Perceptions and satisfaction of a mandatory continuing professional development programme amongst Aotearoa New Zealand podiatrists

Abstract

Background Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) registered podiatrists are required to participate in a mandatory continuing professional development (CPD) programme. This study investigated podiatrist’s perceptions and satisfaction surrounding mandatory CPD requirements following the implementation of a new 2-year CPD programme. Methods A cross-sectional study of NZ registered podiatrists was conducted between October 9th and December 9th, 2020. Data was collected using a web-based survey. The 39-item survey included questions to elicit participant characteristics, perceptions of CPD, difficulties undertaking CPD, and satisfaction with the new CPD programme. The survey findings were reported using descriptive statistics and conventional content analysis. Results One hundred and thirty-four podiatrists completed the survey. Most respondents worked in private practice (n = 107, 80 %), were in full-time employment (n = 83, 62 %), and had greater than 16 years of work experience (n = 73, 54 %). Respondents agreed it was important to engage in CPD (n = 126, 94 %) and reported that knowledge gained from CPD contributed to their daily work (n = 78, 58 %). 44 % (n = 58) reported difficulties keeping up to date with CPD. The main barriers to CPD participation reported were workload (n = 90, 67 %) and lack of time (n = 84, 63 %). Three categories (understanding the CPD programme; access to CPD; and time to complete CPD) were identified from the qualitative analysis to describe why it was difficult to meet CPD requirements. Conclusions NZ podiatrists value CPD and are satisfied with most aspects of the mandatory CPD programme apart from the hours attributed to compulsory activities. The current approach to cultural safety CPD requires revision, with a move away from a time-based approach to a system that promotes an understanding and relevance to practice. Lack of time, practice workload, financial barriers, geographical location, and employment context were factors that influenced a practitioner’s ability to engage in CPD. Facilitation of CPD activities that are flexible to ensure relevance to the practitioner’s specific work within their scope of practice, and that can occur in the workplace environment, may address barriers and increase engagement with to CPD activities.

Continuing professional development opportunities for Australian endorsed for scheduled medicines podiatrists—What’s out there and is it accessible, relevant, and meaningful? A cross-sectional survey

“…The overarching message was improvements across several parameters could be made, including frequency, content, relevance, accessibility, and delivery, with respondents suggesting solutions for many of the concerns raised. The results of the current study support previous international findings that CPD is perceived to be beneficial by clinicians [ 20 , 28 , 40 – 45 ]. There were also similarities shared between our study and those reported elsewhere for frustrations with scarcity of specialised content, cost and available funding, time commitment required, and the lack of national infrastructure to support quality CPD [ 8 , 20 , 27 , 28 , 32 , 40 – 43 ].…”

“…The results of the current study support previous international findings that CPD is perceived to be beneficial by clinicians [ 20 , 28 , 40 – 45 ]. There were also similarities shared between our study and those reported elsewhere for frustrations with scarcity of specialised content, cost and available funding, time commitment required, and the lack of national infrastructure to support quality CPD [ 8 , 20 , 27 , 28 , 32 , 40 – 43 ].…”

“…Importantly, this section asked respondents to reflect on all the ESM CPD activities they had completed in the past 12 months and, on a 5-point Likert scale (where participants could indicate that they 'Strongly Agreed', 'Agreed', were 'Neutral', 'Disagreed' or 'Strongly Disagreed') rate their level of agreeance regarding ease of access, affordability, meaningfulness, relevance to scope of practice, improvement in knowledge, and translation to a change in prescribing practice. Questions were developed by the authorship group following a literature review of available relevant CPD surveys [20,[27][28][29][30][31][32] and discussion sessions with ESM podiatrists to ensure the construct was clearly understood. A final open-ended question was presented to participants asking them if they believed improvements could be made to the content, accessibility, relevance, and meaningfulness of CPD for ESM practitioners.…”

“…Mandatory CPD programs most commonly focus on hours completed and do not assess the content, nor quality of the activity undertaken. Several gaps in the CPD system are documented in the literature and range from an emphasis on a time-based approach over quality and a lack of focus of translation to practice of learnings, to disincentives to engage in multidisciplinary learning and team building activities [ 19 , 20 ].…”

Continuing professional development opportunities for Australian endorsed for scheduled medicines podiatrists - what’s out there and is it accessible, relevant, and meaningful? A cross-sectional survey.

“…Mandatory CPD programs most commonly focus on hours completed and do not assess the content, nor quality of the activity undertaken. Several gaps in the CPD system are documented in the literature and range from an emphasis on a time-based approach over quality and a lack of focus of translation to practice of learnings, to disincentives to engage in multidisciplinary learning and team building activities (Carroll et al, 2021;Fletcher et al, 2008).…”