The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7194 p543
20 April 2002

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  Supervision
  Checking technicians
  Drug-herb interactions
  NHS
  Community pharmacy
  Hospital pharmacy
  Prison pharmacy
  The Profession
  Wholesaling
  CPD
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  The Society

Letters to the Editor

CPD

Professional development does not end with registration

From Mr P. I. Herman, MRPharmS

I must point out that in a letter I submitted to The Journal recently (PJ, 2 March, p287) the word "continuing" was substituted for "compulsory" before the words "professional development". Recent responses to that letter may have arisen as a result of this editorial error.

I stress that I do not believe that professional development ends or should end with acceptance on to the Register of Pharmaceutical Chemists.

Peter Herman
London W1

Undertaking CPD is easier than you think

From Mr A. Nathan, FRPharmS

Peter Jenkins (PJ, 6 April, p465) demonstrates a complete misconception of what continuing professional development is but at the same time provides perfect illustrations of it. Your title for his letter — "Fit the courses to the horses" — encapsulates his argument that pharmacists need to tailor their learning to their specific job or role, and that knowledge is often acquired from sources and by means other than the formal learning that is normally regarded as continuing education, and he is quite correct in saying this.

He is also right to say that the knowledge required by a community pharmacist differs from that of a pharmaceutical adviser, and in so doing is illustrating one of the principles of CPD — that learning is tailored by the individual to their specific needs. He is wrong, however, in thinking that pharmacists who "attend all possible events on almost any subject" are examples of best practice. In fact they may be just the opposite if they are not reflecting on what their educational and developmental needs are, and are just doing anything and everything that comes their way.

Mr Jenkins appears to understand what CPD is about without realising it, and I am sure that there are many pharmacists like him.

CPD is simply a process of formal recognition and recording of what most pharmacists probably already do intuitively to keep their knowledge up to date and maintain their competence. And, once the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's scheme is up and running and they have joined it, I am sure that they will find it easier than they think.

Alan Nathan
London N21

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