CPD: You said…we did…
In her last blog, our Head of CPD, Barbara Mason, asked members what they would like to see more of in terms of professional development, and this was the response...
Author: Barbara Mason, Head of CPD
Date: 2 January 2018
That might sound a bit like something a supermarket would say but I do feel that members should have a say in the professional development we offer them and that we should respond clearly and directly.
Last time I wrote my CPD blog I invited you to let me know what kind of CPD you wanted. Members have come up with a number of requests, including help with OCT, more guidance on how to run your own peer review sessions and webinars on popular clinical topics.
In response to these requests we’re developing an online training module on OCT which will be released in spring 2018. We are also working on an online training module that tackles patient scenarios including glaucoma, AMD, flashes, OCT and binocular vision. This will be released early in 2018.
I’ve provided individual guidance on delivering a peer review and we have delivered our first webinar on the changes to the College Guidance for professional practice. The webinar was well attended and the recording is now available with a CET exercise for 1 CET point on our website
There will be more webinars in the coming year and we have already booked:
- Mr Kam Balaggan BSc, MBBS, FRCOphth, PhD, Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon with Specialist Interests in Vitreoretinal Surgery, Medical Retina and Cataracts, Wolverhampton and Midland Counties Eye Infirmary. Kam will deliver his popular lecture on Diagnosing PVD vs RD – knock out with dynamic vitreous assessment. This is taking place on Monday, 19 February 2018 at 7pm.
- Dr Paul Spry BSc, PhD, MCOptom, DipGlauc DipTp(IP), Honorary Consultant at Bristol Eye Hospital and is Head of the Departments of Shared Care and Visual ElectrophysiologyHonorary Consultant at Bristol Eye Hospital and Head of the Departments of Shared Care and Visual Electrophysiology. Paul will give his engaging lecture: Discs and dilemmas: optic nerve head interpretation in the context of glaucoma referral. This is taking place on Monday, 23 April 2018 at 7pm and bookings will be open shortly.
Members have come up with a number of requests, including help with OCT, more guidance on how to run your own peer review sessions and webinars on popular clinical topics.
Both webinar lectures will offer 1 non-interactive CET point and will also be available on our website after the webinar for CET.
Returning to my theme of member input, one member also told me they wanted more independent prescribing peer discussion sessions since they were finding it difficult to arrange them in their location. I decided to combine the idea of IP peer discussions with our webinar approach and am delighted to say we are now offering online IP peer discussions. These are starting in January 2018 and are available to IP qualified members. Three interactive IP CET points are available and the usual format of a peer discussion will be offered, with the only difference being that it’s a virtual meeting. These will be a regular series and we will be contacting IP members to join in. Initially we are reprising the IP cases from our conference: Optometry Tomorrow 17.
Your ideas and requests really do impact on our planned CPD content so keep the comments coming.
Barbara Mason
Head of CPD, College of Optometrists
Barbara has a background in education and training and has worked with the College since 2011 on a range of projects, including higher qualifications, the Guidance for Professional Practice and developing a range of websites. Barbara now oversees the Directorate of Optometric and Continuing Education (DOCET) and member CPD developments.
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