Registration in New Zealand and Australia is conditional on completing ongoing professional development. This is to ensure clinicians are developing and maintaining the skills required within their scope of practice. Both registration boards require clinicians to be nationally registered and to prove ongoing competence to the board on request. This competence is measured by the training and education opportunities that the therapist has undertaken throughout the year. Both systems have an expectation that therapists will maintain standards and stay up to date with the latest technology and practice by attending ongoing education.
November is often a time to reflect on professional goals as registration renewal approaches. There has been an increasing number of educational opportunities over the past few years, potentially fuelled by the increased demands seen during lockdown. It is important for therapists to keep up to date with the requirements their board imposes but also to ensure that any educational opportunities meet both their goals and current or emerging scope of practice.
An increasing number of services are working within a billable hour's model, with national insurance schemes in place in both NZ and AU. This can put increased pressure on income generation and take time out for ongoing education as it is not always seen as a priority. However, CPD needs to be given value, partly due to it being a board requirement but mostly because it helps us grow and become better therapists by setting goals and pushing ourselves to constantly grow.
So how do we make CPD work for us? Set yourself clear goals and look for training opportunities that will address these goals. Read course and workshop descriptions to see if they include skills or information that will assist your practice. Talk to educators about your goals and needs, if you’re unsure what workshop will assist you best. Talk to colleagues that have attended previously run training sessions to ensure you’re getting the education you expect! Whilst attending a workshop or webinar is a great way of meeting your interactive CPD hours is not the sole intention of CPD. How will you implement what you have learned into practice? How has the training enhanced your knowledge and work role. What do you need to do next? More important than the certificate you may receive is holding onto any notes you have written at the training. Better still is writing a small reflection on what you have learned, how you will use it to improve practice and where to next.
Our Clinical services team has expanded with the addition of two members this year. Tilly and Rika both joined the clinical services team each bringing a wealth of clinical experience. The clinical team have been working hard to develop an exciting new format and program for 2023 and are excited to share this with you next year, as we continue to offer educational opportunities. Keep an eye out on our Permobil socials and website for more information or if you’re on our mailing list you will you receive this first! We do still have a few opportunities open this month for anyone needing to complete hours before registration renewals or wanting to upskill – you can find more details at APAC Clinical Services Home (permobil.com) or email us at education.apac@permobil.com. The ARATA conference is also on at the end of this month in South Australia. You can check out the conference details here AATC2022 (aomevents.com.au)– in addition to the conference there is also a day of pre-conference workshops. Both programs can be accessed via the conference link.
Tracee-Lee Maginnity
Clinical Services Specialist
Permobil APAC
Tracee-Lee Maginnity joined Permobil Australia in July 2019, as a clinical education specialist. Originally from New Zealand, she graduated Auckland University of Technology with a BHSc (Occupational Therapy) in 2003 and has since worked in various roles related to seating and mobility including assessing, prescribing and educating. After gaining experience as an assessor and prescriber at Seating To Go / Wheelchair Solutions in prescribing for both disability and injury, she moved to Australia in 2011 to take on the Senior Occupational Therapist role in a custom moulded seating service. She then worked in clinical consulting and education roles until joining Permobil.
Tracee-Lee is passionate about maximising functional outcomes with end users and the importance of education within the industry. She has mentored many therapists interested in AT. Her experience includes working with complex postures to achieve custom outcomes. Tracee-Lee is also an international wheelchair rugby classifier where she enjoys the task analysis of wheelchair propulsion and functional capacity identification of athletes.