Continuing Professional Development (CPD), or Continuing Education (CE), is a requirement for health professionals and administered by their regulatory body or professional association. AcupunctureCPDonline provides a number of free and paid services related to continuing education.
Our blog is a free service for health professionals providing relevant up-to-date information and commentary about acupuncture, oriental medicine and health related issues. We will also use the blog to provide summary information about new CPD activities that we’ve added to the site.
The ‘My CPD Record‘ is a free service provided to all members, and allows you to record all of your CPD activities. Using this service makes sense, as all your CPD is recorded in one location. At the end of each CPD or CEU cycle, you can simply save or print out your entire record for submission to your regulatory body.
The ‘My CPD Record’ provides a convenient and efficient way to keep track of all your CPD and makes it simple and easy to submit your entire CPD record at the end of your cycle.
‘My CPD Record’ is included in both Basic and Annual CPD membership options.
Online Courses
Acupuncture CPD Online provides different types of courses.
A typical online CPD course will be a 1-2 hour activity created with Web 2.0 multimedia technology. Each course may include screencasts, pdf transcripts and reports, audio podcasts (MP3) and video (streaming). Each course will be followed by an online ‘quiz’, the aim of which is to verify that the member has completed and comprehended the activity. Each activity completed by a member will be automatically recorded in their My CPD Record.
Premium CPD [online]
Premium CPD will include screencasts, transcripts, reports, podcasts and streaming video, and will also include webinars (online seminars) and interactive case-based learning activities.
Third Party CPD [online and offline]
We are currently working in collaboration with a range of CPD providers who have excellent ‘offline’ CPD courses, such as seminars, conferences and practical technique workshops. Our aim is to include online ‘pre-work’ learning materials and also to develop ‘follow-up’ learning materials and continued access to course providers.
We’re sure you’ll agree that this will enhance learning and increase the value of offline courses. If you are a provider of CPD, or would like to start providing CPD, please contact us about ‘collaboration‘.
For your flexibility, there are two levels of membership
CPD Annual Membership includes ‘My CPD Record’ and an annual subscription to our Monthly CPD courses. Members can choose to pay an annual fee or they can choose a recurring monthly billing option. Each month, a new CPD activity is added and members are notified by email. When you click on the link in the email you will be taken to your new CPD activity. Monthly CPD activities will typically take between 1-2 hours to complete, and will provide a minimum of 20 hours of CPD annually.
Annual Members have access to our Premium CPD courses at discounted rates, which provides them the opportunity to undertake additional activities to those included in their annual subscription.
Most members choose Annual Membership and take advantage of the cost savings on their annual CPD.
Basic Membership is free and includes ‘My CPD Record’ and pay-as-you-go access to our Online Courses. Basic members are able to search and browse our database of courses and select those that they would like to complete. In some cases, health professionals may only need 1-2 hours of CPD, in which case they may choose to register as a Basic Member and pay per course. This is a convenient way to undertake online CPD, however Annual Membership provides significant discounts on CPD courses.
What’s inside the Membership Site?
AcupunctureCPDonline is based on a ‘mash-up’ of a number of state-of-the-art Web 2.0 technologies. By working with excellent designers and programmers, we have taken these technologies, ‘mashed’ them together, and added significant functionality. The result is a learning platform that is simple and easy for users, yet powerful enough to run an international learning system that surpasses the best that many Universities currently offer.
Inside our membership site, you will find an interactive virtual learning environment that supports complete online learning, or blended learning – where online learning augments face-to-face contact. The membership site is designed to support collaboration between members and the development of a meaningful social learning community.
Members will find things like forums, wikis, and blogs as well as more traditional learning items such as ‘live’ slide presentations [screencasts], audio and video. Each course that you are ‘subscribed’ to will be listed on your ‘home page’, and you will be able to easily access all of the modules and activities.
At any time, you can view and modify your ‘Profile’ or your ‘My CPD Record’, contact other course participants or moderators, leave questions on the discussion forum, or comments on the blog posts.
The Internet and Web 2.0 are changing the way we learn and communicate – and we’re excited about the opportunity to introduce you to these developments and be involved in your ongoing education.
Nic Lucas, Robert Moran, Katherine Berry & Luke Rickards