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The COVID-19 pandemic created an environment where the majority of continuing medical education (CME) and continuing professional development (CPD) activities needed to be delivered digitally. Producing digital materials for 16 separate learning activities (four learning journeys for each of four topic areas) in 2021 provided challenges and raised points of interest and discussion for a small, Italy-based provider of CME and CPD. This study presents outcome metrics from four live, interactive webinars. A variety of promotional efforts, including the strategic use of social media, generated interest and participation; feedback from the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education standard questionnaire to participants provided rates of satisfaction; subject knowledge and self-reported competence was measured by responses to pre- and post-event and follow-up (after 3 months) questionnaires. Post-event analysis of processes prompted introspection on the learning journey outcomes and methods of analysis. This paper discusses these observations, including potential innovations for future activities (e.g. reconfiguring the e-learning platform to capture time spent on learning activities), and also discusses issues in learner behaviour that impact CME provision and evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reiterates the importance of the role of multisource feedback (MSF) in continuing medical education/continuing professional development (CME/CPD) and its impact on doctors' performance and patient experience globally. It summarises a unique initiative of robust utilisation of internationally recognised multisource feedback tools in an outpatient child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) in Qatar. The process involved the effective adoption and administering of the General Medical Council's (GMC) self-assessment questionnaire (SQ), patient questionnaire (PQ), and colleague questionnaire (CQ) followed by the successful incorporation of these tools in CME/CPD. The original version of the PQ questionnaire and the instructions to the patient document were translated into Arabic through the blind back-translation technique. This initiative of introducing gold-standard MSF tools and processes into clinical practice, among other quality-improvement projects, has contributed to the improvement of service standards and doctors' clinical practice. Patient satisfaction was measured through the annual patient experience analysis using the Experience of Service Questionnaire (ESQ) whereas changes in doctors' performance were evaluated by comparing annual appraisal scores before and after implementation of this initiative. We have demonstrated that when MSF is obtained impartially and transparently using recognised and valid tools, it can improve patient experience and enhance doctors' performance [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:There is worldwide interest in improving the effectiveness of teachers and teaching. This paper considers two strands of that interest. It revisits the impact of using enhanced feedback from teachers to pupils as a way of improving attainment, and it looks at the feasibility of teachers using research evidence to create their own interventions. Current evidence on the causal impact of effective feedback on learning is unclear: many studies have mixed results, are small in scale, lack randomisation or are not conducted in real classroom conditions.Purpose:The aim of this paper is to describe the experience of schools as they engage with research evidence to support their own enquiry into the effectiveness of feedback in the classroom.Research design:This study took place over one academic year, involving nine treatment schools in one local authority. The study involved teachers themselves using research findings to create an intervention, which took, as its focus, enhanced feedback in the classroom. Test results from these schools were compared to the results in 5 participating comparator schools, to the 49 other schools in the borough and to all state-funded primary schools in England.Results:Although teachers showed that they could engage with research evidence, the study indicated that the process was complex in practice. In addition, the independent impact evaluation suggested that enhanced feedback in itself does not necessarily lead to improved pupil test performance.Discussion and conclusions:The paper considers some of the challenges faced by teachers as they attempted to use research evidence, and discusses implications for schools wishing to use research evidence in practice. The findings of the study suggest that it may be feasible for practitioners to use research evidence to inform their own practice. However, to do it well would require clearer guidance, professional development and modelling of any strategies suggested. These findings have implications for policy on teacher development, and for the research community to make research outputs more comprehensible and accessible to research users. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The European Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Research in Continuing Professional Development (UPGRADE) is a pan-European network of researchers, clinicians, regulators, educators, and professional bodies, established in 2020 through a consensus group of experts, who defined its mission, vision, values, aims and objectives. The Centre's aim is to advance the science of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for healthcare professionals through research and dissemination of best practices for CPD. Debate among UPGRADE partners and interchange of research data will yield best practices across countries to optimise quality CPD programmes. Collaboration, information exchange and communication among CPD experts will be facilitated through UPGRADE via an online Community of Inquiry (CoI). UPGRADE aims to evolve as a driving force network of academics and health professional leaders in research, education, professional regulation, and clinical practice whose collaborative work ensures quality and safe person-centred care. UPGRADE members are from 22 European countries, represented by strategic leaders in diverse sectors of health, policy, academia, and professional organisations. Three research-working groups constitute the pillars of UPGRADE, which addresses gaps in research, collect and create