Objectives. The purpose of this study was to examine pharmacists' attitudes, behaviors, and preferences towards continuous professional development in Ontario, Canada. Methods. A series of 11 focus group sessions were undertaken with groups of 4 to 5 different pharmacists participating in the Ontario College of Pharmacists' Quality Assurance and Peer Review Process Learning Portfolio session. During these sessions, extensive field notes were compiled and verified with participants. Following all sessions, field notes were transcribed and analyzed thematically using a qualitative data analysis method. Results. Four key themes were identified: (1) definitions and conceptions of continuous professional development (CPD) and continuing education (CE); (2) evolution from a CE to a CPD paradigm; (3) workplace learning as a vehicle for CPD; and (4) the role of peers in enabling CPD. Conclusions. In this study, pharmacists had an opportunity to discuss attitudes, personal behaviors, and preferences regarding CPD and CE. Participants expressed ambivalence towards CPD and were concerned about their lack of skills in self-identification of learning needs and vehicles by which this could be addressed. Participants agreed that workplace learning is a pivotal yet underemphasized component of CPD, and that peer-support is vital in adopting a CPD paradigm.

Objective. To develop a Professional Skills Enhancement Workshop (PSEW) to assist practitioners who require skills training to maintain competency and meet new standards of practice. Participants for this workshop were identified as those pharmacists who completed the peer review assessment process and who did not meet standards of practice expectations. Design. The full-day workshop consists of a half-day introduction to use of clinical drug information resources and approaches to addressing practice-based questions. The second part of the workshop introduces participants to the use of structured patient-interviewing techniques to elicit information using standardized patients. Participants in the workshop completed self-assessments as well as course evaluations. Subsequent to completion of the course, participants rechallenged the peer review assessment process, a test of their clinical skills consisting of a written test of clinical knowledge and an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), to provide objective evidence of skills acquisition. Assessment. Over 90% of participants ''agreed'' or ''strongly agreed'' that the PSEW was helpful in reacquainting them with current standards of professional practice. Sixty-nine percent of participants who completed the peer review assessment rechallenge process following completion of the course were able to meet standards of practice expectations. Conclusions. In developing continuous professional development programs, first identifying the needs of all practitioners is essential. The PSEW provides one model for skills training for practitioners who, for a variety of reasons, may not have maintained the expected level of competency.

This article is an expanded version of a workshop given at the SAPHE 'Learning toLearn" conference in Bristol, 30 June I998. It is written by two students and a tutor at the Department of Social Work Studies at the University of Southampton. The paper describes our experiences of preparing to manage effectively the different teaching, learning and assessment styles within the MSc/Diploma in Social Work Studies. It uses the idea of "readiness to learn" to understand and frame some of those experiences.