South African health practitioners’ patterns of CPD practices – implications for maintenance of licensure

Continuing professional development in Eswatini: Factors affecting medical practitioners’ participation

“…12 Firstly, it is important to recognise that adults need to be involved in the planning and evaluation of their learning activities to ensure that CPD activities are self-directed and learner-driven. 9,12 The sentiment amongst the practitioners of personal interests not being well addressed by current activities supports this assertion and that they are not involved in topic identification as those covered were not perceived to be relevant to their practice. Secondly, experience provides an important basis for learning, this being evident when participants expressed a need to improve their patient management when dealing with a similar case as a motivation for attending CPD activities.…”

“…20 With regard to personal interest and learning needs, participants expressed a motivation to participate in a CPD activity that would answer particular clinical questions they might have which is in keeping with the literature on participation in such activities. 8,9 This intrinsic motivation for learning should lead to greater self-exploration, discovery and reflection, all of which are important components of deep learning. Some of the CPD activities in Eswatini are hospital based (such as journal clubs/teaching ward rounds), making it more practice-based than those run by pharmaceutical companies, which are usually related to their products.…”

“…The lack of reward emerged as a theme in the data that is in keeping with the need to improve their financial position or status by engaging in CPD activities. 8 , 9 However, if participation is based solely on financial reward as a motivation, learning is likely to be superficial, where practitioners do not go beyond the acquisition of knowledge and may make no attempt to understand facts or put then into practice. 18 When developing a compulsory CPD programme in Eswatini, addressing both the incentives and the disincentives to participate are important.…”

“…Based on the literature, there are five broad categories of motivations as to why medical practitioners participate in CPD activities. 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 These include: (1) the expectation to be knowledgeable and up-to-date, (2) a topic of interest, (3) to improve behaviour or skills learned, (4) to learn more about a specific condition, and (5) the need for social contact with other practitioners and to escape from the daily work routines. 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 Irrespective of the motivating factor, for learning to be effective it must be based on sound educational principles.…”

Continuous Professional Development for Public Sector Pharmacists in South Africa: A Case Study of Mapping Competencies in a Pharmacists’ Preceptor Programme

“…The new regulations make the annual completion of six CPD entries mandatory for annual re-registration. In comparison, most other health professions in South Africa use a CE-based credit system that requires the accumulation of a specified number of hours of training for the re-registration of health practitioners [ 11 ]. Subsequently, most lifelong learning activities which are available in South Africa have been designed and accredited for a CE system.…”