critical databases, and solidify the effectiveness of CPD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Patient care depends on collaborative practice. Debate remains as to the best approach to providing education for collaboration, with educational interventions often far removed from the realities of the clinical workplace. Understanding the approaches used for collaboration in clinical practice could inform practical strategies for training. For internal medicine trainees, this involves collaboration with other professions but also with other specialties. This study aimed to explore the approaches that internal medicine trainees use for interprofessional collaboration and the ways that these approaches vary when internal medicine trainees interact with different healthcare provider groups. Methods: Following ethical approval and participant consent, interprofessional communication workshops between August 2020 and March 2021 were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Workshops involved groups of internal medicine trainees discussing collaboration challenges and the approaches they use in clinical practice. This framework analysis study used the interprofessional collaboration framework described by Bainbridge and Regehr (building social capital, perspective taking and negotiating priorities and resources), and cross-referenced the categorised data with the healthcare groups that trainees collaborate with, to look for patterns in the data. Results: Seventeen workshops, involving 100 trainees, were included. Trainees described relationship building, perspective taking and negotiating priorities and resources. Relationship building was a modification to the original framework domain of building social capital. Themes of power and civility transcended domains with evidence of using hierarchy as leverage when negotiating and employing civility as a tactical approach throughout. Discussion: This bi-dimensional analysis highlights patterns of perspective taking when collaborating with other specialties and professions, and the approaches to negotiation of courting favour and coercion when interacting with other specialties. This study provides evidence of the strategies currently utilised by internal medicine trainees, with different healthcare groups, and presents a modified framework which could inform the development of training for collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: At the present time, higher education institutions dealing with education for public health in Europe and beyond are faced with a complex and comprehensive task of responding to global health challenges. Review: Literature reviews in public health and global health and exploration of internet presentations of regional and global organisations dealing with education for public health were the main methods employed in the work presented in this paper. Higher academic institutions are searching for appropriate strategies in competences-based education, which will increase the global attractiveness of their academic programmes and courses for continuous professional development. Academic professionals are taking advantage of blended learning and new web technologies. In Europe and beyond they are opening up debates about the scope of public health and global health. Nevertheless, global health is bringing revitalisation of public health education, which is recognised as one of the core components by many other academic institutions involved in global health work. More than ever, higher academic institutions for public health are recognising the importance of institutional partnerships with various organisations and efficient modes of cooperation in regional and global networks. Networking in a global setting is bringing new opportunities, but also opening debates about global harmonisation of competence-based education to achieve functional knowledge, increase mobility of public health professionals, better employability and affordable performance. Conclusions: As public health opportunities and threats are increasingly global, higher education institutions in Europe and in other regions have to look beyond national boundaries and participate in networks for education, research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Writing, implementing and evaluating a literacy programme is challenging particularly when the intervention is multi-faceted. In relation to literacy content, certain features have been shown to improve reading attainment (e.g. a systematic phonics programme); however, advice on how to integrate these strands into a whole is less clear. Furthermore, the success of an intervention is arguably as dependent on teacher quality as the literacy components. Evaluation of multi-faceted interventions can fail to explore the relative effects of different elements, whereas single strand interventions may be easier to measure but they can be atypical. It was with these thoughts in mind that the authors developed a literacy programme in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Purpose: The paper evaluates the impact of a two-year literacy programme on attainment in reading and spelling. Programme description: The literacy programme ‘Think About It’ incorporated three strands: phonemic awareness and phonics instruction (strand 1), the development of semantic cueing systems (strand 2) and the use of metacognitive strategies to improve decoding and comprehension (metacomprehension, strand 3). The intervention was supported by continuing professional development, consultation and curriculum materials, parental involvement and by the deployment of early years' workers. Sample: The study took place in a socio-economically deprived local authority in Central Scotland. Sixteen mainstream primary schools in rural and urban areas took part in the intervention, which targeted children in their first two years of school (ages five and six). A random sample of children from each intervention class in the 16 pilot schools was assessed yearly. Additionally a random comparison sample of 10 children came from each class in the year previous to the intervention. Over the period of the study, approximately 480 intervention children were assessed. Design and methods: The study used a cross-sectional design over a period of four years, with standardised measures in each year. Each of the three intervention groups started in ensuing years. The longest established of these received the intervention