2008-06-25
Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians need 30 cpd points per year or
60 cpd points over 24 months, which will be valid for a period of 2
years from date of accrual. In this way, you need to ensure that you
at all times have 30 cpd points per year which is equal to 60 cpd
points over 2 years.
You will be required to partake in
CPD according to the new guidelines (see below) and to keep a record
of all your activities.
^Top
Compliance checks
Council will in future check compliance through random audits and you
will only be required to forward the details of your activities when
your name is drawn for such an audit. It is therefore very important
to keep careful record of all your activities on the attached
individual Activity Record form -
This record includes the following:
- The name and registration number of the practitioner;
- The name and number of the Accredited Service Provider or individual
activity accreditation number;
- The topic of the activity;
- The level of the activity;
- The number of CEUs; and
- The attendance/completion date.
The first random audit will take place at the end of January 2006 by
which time you will be required to have accrued at least 15 CPD
points (or Continuing Education units (CEU’s) as they are called
now). Random audits will take place at least twice a year.
The CPD Department of Council conducts the checks. Practitioners
submit the information requested by that Department within 21 days
of receipt of notification of the compliance draw. This information
is submitted on the Individual CPD Activity Record form, mentioned
above.
In the event that a practitioner’s name is drawn
in the compliance check the original Individual CPD Activity Record
for the previous 3 years, together with the original attendance
certificates and certified copies of qualifications that may have
been obtained during this period, must be sent to the CPD Department
of Council within 21 days of receipt of notification of the draw.
Note: The SA Optometric Association will still offer the service of
keeping all your certificates on our website. These will be of
activities done via the SA Optometric Association (not all CPD
activities).
Health professionals who are
non-compliant will automatically be included in the following audit
call.
The purpose of the new approach to CPD is to reach and
MAINTAIN a level of 60 CEUs at all times and in any level – no more
compulsory ethics points per year.
^Top
CPD activities
There are the 3 levels of activities:
- those with non-measurable outcomes (LEVEL 1)
- those with measurable outcomes (LEVEL 2) and
- those associated with formally structured learning programmes (LEVEL 3)
Level 1
These activities do not have a clearly measurable outcome. CEUs (cpd
points) are allocated according to time, 1 CEU (cpd point) per hour
to a maximum of 8 CEUs (cpd points) per day.
These activities
include:
- Small groups
- Breakfast meetings or presentations;
- Formally arranged hospital or inter-departmental meetings or
updates;
- Case study discussions;
- Formally organised special purpose teaching/learning ward rounds
(not including the routine daily ward rounds and teaching ward rounds);
- Formally organised special purpose lectures that are not part of a
business meeting;
- Mentoring and supervision activities that is specific to certain
professions eg. psychology;
- Large groups
- Conferences, symposia, refresher courses, short courses without a
measurable outcome
^Top
Level 2
Education, Training, Research and Publications:
This includes
activities that have an outcome but do not constitute a full year of
earned CEUs. (Teaching to under-graduate and post-graduate students,
and examining, will not be accredited if these activities fall
within a registered professional’s job description).
- Principal author of a peer reviewed publication or chapter in a book (15
CEUs)
- Co-author of a peer reviewed publication or chapter in a book (5 CEUs)
- Review of an article/chapter in a book (3 CEUs per item)
- All presenters/authors of a paper/poster at a congress/refresher course
(10 CEUs)
- All presenters of accredited short courses (10 CEUs)
- Interactive skills workshop with an evaluation of the outcome (10 CEUs
per presenter, 5 CEUs per participant)
- Multiple Choice Questionnaires (MCQ) in journals, including electronic
journals with a pass rate of 70% (3 CEUs per questionnaire);
- Keynote speaker at an accredited conference (3 CEUs per conference)
- Guest/occasional lecturer at an accredited institution (3 CEUs per
lecture)
- Personnel appointed to public sector posts (health and education) and
who supervise undergraduate clinical/technical training at an accredited
institution on a regular basis during the academic year (if not in the job
description) (2 CEUs per student up to a maximum of 16)
- Master and Doctoral theses on completion (5 CEus per thesis)
- Dedicated workshops, lectures, seminars on ethics (not including general
presentations with a so-called component on ethics) (3 CEUs per activity)
- Single modules of Masters degrees with part-time enrolment for study (5
CEUs on completion of the module).
