Letters: June 16

 Beyond CET

In comment (Optician, June 2006) the  editor makes a very good point that the benefits of education ‘to business people and clinicians alike cannot be measured in CET credits alone’ and in the same article, Nick Atkins suggests that we should ‘look beyond CET when choosing to attend conferences’.

I wholeheartedly support their argument and make the simpler recommendation that the decision to undertake any education - clinical or otherwise - should not be made on the basis of CET points but on the basis of enhancing practice standards. The GOC has a duty to protect the public by enforcing a minimum standard in our profession. The requirement to get 36 CET points is just that; a minimum standard.

For the last few years The College of Optometrists has been urging practitioners to plan their professional development and has produced a PDP framework to help us do that. The conscientious practitioner should plan their education to improve areas of weakness and build on their strengths to ensure that they continue to provide the best possible service to their patients. In 2003 DOCET produced strong evidence to show that practitioners who carry out clinical education are perceived more highly by their patients and this is bound to have a positive effect on business.

With so much good quality CET around in the final quarter of 2006 it would be a shame if practitioners were to turn it down simply because they have already reached the minimum points requirement.

Peter Charlesworth
Replay Learning