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Home > Centre for Clinical Excellence > Continuing Professional Development

Training & On-going Learning

Being able to find the right information at the right time is critical to quality care. This section includes a number of tools, resources and online programmes that will help you navigate the vast body of knowledge now available online. Use the section headings below to go to the following sections and tell us your other favourites so we can include them here.

Continuing Professional Development

Continual Professional Development (CPD) can be defined as “the conscious updating of professional knowledge and the improvement of professional competence throughout a person's working life. It is a commitment to being professional, keeping up to date and continuously seeking to improve.” (The Chartered Institute of Professional Development, 2000).

With the rapidly increasing rate of medical knowledge and technological change, continual effort personally and as an organisation to CPD and continual quality improvement is essential. The internet is revolutionalising how we can learn and access information 24/7.

Online Learning

1. Learn On Line (NZ)   Star

LearnOnline.Health.nz is an excellent vocational training platform for New Zealand health practitioners provided by the Ministry of Health. There is a growing number of courses available provided by different organisations. Current courses and topics include:

  • Cardiovascular Risk Assessment and Management  (NEW Dec 2012)
  • Hepatitis C
  • Smoking Cessation
  • Weight Management
  • Infection Prevention & Control
  • Immunisation
  • Breast Feeding
  • more and visit website

2. Goodfellow Unit (NZ)

Continuing Professional Education (CPE) – The Goodfellow Unit is linked to the Department of General Practice and Primary Healthcare, University of Auckland and has developed a range of useful resources for supporting GPs and nurses with ongoing education and professional development.

Goodfellow Club – NZ based CME for GPs, nurses and physiotherapists. Earn CME points any time, day or night, by completing a range of case studies, quizzes and topic updates. Joining is free.

Goodfellow Symposium - previous conference presentations -  2012,

3. Video Channels & other Online LearningStar

Some of the leading health organisations, medical schools and universities around the world have video channels for ongoing medical education and CME. You can view literally hundreds of lectures 24/7.

eg: Online Courses

This is a great site that combines the best free and open courses for students and professionals from over 500 universities and colleges around the world including courses from Yale, MIT, Stanford, Harvard.  Topics range from biology and accounting to foreign languages, and web design. Health-related topics include multiple lectures and courses within pharmacology, psychology, medicine, nursing, microbiology, etc and healthcare.

4. Introduction to CAMH Course (NZ)

An Introduction to Child and Adolescent Mental Health - Online Resource

An Introduction to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Online Resource has been designed to serve as an introduction to the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are necessary when working in child and adolescent mental health in New Zealand. The resource is made up of a series of four courses:

  • Developmental Considerations
  • Engagement Strategies
  • Assessment Strategies
  • Interventions

The courses are to be completed sequentially. Upon completion of all four courses the participant will receive a ‘Certificate of Achievement’.

Who is it for: This resource will be used by practitioners who have recently started working in the area, including Nurses, Social Workers, Occupational Therapists, Cultural Workers, Psychology Interns and others

Cost: Free

 

5. BMJ Online Learning

BMJ Learning is the world's largest independent online learning service for health professionals. Developed by the British Medical Journal Group, there are over 300 learning modules, a range of case studies and evidence-based resources. You will find something for everyone with specific sections for hospital doctors, GPs, nurses, practice managers, registrars and other allied health professionals. Well worth a look.

Register for 50+ modules (free) Members of the RNZCGP can now gain full access to BMJ Learning. Visit RNZCGP website for details

6. Podcasts

Podcasting is a digital recording of a presentation, radio broadcast or other recording that is made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player or a computer. The great advantage of podcasts is being able to listen presentations, radio shows and more whenever you want - whether it's while out walking, driving to and from work or working out.

To listen to Podcast feeds on your computer, you need to download Podcasting software. There are many free or commercial podcasting applications available for download such as iTunes, Juice, Doppler, SmartFeed.

