A drive for quality

As Director of CPD I work with the Education Department to identify, develop and promote educational resources and activity appropriate for CPD, and to ensure continued improvement in the quality standards of the activities approved for CPD. I provide professional advice within the RCP on CPD policy and activity, on the quality and content of CPD events, and on the methods of ensuring participation in CPD for all practising physicians.

Federation of Royal Colleges
The Director of the London College works closely with the Director of CPD for the Federation of Royal Colleges of Physicians and the Scottish College Directors of CPD. The Directors of CPD of all the Medical Royal Colleges (the Academy) meet regularly to develop a common approach to CPD within the UK, and to provide representation of this approach within the European Association for Continuing Medical Education.

CPD forms an essential element in the annual appraisal process, and CPD objectives for each doctor should be agreed at that time. The degree to which the doctor has achieved those objectives will be reviewed at the next appraisal, and satisfactory completion over a five-year period is one element required for revalidation.

I work with a network of RCP Regional CPD Advisers, and with a CPD representative from each medical specialty. Key elements in our work are to ensure that high quality CPD is available regionally, that the range of events does provide for the changing needs of physicians at every stage in their careers, and that all physicians are enabled and encouraged to participate in CPD.

On line Diary
The establishment of the Federation On-line Diary has made it easier for physicians to plan and record their CPD activity, and the need to provide feedback on the event is a key element in our drive to ensure quality in the events we approve. Towards the end of this year we will be carrying out a random audit of individual records, and also an audit of the feedback we have been receiving.

New initiatives
We are currently involved in three major initiatives – firstly, we are developing an on-line system for approval of CPD events, which will mean that we can tighten up on the quality criteria we use, and we will also be able to scrutinise many more regional events. The Regional Advisers and Specialty Representatives will play a key role in this process. Secondly, through the College Education Department, we are developing a formal development programme for newer Consultants, recognising that, with shorter SpR training programmes, there are many additional skills that have to be learned within a short time of appointment. Finally, all SpRs will be allocated an access code for the On-line Diary from October this year, to enable them to plan and record their CPD activities as soon as they receive their CCST.

I hope that you will continue to find CPD a rewarding experience, and that the RCP London is helpful to you in this area throughout your professional career. The CPD helpline at the College, your specialty CPD Director, or I are always happy to respond to queries or suggestions, so please feel free to maintain a dialogue.

Ian Starke
Director of CPD
Royal College of Physicians of London

BGS to adopt Geriatric Medicine CME Journal

At its meeting in July, the UK Management Committee of the BGS approved a proposal that the Society adopt the Geriatric Medicine CME Journal as a medium for its CME programme. This enables the CME Director to ensure rolling coverage of the CME curriculum and to assure its quality. There will also be the opportunity to co-ordinate publication of articles with other scheduled CME events.

The journal is published by RILA Publications in London. Publication started in 1998 and the editor for the first year was Dr David Lubel who was succeeded by Dr Steve Allen in 1999. The journal is published three times a year and is available on-line to subscribers. It is the most successful of Rila’s medical CME series with a subscription which has risen rapidly over the last two years, to 5,510 world wide, 80% of whom are consultants or other senior medical staff. A great deal of work has been invested in improving the quality of the publication, and it now receives a substantial number of unsolicited papers for publication. However, most of the main reviews are still commissioned. The primary purpose of the journal is to publish in-depth reviews on topics pertinent to the specialty of geriatric medicine. It is abstracted in Embase/Excerpta Medica.

Steve Allen
Editor
Geriatric Medicine CME Journal