The end of this three-year CET cycle is in sight.
Many of you may remember that the last cycle began in some confusion. There were some significant changes implemented, including the introduction of a requirement for at least 50% of CET points to be interactive and the requirement for at least one point to be a peer to peer session.
The exact nature and design of some of the new modalities was not established by the time the cycle began and throughout the first year of the cycle there was much toing and froing between providers, such as Optician, and the GOC to confirm that new modalities, such as our distance learning interactive exercises, were appropriate and accredited.
Things are now established to a point where most if not all of us are familiar with the sorts of CET proposals that are acceptable and of the correct format to meet approval. That said, no CET scheme should ever be written in stone and must be flexible to both acknowledge advances in our profession and accept new ideas as to what is the best approach to reflect ongoing education and training.
The recent update from the GOC regarding its ongoing Education Strategic Review highlighted that it will be ‘seeking views’ on how its current ‘consultation will also consider changes to CET to promote continuing professional development.’ Presumably to avoid the problems of the last cycle, ‘the intention is to implement changes from January 2020, which means that at the end of the current CET cycle (2016-18) there would be a single CET transition year, rather than a full three-year cycle.’
More details, such as the number of points required during this year, are yet to be confirmed but I hope to see further changes to CET – the acceptance of case study submissions would be a positive step.