Omen writes

It seems that CET is rarely out of the headlines. The complaints by dispensing opticians about how unfairly they are being treated are never ending and now we are facing a war of words about the introduction of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) recording by the College of Optometrists for its members. One might think this a highly laudable aim by the organisation which pioneered the introduction of CET for the profession only to have its initiative and financial investment hijacked by the GOC and handed to an outside agency.

I am confused about the difference between CET and CPD. If you continue your education and training it seems pretty obvious that you are also developing your professional skills, so why do we need both? The answer may be found in the way in which the GOC defines and operates its CET scheme. To qualify for recognition the content of a course or article must relate to the core competencies for optometrists and DOs. Whether or not this is the right standard is irrelevant, you simply need to keep your skills up to the modern standard. However, it seems obvious that as the competencies are a constantly moving standard, keeping them up to date is in fact continuing your professional development! The nonsense of all this can be seen in Optician, February 13, where you can gain CET points on reading an article on Evolution and the eye. What exactly the retina in the eye of a cephalopod has to do with the core competencies of optometry or dispensing escapes me.