16 OPINION
Boosters provide additional protection against COVID-19
16 OPINION
2 JUNE 2023 ausdoc . com . au
Insight
Is this really ‘ reflection ’?
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Dr Craig Lilienthal GP and medicolegal adviser in Sydney , NSW .
The CPD course that left me seething .
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the new objectives of reflection .
It left me seething — not because I didn ’ t listen to all the presentations and tried to wing the answers but because not all the presentations were relevant to my practice .
Yes , I failed the exam — could not get 100 % for love nor money — and gave up on the irritating IT system that backed the program .
By this time , my hackles were
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up , and I vowed not to do this program again .
On the other hand , the second program was more in line with the RACGP ’ s former CPD small-group learning program , which encouraged genuine participation and led to true reflection of practice behaviour .
There was no ducking away for a quick bite to eat or a visit to the loo ,
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and it proved to be engaging and rewarding .
And there was no anxiety-provoking examination to sit for at the end . Yes , I am committed to this latter form of CPD and believe more programs should be of this nature . I slept well that night , having actually learnt more than I thought I would . It was more than just gathering CPD points .
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It is early days , and the CPD homes and commercial education providers are still finding their way .
But I object strongly to systems that cannot tell the difference between the testing of didactic facts and the encouragement of genuine reflection about how we practise our craft .
After all , is this not what the medical board is looking for ?
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I
AM becoming generally pissed off with the ‘ reflection ’ component of some of the courses designed to accommodate the newfangled , medical board-inspired accreditation process .
In my endeavour to gather the necessary brownie points for this year ’ s CPD requirements , I attempted two different types of programs .
Both required out-of-hours sacrifices , and both disrupted my personal life to one degree or another .
I complained to the providers of one and praised the other .
Yes , my family says I have become a cranky old man , but my cardiologist thinks I might have long COVID .
The first program I attempted required me to listen to , and watch , two hours of educational stuff , featuring a number of presenters .
There were interposed product advertisements , followed by the need to answer a lot of mundane questions — all of which seemed to relate to the self-promotion of the program itself .
To gain the extra , allegedly reflection-based , CPD points , participants had to answer successfully all the questions in the examination part .
If you failed any , you had to go back to the beginning and do them all again . It was akin to that irritating four-hour education hoop we were required to jump through last year , just to qualify to give a COVID-19 vaccination .
More importantly , the questions were all based on the main presentations , and the answers required a regurgitation of the information provided .
This is testing of didactic learning and has nothing to do with reflecting on the way we practise medicine .
The second program — which was run for a small , closed group to which I belong — consisted of 30 minutes of defined pre-reading and video watching , followed by a onehour Zoom meeting , during which all participants had to contribute to the subject matter .
We learnt of new research , discussed how this might influence our practices and soul-searched our personal experiences .
This really was deep and meaningful and reflective , and we all thoroughly enjoyed this short intrusion into our private lives — dogs and babies notwithstanding — and the odd glass of wine stationed beyond the camera ’ s remit .
So , what were the respective values of these two approaches ?
No doubt the first program was designed to provide a commercial service to the masses , but it missed
INTRODUCING NEW
WE ’ VE UPDATED THE VACCINE AND THE DELIVERY METHOD * 1
* Moderna ’ s Spikevax Bivalent Original / Omicron BA . 4-5 COVID-19 vaccine . Pre-Filled Syringes replace Spikevax Bivalent Original / Omicron BA . 1 multidose vials . 1
Boosters provide additional protection against COVID-19
including against symptomatic infection and severe disease when given 6 months after a previous COVID-19 vaccine 2-4
PBS Information : This product is not listed on the National Immunisation Program ( NIP ) or the PBS .
This vaccine is provisionally approved and is subject to additional monitoring in Australia . This will allow quick identification of new safety information . Healthcare professionals are asked to report any suspected adverse events at www . tga . gov . au / reporting-problems .
BEFORE PRESCRIBING , PLEASE REVIEW PRODUCT INFORMATION AVAILABLE BY SCANNING THE QR CODE , OR FROM HTTPS :// MODERNACOVID19GLOBAL . COM / EN-AU OR FROM MODERNA AUSTRALIA ON 1800 344 018 .
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