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Letters to the Editor
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CPD
Retyping information is tedious and time-consuming
From Mr G. J. Weaver, MRPharmS
I have a home computer and no internet connection. I fully endorse the
principle of continuing professional development. My view is that it
involves no more work than I have been undertaking voluntarily all my
working life. For my own convenience, and for the sake of uniformity,
I have adopted the Royal Pharmaceutical Society format for recording
topics and information, ie, reflection, planning, action and evaluation.
From time to time I receive authorised CPD records of completion of open
learning packs.
I believe it is reasonable to assume that the majority of pharmacists
record notes, or precis what they have read, and adopt a comparable approach.
Reading The Journal, I conclude that the gist of the Society’s
targets regarding CPD are that pharmacists aim for 30 hours of CPD a
year and use the Society’s CPD website login once a month.
It seems to me an extremely tedious and time-consuming chore to be expected
to type, word by word, all the material, or a summary of it, that I have
recorded on my home computer. I have no objection to putting dots in
little numbered circles if it helps the Society to collate data and I
have no objection to following the reflection, planning, action and evaluation
format.
What I want to see incorporated on the CPD website is an option on the
menu page, or an icon, that enables me, having made my first essential
CPD entries, to scan my written evidence into the site, with dates completed,
and go home.
It would be even better if schools of pharmacy allocate a monthly day
or evening in their computer facilities, which I am confident would provide
an objective marker for pharmacists and motivate compliance with Society
ideology.
Can this be done? I look forward to replies and opinions.
G. J. Weaver
Bath
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FRED AYLING, CPD officer, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, replies:
It may be helpful to clarify what Mr Weaver describes as the Society’s
targets. It is intended to drop the 30 hours continuing education from
the next edition of the Medicines Ethics and Practice Guide. Mr Weaver
is correct to state that the Society has provided guidance to the effect
that pharmacists should aim to record about one CPD entry a month. This
is based on the behaviour of pharmacists within the Society’s
CPD pilot. The Society will be looking for a number of qualities within
a
CPD record, close to those listed in Appendix 6 to its CPD Plan and
Record. Much of the information that will be required to measure these
qualities
effectively will need to be conveyed in writing. A few well constructed
sentences should be sufficient to address the questions in the record
system.
It will not be possible for pharmacists to convey all the qualities
of their CPD by ticking boxes or by monthly attendance at a recording
session. The scanning
of handwriting into a database is fraught with technical difficulties and
itself may be time-consuming for the pharmacist user. Once pharmacists
are familiar
with the CPD recording format it should take about 30 minutes to record
one CPD entry. A commitment of 30 minutes a month to documentation
of CPD seems reasonable.
Again, this is based on the pattern and level of recording established
by pharmacists themselves within the CPD pilot. |
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal