The development of a bespoke Physician Associate teaching programme and CPD framework

Abstract

Background: Following successful completion of the Physician Associate (PA) National Examination, all qualified PAs must complete and log a minimum of fifty hours of continuous professional development (CPD) per annum via the Royal College of Physicians online CPD diary1. Categories of CPD include (i) clinical and (ii) non-clinical and can be derived from (i) internal, (ii) external, or (iii) personal sources. Internal credits can be obtained from events within an organisation e.g. journal clubs, grand rounds, or departmental teaching. A common theme that emerged informally within Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB) was that ‘internal’ CPD sessions, specifically tailored to PAs, i.e. sessions that aligned with the PA Matrix Specification of Core Clinical Conditions2 were difficult to obtain. As a result of this feedback, ABUHB developed a bespoke PA-specific CPD teaching programme. Materials & Methods: Every Wednesday morning, an interactive 1-hour session for all PAs within ABUHB took place between 08:00 and 09:00 covering various topics specifically from the PA Matrix of Core Clinical Conditions. These sessions were supplemented by quarterly 4-hour CPD events which were listed as ‘protected teaching time’ supported by a robust PA-specific CPD Framework which was developed by David Taylor (PA-R; Professional Lead Physician Associate). Sessions were delivered by multiple healthcare professionals and were supplemented with certificates as evidence of attendance for portfolios. Speakers were also provided with standardised feedback forms from the education centres within the health board. From February 2023 to December 2023, 54 sessions were delivered to the PA ABUHB cohort. Due to the success of the programme, access to these sessions was expanded to GP PAs within the ABUHB geographic region via Microsoft Teams. Sessions were delivered in the Grange University Hospital education centre. Results: A survey method was utilised to collect anonymous data from PAs within the ABUHB between December 2023 and January 2024. The total number of respondents to the survey was 23. 96% of PAs reported that the CPD Programme assisted them in obtaining their annual CPD points and 91% reported they feel their learning/clinical practice benefited from the programme. Conclusion: In conclusion, we have developed a novel CPD programme to ensure that PAs within the trust and surrounding GP clusters can easily achieve their annual 25 internal CPD points required to remain on the PAMVR. Moreover, the CPD panel have ensured that the teaching delivered is specific to the PA curriculum by mapping teaching specifically to the PA Matrix of Core Clinical Conditions. Our CPD programme has received positive feedback and ABUHB hopes to continue and expand the delivery of this programme in the future. The development of the PA CPD framework has supported the delivery of the quarterly events as protected teaching.