Continuing professional development to foster behaviour change: From principles to practice in health professions education

Abstract

Healthcare professionals need to continuously improve their knowledge, skills and performance to effectively function in an ever-changing healthcare environment. They depend on continuing professional development programs (CPD), either within or outside their institutions, to reflect on and update their clinical practice. Professional growth requires more than knowledge transfer; it requires curiosity, humility, self-awareness and a motivation for mastery. Educators can build on these factors and create effective learning experiences to develop complex skills including communication, interprofessional collaboration, teamwork, leadership and reflective practice. CPD program leaders should adopt an evolved approach to program design that leverages adult learning principles, active learning and longitudinal curricula, while identifying and overcoming system barriers to change, and targeting meaningful behaviour and health outcomes. In this article, we describe principles and strategies that CPD leaders can apply to their own programs, categorized under three steps: (1) Program design, (2) Program implementation and (3) Program evaluation. Under each step, we provide theoretical principles as well as practical tips, focusing on strategies that can motivate and facilitate change.

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge Tamar Hosansky, the Vice President of Communications, Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, for a thorough and thoughtful review and feedback on the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Glossary

Commitment to change (CTC): Written statements in which participants in continuing education activities commit to making a change in their future behaviour as a result of the education. CTC statements are used to assess the efficacy of continuing education activities and to motivate participants to make changes.

Lockyer JM, Fidler H, Ward R, Basson RJ, Elliott S, Toews J. 2001. Commitment to change statements: a way of understanding how participants use information and skills taught in an educational session. J Contin Educ Health Prof. 21(2):82–89.

Continuing professional development (CPD): The learning journey of the healthcare professional as he/she seeks to improve her/his competence and expertise. This learning journey is supported by continuing medical education and other personal/professional activities by the learner with the intention of providing safe, legal and high quality services aiming at better health outcomes for the patients and the community.

International Academy for CPD accreditation Glossary. [accessed 2019 Jan 5]. https://academy4cpd-accreditation.org/cpd-accreditation-glossary/.

Health professions educators (HPE): Experts in the continuing education of practicing health professionals. HPE have skills in leadership, research, innovation, curriculum design, program evaluation and learning outcomes assessment; they also assess and advance change in education across the health professions.

MGH Institute of Health Professions. [accessed 2019 Jan 5]. https://www.mghihp.edu/mshped#node-37901.

Interprofessional continuing education (IPCE): When members from two or more professions learn with, from, and about each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes. (Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, American Nurses Credentialing Center, 2015).

Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education. [accessed 2019 Jan 5]. https://www.jointaccreditation.org/glance.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Subha Ramani

Subha Ramani, MBBS, PhD, FAMEE, is the Director of Evaluation and Scholars in Medical Education Pathway for the Internal Medicine Residency Program at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Leader of Research and Scholarship at the Harvard Macy Institute, and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA

Graham T. McMahon

Graham T. McMahon MD, MMSc, PhD, is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, Chicago, USA and Adjunct Professor of Medicine and Medical Education, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago.

Elizabeth G. Armstrong

Elizabeth G. Armstrong, PhD, is the Director of the Harvard Macy Institute and Professor in Pediatrics, Part-time at Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. She has been leading CPD programs for Health Professions Educators around the world for over 25 years.