Rehab and Community Care Medicine Winter 2024: Continuing education

For healthcare providers, engaging in professional development (PD) is an important part of learning and keeping with up-to-date information on approaches, research, and new findings. Canadian occupational therapists (OTs) have a responsibility to “engage in ongoing learning and professional development,” according to the Association of Canadian Occupational Therapy Regulatory Organizations et al. Engaging in lifelong learning is also important for OTs to be able to navigate changes in competency demands, recent evidence, and changing practice environments. Continuing competence has a dual purpose: protecting and benefiting the public.

The recent pandemic also created a rare opportunity to facilitate an accessible Canada-wide approach to PD. The convenience of virtual events has provided healthcare and community professionals with rare access to all webinars, workshops, and online courses, regardless of their physical location. OTs in rural and remote locations have shared how online professional development activities have resulted in more team members being able to access and participate in direct training activities, instead of relying on one team member to travel to a training and then prepare an in-service for the rest of the team.

Across the country, OTs complete a two-year master’s degree as their entry-level occupational therapy education, which provides a generalist base of knowledge and skills. PD, therefore, has a role in continuing the growth of knowledge and skills for the area of practice, client age group, and practice setting that the OT works in. In addition, some areas of practice, such as psychotherapy, also require more advanced training to be eligible to practice. Within Canada, the provincial regulatory organizations are responsible for regulating occupational therapy practice, including ensuring that OTs are competent to deliver safe and effective care. Continuing competence of occupational therapists, including professional development, is therefore regulated by the regulatory organizations. The continuing competence programs vary from province to province, with most provinces including a self-directed professional development plan, which includes identifying their own learning needs and actions to meet their learning goals. The table below summarizes key elements of the continuing competence program in each province.

Continuing professional development for OTs is defined by the American Occupational Therapy Association as “a self-directed, reflective process of lifelong learning aimed at maintaining practitioner competence, ensuring client safety and quality outcomes, enhancing or expanding professional practice, and reaching career goals”. Formal professional development activities include participation in:

◼ Conferences, courses, workshops, webinars, and in-service education sessions.

◼ Informal types of professional development activities may include: mentorship, blogging, reading peer-reviewed journal articles, networking on social media, team learning, communities of practice, professional portfolios, providing clinical supervision, and teaching formal professional development activities.

Participation in professional development activities alone does not guarantee competence. Following participation in professional development activities, an important next step is to engage in critical reflection on the new knowledge and skills, and how to integrate these into their practice. Asking questions and obtaining feedback from multiple sources can also support the learning and integration process. Learning with a like-minded group or with your clinical team would favour the integration of new knowledge and skills. Professional development plays a key role in supporting OTs as they stay up to date on the latest evidence and information to be able to provide high-quality services to their clients.

Christina Lamontagne is the Professional Development Manager and Josée Séguin is the Director of Knowledge Translation Programs at the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT).