As medical practitioners «grow and
develop» in their postgraduate careers
it is appropriate that their learning
of the art follows the same pattern.
As the frontiers of medicine progress
inexorably and rapidly forward,
and the receptive public becomes more
aware of their medical rights and needs,
there has never been a more important
time for practitioners to review their
postgraduate learning. Gone must be
the days of lunch-time postgraduate
meetings of informal discussion
of a new medication: gone are the days
of a colleague enthusiastically presenting
an interesting but often removed from
commonality case. In its place has arrived
a requirement to structure postgraduate
learning in a more purposeful, appropriate
and needs driven manner.
This article considers some
of the theory that underlies the change
from Continuing Medical Education
(CME) to Continuing Professional
Development (CPD), the evidence
for its effectiveness, and the ways
in which CPD interacts with the processes
of appraisal and assessment of medical
practitioners.