Professional Interest Groups (including Journal Clubs) that are
formally constituted and present a regularly recurring programme
that extends for one year with a minimum of 6 meetings per year. (3
CEUs per meeting). These activities have a measurable outcome that
is assessed according to criteria determined by the group.
^Top
Level 3
Structured learning (by which is understood a formal programme that is
planned and recorded, presented by an accredited training
institution, evaluated by an accredited assessor, with a measurable
outcome). This category will earn the required CEU’s for a year i.e.
30. units earned from degrees will be valid for a 2 year period,
thus valid for 48 months.
Activities include:
- Post graduate degrees and diplomas that are recognised as additional
qualifications by the relevant Professional Board (in the case of
qualifications that extend beyond 2 years, at the end of the first year of
study 15 CEUs should be claimed and at the end of the second year the
balance of 15 may be claimed provided that there is supporting documentation
regarding the course and progress of the relevant study programme);
- Short courses with a minimum of 25 hours of direct contact time with
additional clinical hands-on training, plus a formal assessment of the
outcome;
- Learning portfolios;
- Practice audit.
^Top
Activites that do not qualify for CEU (CPD points)
The following activities will not qualify for CEUs:
- time spent in planning, organising or facilitating any activity;
- published congress proceedings;
- non-referenced letters to the Editor of accredited journals;
- daily ward rounds;
- written assignments;
- compilation of student training manuals for internal use;
- staff and/or administrative meetings;
- tours and/or viewing of exhibits and technological demonstrations;
- modules/courses that form part of a formal/structured framework of a
post-graduate degree;
- undergraduate teaching activities;
- membership of professional bodies, Professional Boards or associations;
and
- holding a portfolio on the professional body’s executive or council
structure.
Meetings arranged by pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers or
importers of products and technical devices (including assistive
device technology) or their representatives purely for the purpose
of marketing and/or promoting their products are not eligible for
accreditation.
^Top
More than one profession; new graduates, etc
In those instances where practitioners are registered in two professions
they are required to obtain 30 CEUs per profession per 12 month
period.
Any person who registers for the first time as a
health professional after 1st January of a particular year will
commence with his or her CPD programme immediately.
CPD
is not compulsory for new graduates serving their Intern and
Community Service years, however, they are encouraged to attend and
may accrue the associated CEUs.
Health administrators
who are not in clinical practice are required to comply with CPD
requirements.
^Top
Non-compliance
The CPD Department will investigate the reasons for non compliance
where-after the names of bona fide non-compliant practitioners will
be sent to the Professional Boards for noting. At the same time
those names will be submitted to the CPD Committee for action in
consultation with the relevant Professional Board.
The
following actions may be taken:
- A letter will be sent to the non-compliant practitioner requesting a
reason for the non compliance. A practitioner will be required to furnish
the CPD Department with a letter of explanation within two weeks of receipt
of the letter of enquiry from the CPD Department. Should the explanation be
acceptable, the practitioner will be given six months to comply with the CPD
requirements. Evidence of such compliance must be received by the CPD
Department within two weeks of the end of the six months period.
- Should the practitioner not comply with the requirement his/her name
will be forwarded without delay to the Committee of Preliminary Enquiry. The
Committee of Preliminary Enquiry may decide on the basis of evidence, to
grant a final additional 6 month period to comply with the CPD requirements.
- Should the practitioner still not comply with the CPD requirements
within the second six months period, one of the following actions will be
taken:
- Registration in a category that will provide for supervision as
considered appropriate by the relevant Professional Board;
- A remedial programme of continuing education and training as specified
by the Professional Board;
- An examination as determined by the Professional Board;
- Suspension from practice for a period of time as determined by the
Professional Board; or
- Any other action as recommended by the Professional Board.
