Reasons for CPD and mandatory CPD

10.3 Reasons for CPD and mandatory CPD

The nine sonographers who were interviewed had a fairly narrow view about the reasons for CPD. Most consistently recorded was the opinion that CPD was necessary to keep up to date, which was couched in various terms. One participant described it as ‘keeping abreast of the field’ whilst another thought it ‘important to keep up’ because of rapid changes in the workplace and sonographers were relied upon for interpretation. Four of the participants were of the belief that mandatory CPD was worthwhile and necessary for being accountable as a professional. In the opinion of one participant, however, sonographers were the most professional of the health professions.

Mandatory CPD is not a bad thing; professionals need to be professional, keeping abreast of their field, although there were possibly political reasons for registration and legislation. (Ann)

Sonographers can be very quick to call themselves professional…sonographers need to be accountable for themselves. (Bob)

In the end, mandatory CPD is the only way to keep people up to date. (Deidre)

The main reason is to keep a professional current in the area of work…it is very important to make people undergo CPD in order to work. (Gloria)

One of the rural participants had different thoughts about why it was important to keep up to date:

I am in favour of CPD, sonography is always changing and we need to keep up to date. Especially being in a rural area as patients may go on to a tertiary 3 referral centre and we wouldn’t want to appear to be lagging behind. (Celia)

There were opinions that the recording of CPD may be a useful part of a CPD program, albeit with

a proviso from one person: The main reason for CPD is to provide a record of keeping up to date with current

techniques and equipment and making sure that all people are doing this. (Jan)

The good point about a CPD program is that it gives people a structure to record and achieve. The bad part is that this can be restrictive. (Fred)

Jan also considered that CPD created a ‘level playing field’ for sonographers, to make them all equal. Only one participant felt that CPD was broader than a keeping up to date definition:

The main reason for CPD is to keep a professional current in the area of work, although that includes any issues that might influence work, like, um, everything, so it’s a bit broader

really. (Gloria)

3 A tertiary referral centre is generally a major hospital in a city with specialist services, for example, a Women’s and Children’s hospital. If an abnormality or anomaly is found on a sonographic examination the patient may be referred on

to a tertiary centre.

Only one of the participants was not impressed with the need for CPD throughout a sonographer’s working life, as may be seen from her comment:

The main reason for CPD is to make sure you stay in touch with the changes. CPD is very important to start with, but it really depends on how long you’ve been qualified for. As we go along it gets a bit old-hat. (Ellen)

In summary, the main reasons for CPD as seen by this group of sonographers were keeping up to date and keeping professional standards. It was also seen as a structure for recording achievements and included a monitoring system and accountability. The comments about CPD and the main reasons for it from the interviewees appear to be in keeping with many of the comments received from respondents to the survey, also it has been acknowledged in previous literature that for professionals, CPD is a necessity and it will ensure standards are maintained (Friedman & Phillips, 2004). It has been discussed in the literature that it is necessary to keep on learning in a profession long after initial qualification, as conditions can change quite rapidly (McPartland, 1990). Most of the interviewees have recognised this fact and the element of lifelong learning that is required to maintain current learning. The possible necessity for a broader base for CPD rather than as an update alone was only recognised by one person. It could perhaps be surmised from this that many sonographers could be omitting a more fulfilling professional development experience from their lives because of this, or perhaps by not recognising some of their activities as CPD. In addition, another felt that mandatory CPD as it stands in Australia at the time could be restrictive, whilst another felt it was a little ‘old-hat’.

One of the participants recognised the political move that brought about the introduction of mandatory CPD for sonographers, a recognised occurrence in professions (Tobias, 2003). However, as Lester (1999) suggested it may have led to a tighter control of the profession, although these interviewees appeared to be of the opinion that such control was warranted. One of the participants, Ellen, voiced some displeasure with mandatory CPD, in her view it was rather a waste of time for experienced sonographers, although she recognised it was worthwhile for newly One of the participants recognised the political move that brought about the introduction of mandatory CPD for sonographers, a recognised occurrence in professions (Tobias, 2003). However, as Lester (1999) suggested it may have led to a tighter control of the profession, although these interviewees appeared to be of the opinion that such control was warranted. One of the participants, Ellen, voiced some displeasure with mandatory CPD, in her view it was rather a waste of time for experienced sonographers, although she recognised it was worthwhile for newly