CPD points could attract more doctors to take micro-credential modules

Awarding continuing professional development (CPD) points for micro-credential modules could attract more doctors to enroll, this newspaper has been told.

Prof Roman Romero-Ortuno, Professor in Medical Gerontology at Trinity College Dublin, spoke on micro-credentials and workforce upskilling in the community at the Health Summit in Dublin on
6 February.

Prof Romero-Ortuno, Consultant Physician at St James’s Hospital, Dublin, said the health service was experiencing a shift to the community with a greater amount of inter-disciplinary work. The role of micro-credentials was becoming more prominent due to these trends.

He described micro-credentials as bite-size, high-quality, up-to-date programmes that are “very flexible”. They are “delivered online, most of the time”, with a flexible delivery focused on upskilling professionals that might not have the time to attend long courses. “Quite often, these are people working in the frontline of healthcare,” he said.

Prof Romero-Ortuno also expressed surprise that more doctors had not enrolled in micro-credential courses.

Following his address, he told the Medical Independent (MI) he believed the main reason for this low engagement was due to the lack of CPD points for many micro-credentialing courses.

He added that his own micro-credential module at Trinity attained CPD credits last year from the RCPI. The course now awards 20 CPD points on completion.

“So, I think that is a really important factor in attracting doctors who need professional development,” Prof Romero-Ortuno told MI.

“The other thing is just about awareness as well,” he said. “Sometimes it is just about not actually knowing about what’s on offer out there… perhaps there is not enough awareness about the good, high-quality options in the university sector. It would be nice to see more uptake from doctors.”

Asked about perspectives among hospital consultants on the shift to greater community-based care, he indicated this may be dependent on specialty.

“So take geriatric medicine – it is a paradigm of collaboration with so many different professions. Some services are developed in the community as well and the profession can be quite flexible in terms of community posts, in terms of community geriatrics and interface geriatrics.”

He said that there are other specialties which may have a more “traditional” way of working.

“Also there have been some good investments in terms of community care…particularly in ageing, care in the community,” he noted.

Some specialties had “more opportunities than others” to work in the community. “I guess with geriatric medicine we see a lot of versatility in respect of that.”

Prof Romero-Ortuno leads Trinity’s micro-credential in assessment and management of frailty in ageing adults. The course is aimed at health professionals working with older people in any setting, including in the community. It reviews the concept of frailty and provides education on comprehensive geriatric assessment and the management of common geriatric syndromes.