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Letters to the Editor
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Continuing professional development (CPD)
What exactly is required of me?
From Dr J. C. Gilbert, MRPharmS
I have received a letter about continuing professional development,
dated January 2006, from Hemant Patel and I seek further clarification
from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
The information that I have read on CPD seems to treat our “profession” as
a homogenous group. However, we are distinctly heterogeneous. A minority
of us work within the pharmaceutical industry. Even within this subset,
pharmacists have a huge variety of roles. I, for instance, work within
the commercial business development function of a start-up pharmaceutical
company. It is clear that my job could be performed equally as well by
a non-pharmacist. This is the same for many other roles within the pharmaceutical
industry. The job does, however, require that I keep abreast of scientific,
clinical and commercial advances that are pertinent to my company’s
business.
I therefore seek guidance from the Society as to what exactly it is that
I must do successfully to complete my CPD requirements that is in some
way linked to my day-to-day role?
I would like to remain on the Register. However, I am yet to be convinced
that I can do this unless someone can explain succinctly what is required
of me.
Julian Gilbert
Steeple Morden,
Cambridgeshire
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PETER WILSON, head of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s post-registration
division, replies:
We recognise the heterogeneity in the profession and
the Society’s continuing professional development framework has
been designed specifically to accommodate this. The CPD materials supplied
to members have been tested and used successfully by pharmacists in
all major sectors of the profession, including industry.
The correspondent states that he needs to keep abreast of scientific,
clinical and commercial advances in his company’s business. This
learning is part of his daily work and should form the basis for entries
in his CPD record. Each entry can be completed by responding to the
questions in the recording framework. Pharmacists, on average, complete
one CPD
entry per month. |
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal