Pharmacists’ practices and challenges regarding Continuing Professional Development in Mpumalanga province, South Africa

Lisbeth Cathrine Gumede*, Elvera Helberg, Selente Bezuidenhout

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Introduction: The study aimed to assess the extent to which pharmacists in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, voluntarily participated in recording their CPD activities on the CPD online recording system of the South African Pharmacy Council (SAPC), and to identify associated challenges. Methods: A quantitative, descriptive study was conducted. Data were collected using Survey Monkey from 578 registered pharmacists over a four month period. Responses were exported to Microsoft Excel and analysed using SPSS version 25. Results: The response rate was 25.4%. Most pharmacists (87%) agreed that CPD was necessary. While 64% participated in CPD activities, only 24.8% recorded these activities voluntarily. Challenges faced with participating in recording activities included recording of CPDs is currently not mandatory (27.3%), lack of information (27.3%), lack of interest (27.3%), time constraints (39.1%) and system/programme issues (26.1%) were also cited as reasons for not recording CPD activities. Conclusion: Improving the ease of accessing the SAPC system (83.7%) was suggested as a way to improve participation in CPD activities and subsequent recording online.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)247-254
Number of pages8
JournalPharmacy Education
Volume21
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 6 Apr 2021

Keywords

  • CPD online recording system
  • Continuing education
  • Continuing professional development
  • Pharmacy education
  • South African Pharmacy Council

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Pharmacists’ practices and challenges regarding Continuing Professional Development in Mpumalanga province, South Africa'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this