In just a few weeks time we will see the end of 2023. Personally, 2023 has been a year I will be glad to see the back of. It has been a year of too many family and personal deaths, all of which provide opportunities to reflect on just what a privilege it was to know those individuals.
Of course, the hurt of losing close family members is always particularly hard but, upon reflection, it is always a time to remember, with an element of joy, the enrichment these people brought to one’s life; all the lessons and understanding they endowed. So, while 2023 has, in many ways, been an incredibly sad year it has also been a time of reflection upon the things I learned and the things I have been able to do because of the enrichment these people brought to my life.
I turn my thoughts to the fact that the end of 2023 also culminates the second year in the new three-year cycle of Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Continuing Education and Training, when first introduced, was not universally welcomed and, as an embryonic idea, was not ideally constituted. However, over time it has metamorphosed into CPD and become an invaluable part of the life of practising optometrists and dispensing opticians.
The introduction of CPD in the latest three-year cycle has brought new ways of acquiring those all-important points. While the system may not yet be ideal, the General Optical Council (GOC) is to be congratulated (yes, I did actually say that) on introducing a system of continual development and upgrading our understanding of the elements that go towards increasing the excellence of care we can all bring to our patients.
I have participated in some sessions that have left me wondering why I bothered but, in the main, the level of content delivered has been extremely high. It is fair to say that almost every session has left me wanting more knowledge. Never in my life have I read more scientific papers than in these past two years. The benefit of scientific papers is that they get to the nub of the subject without the often encountered bias that may be consciously, or unconsciously added to some CPD content by commercial companies. Regular recourse to scientific papers would not have been a thing I did a few years ago, but now it is and this is thanks to a change in thinking brought about by CPD.
Possibly the best thing about the new CPD cycle is the formalised addition of reflective thinking. In my personal life, as I mentioned earlier, this has been a year for personal reflection and, from that reflection, decision-making on ways forward for me to live a fuller, better life. And it is this that has made me realise the importance of reflective thinking within the realms of CPD. It can sometimes seem easy to pitch up at an event and spend the day on a ‘points hunt’, trying to achieve as many points as you can in one day. I’ve heard, on numerous occasions, comments like: ‘I got all my CPD point for the year in just one day.’ But that is not the point of CPD.
This year, I have come to learn the value of taking time out to reflect on what I have learnt at sessions. Often, my understanding has been enriched by what the presenter confronted me with and the contributions of my peers added to that content. Reflective thinking has allowed me to challenge myself and my attitudes, sometimes to an alarming extent. This has given me room to reflect, not only how I can become a better clinician, but also on how to be a better person overall and, therefore, deliver better care to my patients and become a better member of the team delivering that care.
This year has taught me the value of good true reflective thinking. At a first glance, it may sound a bit gimmicky and something contrived to fit with a new learning system, but I have learned that it is not. It is a very valuable tool, both in my professional and personal life. If you have spent the past two years on a ‘points hunt’, I would urge you to take much more time out in the final year of the current CPD cycle to engage in true reflective thinking.
What are you really learning at each session you attend? How is that knowledge gained enriching you as a professional and individual? How will you use that knowledge? It has taken a lot of personal tragedy for me this year to really learn the value of reflective thinking. I like to think that those who have left my life this year are now saying: ‘At last, he’s got it.’ Making people proud of what you have achieved must surely be worth something. May I wish you all the happiest of seasonal greetings and all good wishes for 2024.
