Continuing Professional Development in Private Health Care Institutions
It is a common practice that individuals upgrade their skills even after they graduate.
They take up post graduate additional degree, certifications, and even aim for a doctoral
degree. This is important for them to be able to gain more knowledge and skills which
they can use in their profession. Being a healthcare professional is not exclusion to this
reality. There comes a point in a person’s life that an upgrade is necessary for the
benefit of yourself and your patients. It may be a difficult situation to come back to study
again after years of working and being out of school. The key is to study effectively,
manage your time and schedule between medical services work and school hours,
however difficult it may seem. After all, your sacrifices are not just for yourself but also
for others. There are some countries wherein medical professionals need to gain credit
points for them to retain their medical licences. Credit points can be gained through
conferences, seminars, courses and other related activities. The aim is for healthcare
professionals to have a continuous improvement and for them to be updated with
current healthcare advancements. A person’s workplace is considered as part of the
learning environment. As the healthcare professional works on a day to day basis, this
person continues to encounter similar and new incidences which can greatly improve
their skills. As the quality of hospitals and health centres improves continually,
professionals working at these areas are obliged to continually improve also. The cost
for gaining these additional knowledge and skills can either be shouldered by the health
professional himself or herself or the company where the health professional is working
for. Other companies offer to pay a percentage of the tuition for CPD courses. Some of
the CPD courses offered are for nurses, pharmacy technicians, pharmacists, radiologist,
clinical science lab practitioners and physicians. These individuals make sure they
attend conferences on a yearly basis to keep abreast with the current trends in health
industry. It is just similar to information technology that there are non-stop changes and
improvements every year or even every six months. If you are not aware of the
advancements, you will be left out. This is a kind of responsibility that one has to accept
wholeheartedly. This is an important strategy to improve resources and health industry
as well. Competence of health professionals would be highly improved through CPD.
For every individual, commitment and drive to succeed and to help is important.
Professional board from different countries also differ in the number of credits required
for healthcare professionals to attain on a yearly basis. Healthcare professionals may
include practitioners for emergency care, health and anaesthetist’s assistants, lab and
medical assistants, dentist’s assistants, medical orthodontist’s assistant, OT and PT
assistants, physiotherapy technicians and assistants, speech therapist’s assistant and
so on. CPD programme consists of medical, dental & clinical sciences in the following
specialties: anaesthesia, dental surgery, otolaryngology, family medicine, internal
medicine and more. Anaesthesia includes CPR, BLS, ALS, disaster management,
management of acid injuries. Dental Surgery includes dental emergencies, facial
trauma, oral manifestations of systemic diseases, common oral diseases,
diagnosis of dental pain, restorative dentistry. Otolaryngology includes foreign
bodies in ENT, management of epitasis, management of tonsillitis, emergencies in
ORL. Family Medicine includes the family in health and diseases, the place of family
physicians, management of terminally ill-patient. Internal medicine includes CVA,
asthmatic attacks, management of chest pains, diabetic emergencies, ECG, physical
examinations, management of poisonings, cardio vascular emergencies. obstetrics &
gynaecology includes management of obstetric emergencies, abortions, adolescent
reproductive health, post-abortion care, malaria in pregnancy, prevention of mother
to child HIV transmission, screening for gynaecological malignancies, contraceptive
technology – update. Psychiatry includes recognizing mental illness, neuropsychiatric
emergencies, clinical psychology, substance abuse. Pharmacology includes update in
pharmacology, rational drug use, ARV therapy. Public Health includes update in
management of killer diseases in malaria, tuberculosis and HIV, management of
epidemics, PHC, principles of infection prevention and control. Radiology includes
radiological anatomy, radiological findings in trauma, radiological findings in
infection. Orthopaedics includes principles of management of common fractures,
management of dislocations, assessment of spinal cord injuries. Paediatrics includes
classification and management of emergencies in new born, paediatric emergencies,
child survival strategies, management principles of preterm. Pathology includes
competency in laboratory procedures, quality control and assurance.
It should be each health professional’s motive to continually gain best practices and
remain competent in their chosen field. This would benefit one’s self, clients, patients,
colleagues, community, company you are working for, and even your country.
C A Brown. (2001). Cost effectiveness of continuing professional development in health care: a critical review of the evidence. Available: http://www.bmj.com/content/324/7338/652.full. Last accessed 15th July 2011.
Jody Urquhart. (2011). Health care Continuing Professional Development Conferences. Available: http://www.idoinspire.com/blog/bid/35038/Health-care-Continuing-Professional-Development-Conferences. Last accessed 15th July 2011.
webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. (2007). Continuing professional development. Available: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/www.dh.gov.uk/en/Managingyourorganisation/Workforce/EducationTrainingandDevelopment/PostRegistration/DH_4052507. Last accessed 15th July 2011.
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