Allied Health & Human Performance, The University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Podiatry Department, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
PLoS One. 2023 Sep 21;18(9):e0289217. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289217. eCollection 2023.
Non-medical prescribing is a valuable strategy to enable equitable access to medications in the context of the increasing demands on health services globally. Australian podiatrists have been able to seek endorsement for scheduled medicines (ESM) for over a decade. This project investigates the perceptions and habits of ESM podiatrists in meeting the extra continuing professional development (CPD) requirements associated with their ESM status.
Australian ESM podiatrists completed an anonymous, online survey capturing demographics; CPD engagement; and self-reflections of CPD activities.
Twenty percent (n = 33) of Australian ESM registered podiatrists (N = 167) responded to the survey (18 female; median ESM status 2.5 years, (IQR 1.0, 9.0)). For the previous registration period, 88% (n = 29) completed the mandatory CPD hours, with only 35% (n = 11) completing a CPD learning goal plan. Over 80% identified their last ESM CPD activity as accessible, affordable, and could recommend to colleagues. Conversely, 50% or less agreed the activity increased confidence; changed their practice; improved communication skills; or enabled networking. Most respondents (81%, n = 27) indicated improvements should be made to the content, relevance, accessibility, and meaningfulness of CPD. These findings were supported by responses to the open-ended questions.
Our findings suggest ESM podiatrists engage in CPD that is accessible rather than learning goal driven. Concerningly, CPD activities resulted in low translation of learnings to practice. This brings in to question the value of mandatory CPD systems based on minimum hours, rather than meaningfulness.
非医疗处方是在全球对医疗服务需求不断增加的情况下，实现药物公平获取的一项有价值的策略。澳大利亚足病医生获得有条件的药物（ESM）处方权已有十多年的历史。本项目研究了 ESM 足病医生在满足与 ESM 身份相关的额外持续专业发展（CPD）要求方面的看法和习惯。
澳大利亚 ESM 足病医生完成了一项匿名在线调查，内容包括人口统计学信息；CPD 参与情况；以及对 CPD 活动的自我反思。
20%（n = 33）的澳大利亚 ESM 注册足病医生（N = 167）对调查做出了回应（18 名女性；ESM 状态中位数为 2.5 年，（IQR 1.0，9.0））。在上一个注册周期内，88%（n = 29）完成了强制性 CPD 小时数，只有 35%（n = 11）完成了 CPD 学习目标计划。超过 80%的人认为他们最近的 ESM CPD 活动是可访问的、负担得起的，并可以推荐给同事。相反，50%或更少的人同意该活动增加了信心；改变了他们的实践；提高了沟通技巧；或使他们能够建立网络。大多数受访者（81%，n = 27）表示应该改进 CPD 的内容、相关性、可及性和意义。这些发现得到了对开放式问题的回应的支持。
我们的研究结果表明，ESM 足病医生从事的 CPD 是可访问的，而不是以学习目标为导向的。令人担忧的是，CPD 活动导致学习成果在实践中的转化程度较低。这使得基于最低小时数而不是意义的强制性 CPD 系统的价值受到质疑。
