Deferment
non Compliance
Providers of CPD Activities
Accreditors of CPD Activities
Tax>>CPD
Draft guidelines for environmental health practitioners
ContentsIntroductionAdministrationTime Requirements
Categories of educational and developmental activities and allocation of points
category 1Organised CPD opportunities
category 2Small-group activities
category 3Individual activities
Deferment
non Compliance
Providers of CPD Activities
Accreditors of CPD Activities
Tax
Introduction The Professional Board for Environmental Health Practitioners intents introducing a system of CPD for all Environmental Health Practitioners and Food Inspectors on a voluntary basis on 1 April 2003, which would become compulsory on 1 April 2004. Points obtained in 2003/2004 will be transferred to the compulsory system. CPD could be defined as a systematic maintenance, improvement and broadening of knowledge and skills and the development of personal qualities necessary for the execution of professional and technical duties throughout the working life of the Environmental Health Practitioner.The CPD system is intended to be user-friendly and the 20 points required annually should be easily obtainable. CPD is intended to be neither complicated nor costly for the individual Environmental Health Practitioner and takes South African conditions into consideration. The priority in CPD is to achieve improved customer care, while it will at the same time be of benefit to development in the medical and dental professions as a whole.
Administration The CPD system is administrated by the Professional Board for Environmental Health Practitioners under the jurisdiction of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA). The responsibility to accredit and review CPD activities according to specific criteria and guidelines will initially be the responsibility of the Education Committee. The Board may at a later stage decide to outsource the accreditation of CPD Activities to professional societies and associations, and other professional bodies. The Board will ensure that the responsibilities outsourced are carried out in a fair, equitable and responsible manner. The Board therefore retains the right to review or withdraw any outsourced responsibilities from Accreditors, should the circumstances so require. It is important to note that prior approval of educational and developmental activities for CPD purposes must be obtained from an Accreditor by provider bodies. The Accreditor will furnish the providers, of such activities, with the criteria and guidelines for approval and for the allocation of points. Approved activities will be allocated a specific reference number by the Board for easy reference and administration purposes. The Accreditor will communicate the approval number of approved activities to provider bodies. Attendance data will be transferred to Council electronically.Environmental Health Practitioners will be advised annually of the number of points recorded to their credit and of their CPD status. However, Environmental Health Practitioners can at any time view their CPD status on the i-Register on Council?s website at www.hpcsa.co.za.
Time requirements Every Environmental Health practitioner is required to accumulate at least 20 points within any one year in order to retain his or her registration, provided that any points accumulated during one year in excess of 20 points may be forwarded to the subsequent year only. Any person who registers for the first time as an Environmental Health Practitioner after 1 January of a particular year, will commence with his or her CPD programme immediately and will have to obtain points on a pro rata basis for the remainder of that year. Any person whose name is restored to the register of Environmental Health Practitioners subsequent to 1 April 2003, after it had been erased from the relevant register for a period exceeding 12 months, will be subject to compliance with any condition(s) which the Board may specify prior to the restoration of the name of such Environmental Health Practitioner to the relevant register.
The basic premise of the point allocation for activities in the three categories of educational and developmental activities for CPD purposes is that one hour equals one point. However, the responsibility rests with the Accreditors to award an appropriate point allocation for the activities and to recommend to the Board accordingly. In complying with the requirements, a maximum of 80 percent of the points may be accumulated in any one of categories one, two and three of the specified CPD categories and a minimum of two points in professional (environmental health) ethics will be required from all Environmental Health Practitioners per year. The aim of the proposed points allocation is to simplify administration and to reward only activities which lead to or assist in professional development and which can be reasonably monitored.Any relevant educational or developmental activity that does not fall within the activities listed in the following categories, may be submitted to the professional board for Environmental Health Practitioners for approval and, if agreed to, accreditation. However, it is not the intention of the Board to grant exceptions as a matter of course.
Category 1: Organisational activities Attendance of formal educational meetings will be credited with one point per hour of attendance.These activities are educational and research-based conferences/congresses, large-group workshops, lectures, seminars, and refresher courses. These meetings are organised on a regional, national or international basis and are non-recurring. - International activities (monitored attendance) will be credited with up to 8 points per day. - International activities (unmonitored attendance) will be credited with up to 5 points per day. - National activities (monitored attendance) will be credited with up to 8 points per day. - National activities (unmonitored attendance) will be credited with up to 5 points per day. The Accreditor will evaluate the application according to the criteria and guidelines for accreditation as provided by the HPCSA. All category 1 CPD activities must be designated for credit by a recognised Accreditor of CPD activities. Organisers of category 1 activities will provide documentation of CPD points earned.
Category 2: Small group activities Participation in recurring small group learning opportunities will be credited with one point per hour. The envisaged activities in this group are the following: Appropriately structured small group workshops, courses, departmental meetings, journal clubs and small group discussions. An appropriately structured small group workshop should comply with the following requirements: The group has to reflect a spectrum of expert opinion, the meeting may not be promotional and an identifiable organiser has to be responsible for administration. A feedback mechanism is required.
