion of CPD to address population and public health issues; and (5) identification and standardization of continuing education (CE) professional competencies. The CE profession plays an essential role in the transformation of the US CPD system for health professionals. Coordination of the five themes described in this paper will foster an improved, effective, and efficient health system that truly meets the needs of patients.

Continuing professional development systems and requirements for graduate dentists in the EU: survey results from the DentCPD project

By maintaining skills and keeping dentists up-to-date, continuing professional development (CPD) supports safe clinical practice. However, CPD for dentists across Europe is not harmonised. One aim of the 'DentCPD' project (www.dentcpd.org) was to identify and agree essential CPD requirements for EU dentists. As part of the process, data were collected on existing approaches to CPD for EU dentists. This paper reports those findings. Informed by a review of the literature and internet search, the CPD for Graduate Dentists questionnaire gathered data from dental educators on CPD systems, requirements, provision and accreditation in Europe. It sought opinion on mandatory CPD and e-learning. Responses were received from 143 individuals from 30 EU countries. About half the countries had a compulsory CPD system which typically included mandatory core topics. Elsewhere CPD was optional or based on recommended hours. University dental schools and professional dental associations were the most common CPD providers. National regulatory bodies were the most common accrediting body. Only 41% of respondents thought they knew the criteria for successful accreditation of CPD. Eighty-one percent agreed that 'CPD should be obligatory for all dentists'. These results present an overview of the status of CPD for EU dentists. Despite a notable trend towards regulated CPD systems, current requirements for dentists to engage in CPD show variation. The harmonisation of requirements would enhance both dentist mobility and safe clinical practice.

Continuing professional development systems and requirements for graduate dentists in the EU: survey results from the DentCPD project

By maintaining skills and keeping dentists up-to-date, continuing professional development (CPD) supports safe clinical practice. However, CPD for dentists across Europe is not harmonised. One aim of the 'DentCPD' project (www.dentcpd.org) was to identify and agree essential CPD requirements for EU dentists. As part of the process, data were collected on existing approaches to CPD for EU dentists. This paper reports those findings. Informed by a review of the literature and internet search, the CPD for Graduate Dentists questionnaire gathered data from dental educators on CPD systems, requirements, provision and accreditation in Europe. It sought opinion on mandatory CPD and e-learning. Responses were received from 143 individuals from 30 EU countries. About half the countries had a compulsory CPD system which typically included mandatory core topics. Elsewhere CPD was optional or based on recommended hours. University dental schools and professional dental associations were the most common CPD providers. National regulatory bodies were the most common accrediting body. Only 41% of respondents thought they knew the criteria for successful accreditation of CPD. Eighty-one percent agreed that 'CPD should be obligatory for all dentists'. These results present an overview of the status of CPD for EU dentists. Despite a notable trend towards regulated CPD systems, current requirements for dentists to engage in CPD show variation. The harmonisation of requirements would enhance both dentist mobility and safe clinical practice.

Continuing professional development systems for medical physicists: A global survey and analysis

Continuing professional development (CPD) and continuing professional education (CPE) are seen as being necessary for medical physicists to ensure that they are up-to-date with current clinical practice. CPD is more than just continuing professional education, but can include research publication, working group contribution, thesis examination and many other activities. A systematic way of assessing and recording such activities that a medical physicist undertakes is used in a number of countries. This can be used for certification and licensing renewal purposes. Such systems are used in 27 countries, but they should be implemented in all countries where clinical medical physicists are employed.A survey of the CPD systems that are currently operated around the world is presented. In general they are quite similar although there are a few countries that have CPD systems that differ significantly from the others in many respects. Generally they ensure that medical physicists are kept up-to-date, although there are some that clearly will fail to achieve that.An analysis of what is required to construct a useful medical physics CPD system is made. Finally, the need for medical physicist professional organizations to cooperate and share in the production and distribution of CPD and CPE materials is emphasized.

Continuing Professional Development: Don't Miss the Obvious

Continuing Professional Development: Don't Miss the Obvious

Introducing a mandatory continuing professional development system: an evaluation of pharmacists' attitudes and experiences in Northern Ireland

Abstract Objective To determine the extent of pharmacists' understanding of continuing professional development (CPD) prior to the implementation of a mandatory CPD system and the level of implementation of CPD, and to gain insight into pharmacists' attitudes towards the concept and the introduction of a mandatory CPD system. Setting Northern Ireland. Method A pre-piloted, self-administered, postal questionnaire was distributed to all registered pharmacists in Northern Ireland (n = 1821) in September 2004. A second mailing was carried out four weeks after the initial mailing. The questionnaire was divided into three sections to determine pharmacists' attitudes towards CPD, their understanding and experience of CPD and their attitudes towards sanctions and portfolio review. Key findings A response rate of 41% was achieved after two mailings. The majority of respondents supported the concept of CPD, with over 84% of respondents agreeing that it was essential for all practising pharmacists to engage in CPD. Over half of respondents (56%) reported regularly identifying their learning needs, but only a quarter (25%) maintained a CPD portfolio. Female pharmacists were more likely to maintain a CPD portfolio. Less than half of respondents (42%) indicated that sanctions should be in place for pharmacists who do not engage in CPD. Conclusion Overall, there was support for the concept of CPD but considerable variation was observed in the level of participation. A support system to encourage participation was favoured over sanctions for those pharmacists who did not engage in CPD.

Continuing professional development of physicians in Uruguay: Lessons from a countrywide experience

This article describes the advancement of continuing professional development (CPD) for physicians in Uruguay and explains the motivations for a CPD system, the role of the faculty of medicine and the other stakeholders, the strategic goals, and current results, including strengths and weaknesses. The work described here had three strategic objectives: (1) initiate a CPD accreditation program, (2) train physician leaders in CPD, and (3) promote the creation of a national system for CPD. By the end of 2006, the accreditation program had 34 accredited institutions. Over a 10-year period, 150 physician leaders from different regions of the country and with different specialties had been trained in the framework and methodological issues of CPD. Legislation is expected to be introduced into parliament during 2007 for coordinating CPD efforts at a national level.

An evaluation of a national scheme for continuing professional development (CPD) for career grade doctors: the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health's programme for paediatricians evaluated by focus group methodology

To evaluate a national continuing professional development (CPD) scheme through the views and experiences of its participants. A qualitative focus group methodology was used. Forty-nine career grade paediatricians were allocated to nine focus groups according to their work settings, ages and posts. All groups discussed the following: (a) ease or difficulty of achieving CPD requirements; (b) whether a personal professional development plan (PDP) enabled the planning process for CPD; (c) whether CPD participation facilitated changes in practice, and (d) their views on the CPD system in operation at the time of the study. Taking part in CPD had a positive effect on participants' clinical practice and broadened their professional and academic base. The main difficulties in achieving CPD were variable financial support (especially for non-consultant staff) and pressure due to extra work accumulating during study leave. The quality of internal CPD meetings was inconsistent. A professional development plan was useful for planning CPD needs, but there was a conflict between the educational and training needs of the individual and the employing NHS Trusts. The scheme's guidelines were clear but there were reservations about its layout and the system of recording points. This study enabled discovery of the views of paediatricians participating in a national CPD scheme operated by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Consequently, changes were made to the scheme's presentation (but not content) and process of recording points. Barriers to achieving CPD requirements were identified and are being monitored. Efforts to involve non-consultant career grade paediatricians have been increased.