^Top
Deferment
Practitioners may apply for deferment of CPD and the CPD Committee will
review such applications individually on an ad hoc basis. The
application should be strongly motivated.
Deferment may
be granted in the case of:
- a practitioner who is outside South Africa for a period of time
exceeding 12 months and is not practising his/her profession;
- a practitioner who is outside of South Africa and practising in a
country where formal continuing professional development does not take
place;
- a practitioner who is registered for an additional qualification but is
of the view that s/he will not meet the outcome within two years and thus
will not be able to claim CEUs.
Deferment may be granted for a maximum period of three years.
Deferment will not be granted for a period of less than 12 months
(in view of the fact that a professional may collect CEUs in a
following year).
^Top
Practitioners abroad
Practitioners who are practising abroad in countries where a continuing
professional development system is in place should comply with the
requirements in that country. They should retain documentary proof
of attendance at CPD activities for submission in the event of being
drawn in the sample audit.
For re-registration purposes
documentary proof of compliance must be submitted for continuing
professional development purposes in South Africa. This may be in
the form of a letter from the accrediting authority in the country
concerned.
^Top
Retirement, illness and non-clinical practise
Deferment will not be granted to practitioners who are retired or
practitioners who are not practicing due to ill health. Professional
Boards are establishing a separate register for these categories for
health professionals. Practitioners who are registered in the
category non-clinical practice will be exempted from complying with
Continuing Professional Development and when they apply to return to
the clinical registers the application must be submitted to the CPD
Committee who will in conjunction with the Professional Board
concerned, decide on the conditions for registration, which may be
any or all of the following:
- passing a Professional Board examination;
- working under supervised practice; and
- collecting at least one year’s total CEUs.
For more detailed information visit the HPCSA’s website:
www.hpcsa.co.za, click on CPD.
^Top
Summary
- 30 CPD points per year, as opposed to 25 cpd points per year.
- Maintain 60 cpd points at all times over a 2 year period.
- No more categories e.g. clinical, non-clinical and ethics. Instead,
LEVELS 1, 2, and 3.
- Points can be accrued e.g. 60 points over 2 years BUT with a minimum of
30 points per year.
^Top
Frequently asked questions
Q: Who is responsible for making CPD
compulsory?
A:The Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA).
Q: How many CPD points do I need?
A: Both Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians must have 30 points
per year; 60 points over 2 years.
Q: Can I carry over CPD points to the next
year?
A: Points can be carried over to the following year only.
Q: I am reaching retirement age. Do I still
have to do CPD?
A: As long as you intend to practice and are registered with the
HPCSA, you have to do CPD.
Q: Who must do CPD - I have just qualified and
do not work yet?
A: All optometrists registered with the HPCSA after 1st January in
any year must accumulate CPD points.
Q: What will happen if I do not do CPD or
do not gain enough points in a year?
A: If you do not do CPD at all, your licence to practice optometry could
be revoked by the HPCSA. In such cases, the PBO lay down certain
conditions to give you an opportunity to catch up before suspending
your licence.
Q: Who controls the points?
A: The HPCSA controls the points.
Q: Who are the acctreditors?
A: University of Johannesburg:
Contact person: P von Poser
Tel. (011) 406-8022
University of Johannesburg
Contact person: M Richter
Tel. (011) 489-2314
University of Natal
Contact person: V Moodley
Tel. (031)
204-4352
University of Limpopo
Contact person: S
Ndlela
Tel. (015) 268-2352
Q: How do I know if I have obtained points for an activity?
A: It is extremely important that you insist upon a CPD certificate
for each activity that you have completed.
This certificate
must have the following on it:
- Your full names and surname.
- Your OP number (HPCSA registration number)
- The CPD activity number as issued by the accreditor
- The name of the activity
- The date of the activity
- The points you obtained per category e.g. clinical, non-clinical.
^Top