Examples of health-related podcasts include:

 

7. Tools for Practice from the Alberta College of Family Physicians

  • Tools for Practice #74. Coffee: Advice for our vice? Author(s): G. Michael Allan MD CCFP, Marco Mannarino MD, Alberta College of Family PhysicianBottom-line: Coffee consumption is associated with no change or a small reduction in mortality in cohort studies. While the evidence is not strong enough to recommend non-drinkers to start consuming coffee, coffee drinkers can be reassured that it does not appear to result in excess harm (except in pregnancy).  Read more ...

8. Medical Mneumonics

Medical Mneumonics is a free, non-profit, online searchable database of medical mnemonics to help remember important lists.

 

9. Instant Anatomy

The Instant Anatomy website includes a range of podcasts, video podcasts, health apps and brain games to help any health professionals or students refresh their knowledge of anatomy. Website developed by Dr Robert Whitaker, a paediatric urological surgeon who now teaches anatomy to students and doctors.

 

 

Online Textbooks

Various

Free Medical Books 4 Doctors is a excellent resource with a large range of medical textbooks for free.

Ophthalomology Textbook

OphthoBook by Dr Timothy Root -  full chapters can be viewed and downloaded for free. Accompanying powerpoints and videos to help explain chapters. (Highly recommended by students and residents worldwide)

Orthopaedic Textbooks

Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics - produced by Duke University Medical Center's Division of Orthopedic Surgery, in conjunction with Data Trace Internet Publishing, LLC is made available online for free and is said to be "the most comprehensive, unparalleled, dynamic online medical textbook in existence." There are over 11,000 pages with more than 5,000 images and a range of easy to search formats.

 

 

 

Self-Directed Reading

Answering Clinical Questions with Literature Searches

Do you have a clinical question and wondering how to find a reliable, up to date article that answers your question?

For a brief search, one can start with PubMed. PubMed is a service of the US National Library of Medicine that includes over 16 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals. In most cases, an abstract is available and some even link to the full article.

To assess an article properly, one then needs to apply the principles of clinical epidemiology and evidence-based medicine. To remind yourself how to evaluate the literature, review the resources located on the EPIQ website. EPIQ stands for Effective Practice, Informatics & Quality Improvement and is a NZ group that has developed some great resources used throughout the world.

 

 

Journal Reviews

Sign up for regular emails of the most relevant and useful Evidence Updates tailored to your areas of interest. This unique service is provided by BMJ Group and McMaster University's Health Information Research Unit. "All citations (from over 170 premier clinical journals) are pre-rated for quality by research staff, then rated for clinical relevance and interest by at least 3 members of a worldwide panel of practicing physicians."

WONCA Journal Watch - free service

 

 

Popular Journals

Receive emails of the table of contents of your favourite journals – BMJ, Lancet, Family Practice etc.

British Medical Journal

Bio Med Central - Publisher of 200 peer-reviewed open access journals

BMC Family Practice

BMC Nursing

BMC Public Health

Clinical Diabetes (open access)

Free Medical Journals – over 1214 journals available

Journal American Board of Family Medicine – (free access)

Nutrition Journal (open access)

Journal of Primary Healthcare - NZ

NZ Medical Journal – (open access to articles over 6 months)

Preventing Chronic Disease – journal from CDC focusing on public health research, practice and policy

 

Short Courses

These range from smoking cessation or nutrition training through to cognitive-behaviour therapy and brief interventions training. Too numerous to list, here are just a few key organisations to get you started:

 

 

Postgraduate Study

Have you ever thought about completing a short course, special interest paper, post-graduate certificate or diploma?

The options are extensive with most universities, unitecs and nursing schools offering various courses. Here are just a few with a focus on prevention or long-term conditions to give you some ideas.

 

 

 

Professional Requirements

Nursing Council of NZ - Continuing Competence Framework

RNZCGP – College Educational Programmes including AVE and MOPS

Cornerstone - "is a combined quality improvement and quality assurance process which uses a set of measurements collated in the publication Aiming for Excellence."

Postgraduate training

 

 

 

 

 

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Last updated on March 25, 2013

Links to further information:
http://www.healthnavigator.org.nz/centre-for-clinical-excellence/continuing-professional-development/