for two years and were followed up for the next two years. The others followed this pattern as far as they were able. Because of the longitudinal nature of the study, the measures were not the same across all the years – they were changed to match the development of the children's reading skills. Questionnaires were used with staff to assess their views of the intervention. Results: Children's attainments in word reading, spelling and reading comprehension were significantly improved as result of the intervention. This was true not only at the end of the intervention, but at follow-up one and two years later. Conclusion: The intervention (of phonemic awareness and phonic instruction, the development of semantic and syntactical cueing systems, and the development of metacognitive strategies) was evidence based and did appear to work. The intervention was multi-faceted, but the relative efficacy of these different resource components is unknown. Recommendations for practice and future research are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is limited access to life-saving antenatal ultrasound in rural and low-resource settings largely due to shortages in skilled staff. Studies have shown healthcare practitioners can be upskilled in PoCUS through focused training, offering a viable solution to this deficit. However, standards for training and competency assessment are unclear and regulation surrounding practice is lacking. We aimed to review published literature examining antenatal PoCUS training programs, comparing teaching approaches and study methodologies. A search of electronic databases EMBASE, MEDLINE and Google Scholar was conducted. Original research articles evaluating antenatal PoCUS training of healthcare professionals worldwide were identified for analysis. Articles with limited detail on the PoCUS training intervention and those describing comprehensive diagnostic training programs were excluded. Evaluations were compared against the Kirkpatrick Evaluation Framework (KEF). Twenty-seven studies were included from an initial search result of 484 articles. There was considerable heterogeneity between the PoCUS training programs described. Course duration ranged from 3 hours to 2 years, with 11 of the 27 studies delivering obstetric-exclusive content. 44% trained multidisciplinary groups of health professionals. Long-term follow-up training and skills assessments were lacking in over half of the reviewed studies. Study quality and reporting detail varied, but overall beneficial outcomes were reported with 3/4s of the studies reaching upper KEF levels 3 and 4. PoCUS performed by upskilled healthcare professionals offers an attractive solution to the problem of inequitable access to antenatal ultrasound. A review of available literature highlighted a paucity of comparable high-quality studies needed to establish a stronger evidence base for antenatal PoCUS, and a need to standardise training and competency assessment. This review may inform educators, researchers and policy-makers on existing training formats and methodologies to assist in establishing best practice antenatal PoCUS training methods for safe service delivery by remote healthcare professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Equipping paediatricians for the challenges of the explosive development of knowledge and specialised health care calls for a well-planned continuing professional development (CPD) strategy which updates paediatric competencies and the pedagogic skills among paediatricians. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of a pedagogic course, integrated into a CPD programme for paediatricians at out-patient clinics. The pedagogic course comprised three learning components, participation in a CPD programme, during two and a half years, a pedagogic learning module and a pedagogic assignment. The objectives of all the learning activities, including the pedagogic course, were developed according to adult learning theories. Evaluations were made using questionnaires. Seventeen paediatricians participated in the CPD programme; 13 of them completed the pedagogic learning module and six the full pedagogic course, including the pedagogic assignment – teaching at one's own clinic. Evaluation of the pedagogic assignment at the participants' own clinics by 64 co-workers revealed that the co-workers appreciated the training activities and would recommend them to a colleague. We conclude that it is possible to combine medical and pedagogic education in a CPD programme for paediatricians and that the participants were able to digest and apply the pedagogic principles used in the course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left many ex-republics in a financial and administrative crisis for the ensuing two decades. Previously centralised processes like recertification of doctors and healthcare workers and continuing medical education fell by the wayside. Continuing medical education and continuing professional development in Armenia have evolved through multiple phases from Soviet, to immediate, mid and late-transitional post-Soviet periods, to current modernising efforts. This manuscript describes the phases of evolution of continuing medical education chronologically and details the legislative and regulatory framework surrounding each stage of development. Armenia is currently implementing a credit system of continuing medical education with the aim to introduce and adopt new and efficient approaches in this field. Continuing education credits fall into three categories: didactic or theoretical knowledge, practical skills and self-education/self-development. To recertify, professionals must collect credits from all three groups with specified minimum amounts according to their degrees. Armenia's guiding principle is to harmonise the continuing medical education and professional development model with internationally accepted criteria in order to contribute to the international mobility of healthcare workers and to provide for true on-going professional development and knowledge that will benefit our doctors, nurses and above all our patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physicians commit themselves always to act in the best interests of their patients, and this includes their approach to continuing medical education (CME) as well as continuing professional development (CPD). For many years professional codes, and in some countries also the civil law, have defined that