Category 3: Individual activities Premise: (i) It is not the intention to reward activities that do not contribute to the professional development of an individual. Activities that form part of an individual?s broad job description, will also not attract CPD credits. (ii) The intention is to credit only activities that can reasonably be monitored. Self-study It is important to note that only accredited self-study activities provided by an approved provider will count. These activities include, but are not restricted to studying of journals, as well as electronic or computerised material, for which an approved method of assessment is in place. Providers will have to provide reasonable proof that credits applied for are justified. Individual learning These activities will be credited with one point per hour and include, but are not restricted only to skills training. These activities are envisaged to qualify only when such an activity is part of an accredited, structured course. It is important to note that prior approval for these activities must be obtained and attendance verified Research and publication in peer reviewed/continuing professional development journals/ chapters in books Principal author of peer-reviewed publication or author of textbook/component: 15 points. Co-authors will be credited with 5 points per published paper or textbook/component. Authors of articles written for CPD purposes on request, where original research is not involved, will be awarded two points per article published. Teaching and / or training activities by part-time lecturers to undergraduate students, lecturers to postgraduate students and formally appointed part-time trainers of internsThese activities will be credited per subject. Paper/poster presentation/lectures to peers - In respect of Category 1 activities: Short papers (shorter than 20 minutes), e.g. congress papers/posters, will be credited with five points. Co-authors of short papers and posters will be credited with two points. Long papers (longer than 20 minutes) e.g. invited lectures and keynote addresses will be credited with ten points and co-authors will receive 5 points. - In respect of Category 2 activities: Presenters will receive 1 point in Category 2 and 1 point in Category 3. - Relevant additional qualifications: A completed six months diploma/certificate will be credited with ten points, a completed one-year diploma with twenty points, and a completed two-year diploma with forty points. A completed Masters or Doctoral degree will be credited with fifty points. The above points will be allocated only on awarding of the qualification. Where such courses have a coursework component, the coursework activity will be credited with one point per hour of accredited and validated participation in Category 2. - Examinations/Evaluations/Assessments: Examinations on behalf of the registering authority will be credited with 6 points per day of active involvement. These activities are restricted to final year undergraduate and all postgraduate examinations. Note that the preparation, marking or moderation of examination papers is not included. The evaluation of dissertations/theses by examiners will be credited with a maximum of five points.
Deferment Practitioners may apply for deferment of CPD and the Board will review such applications individually on the basis of reasons acceptable to the Board. Deferment may be granted in the case of: - An Environmental Health Practitioner who is outside of South Africa for a period of time exceeding 12 months. - An Environmental Health Practitioner not working due to ill health. Any Environmental Health Practitioner to re-enter the system after deferment will be required to comply with condition(s) which the Board may specify. Non-compliance In the event of a practitioner not complying with the requirements of the CPD system, Council may impose any one or more of the following conditions: - Requiring the environmental health practitioner to follow a remedial programme of continuing education and training as specified by the Board. - Requiring the environmental health practitioner to write an examination as determined by the Board. - Registering the environmental health practitioner in a category of registration that will provide for supervision regarded as appropriate by the Board. - Removing the environmental health practitioner?s name from the relevant register of medical practitioners or dentists. Providers of CPD activities Providers include any body such as a faculty/department at a university, a professional association/society/group or any other body which offers educational and development opportunities to environmental health practitioners for CPD purposes, and may include other related industrial or provider organisations. Providers of CPD activities are required to submit their proposed programme of activities to a relevant CPD accreditor for assessment of the professional content and CPD points value thereof. Only on approval of the proposed activities and on receipt of a Board-allocated reference number, may a provider publicise the proposed activities as approved for CPD purposes, as well as the points value thereof. The name of the relevant Accreditor has to appear on any advertising material. A provider may advertise that CPD points have been applied for, with an indication of the points applied for, provided that the name of the Accreditor is also specified.Applications for approval of CPD activities must be submitted electronically to an Accreditor on Form eCPD3, which can be accessed at the following website address: www.hpcsa.co.za and by clicking on the CPDMS link. Accreditors of CPD activities It is the responsibility of accreditors to receive and assess applications by providers for the approval of CPD activities. Such assessment is on the basis of criteria provided and in terms of professional content. After positive assessment, the application has to be referred to the Board with a recommendation for approval and the proposed points value of the activity. Should the Board agree, a reference number will be allocated. Tax Attention is drawn to the fact that CPD activities are tax deductible under section 11 of the Income Tax Act. Contact details All correspondence regarding CPD must be addressed to the CPD Officer, Professional Board for Environmental Health Practitioners, P O Box 205, Pretoria, 0001. The Board's contact numbers are as follows: Telephone number: (012) 338 9339 Fax number: (012) 328 4862 E-mail address: cpd@hpcsa.co.za or emmanuelc@hpcsa.co.za Internet address: http://www.hpcsa.co.za UPDATE: NOVEMBER 2002