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CPD

Continuing Professional Development Policy (Updated April 2021)

Introduction

Personal Development Planning (PDP)

PDP is used to denote a structured and supported process undertaken by an individual in order that they can reflect on their learning, performance and achievement over a period of time. It should be remembered that learning is a life long process and applicable to all professional people who provide care and treatment to the public. PDP involves planning for personal, educational and career development and has the objective of improving an individual’s understanding of how they learn and they can take responsibility for that learning.

NAMMT Members are required to keep a PDP profile or portfolio which is available as evidence of professional development

The benefits of a profile are as follows:

* Helps to assess member’s current standards of practice

* Helps to develop reflective and analytical ability about skill and competence

* Enables review and evaluation of past experience and learning and planning for past experiences, learning, and planning for future learning

* Provides effective information for CPD reviewers

* Demonstrates experiential learning which may contribute to credit towards other qualifications

Enhancing Quality of Care

CPD has important implications for the public. Patients have the right to access treatment from practitioners who possess up to date knowledge, skills and abilities appropriate to massage and body work. CPD should help to enhance the quality of care provided to patients.

CPD Requirements for NAMMT members

12 hours of formal development and 8 hours of informal development annually.

This requirement can be obtained in a variety of ways and should be directed by the individual member and their personal needs

Range of learning activities and resource

Resources available for CPD are wide ranging and could include formal and informal learning

Study days and documented theory time

Key readings from books and text

Reflective narratives

Patient testimony and feedback

Experiential learning

Clinical supervision, mentoring of others

Support and Guidance

NAMMT endeavour to make sure that support is available for members. Study days and tutorials are available on a regular basis to assist with portfolio building and the collation of evidence for CPD. Although NAMMT is not a training provider they do facilitate an annual study day for members and a variety of other opportunities for First Aid Training and skills updates.

Monitoring CPD

Professional profiles should be available if required, as evidence of development. NAMMT encourage each member to be responsible for the collation and management of their own PDP and profile development. An annual CPD summary is requested from members, along with the annual subscription fees. NAMMT manage an annual CPD audit of a random 10% of its members every year. This is the role of the CPD officer in conjunction with the Membership secretary. If a member has not met the required 20 hours of annual CPD to meet the NAMMT standard they are given support and assistance to achieve the required hours and additional time to fulfil this.

Education Providers for NAMMT

Because NAMMT is not an education provider it does try to facilitate opportunities for other providers to do this. Our website has a list of links to other organisations who offer training and education for Massage therapists. We do not validate or accredit courses provided by others but we do have a protocol to adhere to should an individual or organisation wish to be a provider. Our members make their own decision about the development they wish to undertake but value some help in making a good choice for effective and valued education at a reasonable cost.

Protocol for Providers

An individual or organisation who may wish to offer education and training for NAMMT members needs to liaise with the committee and seek permission for their course or study day to be offered via the NAAMT website or members e mail system.

The education/training offered needs to be of a high quality and relevant to our profession. It should have a set of objectives and content and outline how the content is to be delivered. Ideally the course/study needs to be accredited or validated by an appropriate body to give it status and validity. Some indication of the venue and cost needs to be indicated as this will be significant to members’ decision making. Those people who will be delivering the course/study need to have an appropriate qualification and experience in the field that they are teaching.

Pauline Matthews

CPD officer April 2021