Studying for Continuing Professional Development in Health

A Guide for Professionals

Kym Fraser

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2009
• eBook ISBN:
  9781135267209
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Counseling in Career Development

Becoming a student again can be a daunting prospect, particularly if it has been a while. Written specifically for health care professionals undertaking continuing professional development and for those starting a health care degree, this book covers the key skills that underpin effective study, including time management, writing drafts and seeking feedback.

With three student case studies based in health care settings to illustrate examples, the book shows how experience can aid learning and how learning can be used to improve practice in the workplace. The book covers the vital issues that students will face including chapters on:

• preparing to study - which includes help on choosing a course, negotiating your study needs with family and friends, developing a study time table and organising your place of study
• study management and learning - how we can choose the ways in which we learn using different strategies and resources depending on what we want to achieve
• study skills - focussing on the key elements of studying: writing assignments; preparing for exams; learning online; working online and working in groups. The book discusses how to undertake successful university study.

Studying for Continuing Professional Development in Health is a highly practical text, which will be an invaluable resource for health professionals entering higher education for the first time or returning after a long break.

1
Preparing to study

Learning outcomes By the end of this chapter readers are expected to be able to: • identify different types of continuing professional development (CPD) • articulate reasons for choosing a particular type of CPD, and • identify questions to ask a course teacher before enrolling in a course.

Introduction

Health care professionals (HCPs) engage in continuing professional development (CPD) as a matter of course throughout their careers. On a day-to-day basis CPD can be as informal as learning on the job by watching colleagues or reading professional journals and magazines. Regularly the CPD in which we engage is more formal; for example supervision of our work by a colleague, attending workshops and enrolling in accredited courses. While formal CPD is the focus of this book, the ideas of learning that we discuss can equally be applied to the informal CPD in which we regularly engage.

Enrolling in an accredited course, regardless of the level or length of commitment that is required, can be daunting. Any course that we take will require a commitment, not just from us but often from our families and our employers. In this chapter I want to discuss that commitment in terms of the reasons for enrolling in a course, impact on family, and the impact on us as individuals.

Preparing to undertake formal CPD

When it comes to learning, we have choices and it really helps to know what those choices are so we can make conscious decisions about how we plan to engage with CPD. Believe it or not, the reasons why we undertake formal CPD can influence the ways in which we choose to engage with the course; they can influence the ways in which we choose to learn. Reasons for engaging in CPD include:

• we need a particular qualification to remain in our current position or to move into another position

• we want to learn new skills in order to improve our practice

• we want to improve our understanding in order to improve our practice, and

• our employer wants us to enrol in a specific CPD course.

This isn’t an exhaustive list and it is highly likely that more than one reason underpins our choosing to study. Put simply, if we enrol in a course because we need the qualification, and we aren’t particularly concerned with what we learn from the course, we may choose to put in a minimum effort just to pass the course. We can choose to memorise information, knowing that while this is quicker than learning for understanding, it is unlikely that we will remember this information much past the assessment of the course. On the other hand, if we want to enhance our understanding and learn new skills, then we will need to study in such a way that we can make sense of the course, for example by applying new ideas to our work environment, choosing our assignment topics so that they can influence the work that we do, and so on. Different ways of learning is the topic of Chapter 3. There is nothing wrong with being strategic about how you choose to study. What’s important is that you know that there are different ways to learn and that there are pros and cons with each way.

Choosing the course that is right for you

So what sort of CPD makes sense for you at this time in your life? The reasons why we want to undertake CPD will help us to choose the CPD opportunity that will be of most use to us. Table 1.1 shows a range of possibilities, from enrolling in a master’s level course through to having a company representative demonstrate a new product. If it makes sense for you to take a course, and you have determined the level (non-accredited/accredited/postgraduate/undergraduate level), you may find that there are numerous options from which you can choose. Your time is precious and it is important to check out the alternatives so that you choose the course that is most relevant and useful to you. There are some common factors to look for in a course, regardless of the level of course. Are there clear opportunities for you to seek the support of teachers? Will the assessment help you to learn and to apply information to your work context? Is there a mix of learning opportunities provided (e.g. group work, case studies, lectures, etc.)? It is worth investigating a couple of courses to determine which one suits you best. Course descriptions and frequently asked questions (FAQs) are usually provided on the institution’s website.

Table 1.1 Different reasons for undertaking continual professional development (CPD) can influence the type of CPD that may be relevant

Reason for undertaking CPD	Type of CPD that may be appropriate
Promotion requires a particular qualification – e.g. a master’s degree.	University-accredited courses or courses from the relevant professional body. Talk with colleagues about their experiences of courses available and select one that suits your requirements.
Need to learn a discrete skill, or a discrete set of information – e.g. a about a new drug.	A practical workshop; a meeting with company representative; one-to-one demonstration from a peer; supervision etc.
Need to understand a substantial area of information and skills and demonstrate that you have that understanding.	Assessed undergraduate or postgraduate level, accredited course or module; a series of interrelated workshops; professional journal articles or books combined with supervision.
Requirement for your practice, such as a Nursing and Midwifery Council requirement.	Accredited course.

Advice from colleagues can be invaluable. In particular, colleagues who have taken a course in which you are considering enrolling can comment knowledgeably on the course and the teaching of the course (refer to the section ‘Ways teachers help students to learn’ in Chapter 3 to see the sorts of things that constitute good teaching practice). I also suggest taking the time to talk with the course director or teacher. Talk with them about any aspects that you want insight into. Find out what their role is and what support they can provide you with to help you to complete the course successfully. You may want to find out how much study time you will need each week, what resources are provided, what the assessments are and what equipment you might need (for example a computer with internet access). You might also ask to be put in touch with a recent student of the course. It will be your precious time and effort that you spend on the course. A little ‘homework’ in choosing the right course can make the world of difference to your learning experience.

Time commitment and support

Completing a CPD course takes time and effort. Even if our employer provides time to attend the workshop/course, we will need to devote our own time to complete the assessments and study requirements. Doing so is often at the cost of spending time with family and friends or pursuing other activities. It’s highly likely that your own time already has many demands placed upon it. For example, you may have family responsibilities such as shopping for an elderly parent, your share of household responsibilities (cooking/cleaning/grocery shopping/bill paying and so on), child care, etc. To enrol in a course of study, you will need periods of uninterrupted time when you feel able to study and you may well need to negotiate support to make this time available. (This aspect is discussed further in Chapter 2.)

Having chosen to do a course that will require commitment of your own time outside of work, it’s important to involve the people in your life if you anticipate needing their support and understanding. Do the people in your life who can support you:

• know why you are taking the course?

• understand how much time you will need each week to devote to this work?, and

• know what you need from them in order for you to succeed?

Before undertaking a course it is useful to articulate the reasons for studying, the barriers to studying and ways to engage family and friends in helping you to successfully complete the course.

Ourselves as learners

Confidence and motivation are keys to learning, as they are to most things in life. Sometimes our confidence about learning is low ...

Table of contents

• Contents
• Figures
• Tables
• Author and contributors
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 Preparing to study
• 2 Study management
• 3 Learning
• 4 Concept mapping
• 5 Writing
• 6 Preparing for and taking exams
• 7 Learning online
• 8 Working in groups
• 9 Final words
• Notes
• References
• Index