CME/CPD must be independent of commercial interests. Over the last few decades, numerous bodies have introduced CME/CPD accreditation to ensure that the planning and conduct of CME/CPD follows a set of defined standards, with independence of commercial interests as one of the leading principles. Recently industry has proposed that it be accepted by accrediting bodies as a direct provider of accredited CME-CPD. Such a move would not only open the door to the introduction of an inevitable bias in CME/CPD but would jeopardise the professional standing of physicians. Accreditation of CME/CPD currently serves several different purposes, but its credibility depends on whether it can retain its ability to differentiate independent CME/CPD from the provision of commercially framed information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lifelong learning through continuing professional development (CPD) and medical education is critical for healthcare professionals to stay abreast of knowledge and skills and provide an optimal standard of care to patients. In Europe, CPD and medical education are fragmented as there are numerous models, providers and national regulations and a lack of harmonisation of qualitative criteria. There is continued debate on the appropriate role of pharmaceutical companies in the context of medical education. Accrediting bodies such as European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education do not permit active involvement of the pharmaceutical industry due to concerns around conflicts of interest and potential for bias. However, many examples of active collaboration between pharmaceutical companies and medical societies and scientific experts exist, demonstrating high integrity, clear roles and responsibilities, and fair and balanced content. Medical education experts from 16 pharmaceutical companies met to develop a set of quality principles similar to standards that have been established for clinical trials and in alignment with existing principles of accrediting bodies. This paper outlines their proposal for a framework to improve and harmonise medical education quality standards in Europe, and is also an invitation for all stakeholders to join a discussion on this integrative model. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Interprofessional patient-centred collaboration in healthcare is necessary for the effective management of chronic diseases. Continuing professional development (CPD) programmes that offer a platform for healthcare professionals of different disciplines to convene and learn together may function as an effective platform to both foster greater collaboration between them and increase awareness of patient perspectives. We report on our learnings from organising the PARTNER programme – a CPD initiative on the management of psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis – that targeted both specialists (comprising rheumatologists and dermatologists) and primary care. After participating in the programme, learners demonstrated a stronger intent to collaborate with each other and a heightened awareness of patient perspectives. However, changes at a practice level could not be evaluated due to the lack of substantial follow-up data. Our experience offers useful insights as to the effectiveness and limitations of organising CPD programmes to promote interprofessional collaboration and patient-centred care. The role of such programmes in the management of chronic diseases, and their ideal format, should be further explored as they have potential to effect change in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Values continue to play an integral part in education across the globe, but the importance of teachers’ personal values is often overlooked (Klein, M.B., New teaching and teacher issues, Nova Science Publishers Inc., 2006; Aspin, D.N., and J.D. Chapman, eds, Values education and lifelong learning: Principles, policies, programmes, Springer, 2007). It has been argued that teachers need explicit opportunities to reflect on their own personal and professional values to enable them to model what they ask of their students with integrity (Palmer, P.J., The courage to teach, Jossey Bass, 1998; Atkinson, T., and G. Claxton, The intuitive practitioner, Open University Press, 2000). Professional development is still often narrowly defined within the bounds of skills and competencies. However, discussion of values could help contribute to professional development by building teacher commitment and resilience. Objective: The purpose of this research was to explore the intrinsic values of secondary school professionals and the publicly espoused values of the educational systems in which they work. This research is the result of a two-year funded empirical study carried out by the authors in secondary schools in England. Research design: Research was undertaken in five schools in a range of educational contexts. In each school, individual conversations were undertaken with six key professionals with different roles to elicit personal constructs or values. These values were discussed within schools and formed a school's ‘values footprint’. An interschool workshop completed the data collection. Data were analysed qualitatively. Main outcomes: Qualitative analysis suggested relationships between the professional roles of the participants and predominant values themes. There were also connections between school types and predominating values. Four key themes emerged from the individual and group conversations: importance of dialogue; recognition of the importance of self-awareness; the priority of learning for life and the influence of professional roles on an individual's values focus. Conclusion: This small-scale study supports the importance of dialogue and self-awareness in professional life and ongoing professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article sets out to examine the role of teacher research and enquiry in the professional development of teachers. The context derives from the initiative of the Scottish Executive to enhance the status and working conditions of teachers. We consider the extent to which continuing professional development activities arising out of the Chartered Teacher Programme encourage teachers to value research, equip them to become research-minded and support them to engage in research and enquiry in their own professional contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]