Continuing Education (CE) aims to help health professionals fulfill their ethical responsibility of maintaining professional competence. This research compares the CE guidelines and standards of 11 health professional organizations in relation to five domains of evolving professional values: ethics, cultural diversity, social justice, interprofessionalism, and self-care. Results showed that ethics received the greatest attention across the CE standards, followed by interprofessionalism and cultural diversity. This study offers a starting point for CE accreditors to examine the extent to which their CE (...) standards align with their profession’s stipulated values, and to situate themselves within the broader context of health profession accreditors. (shrink)

ABSTRACT With few exceptions, the effectiveness of continuing education mandates has been measured by self-report assessments of the professional psychologists who fulfill them. The present investigation provided a longitudinal look at the number of approved CE providers and the incidence of licensing board complaints across a succession of two-year cycles prior to, and following, the 2012 implementation of CE mandates in the State of Illinois. Findings showed a substantial increase in the number of CE providers across that time, though no (...) significant change in the incidence of licensing board complaints, suggesting that the increased availability of CE did not translate into lower complaint rates. Possible reasons for these findings are noted, and recommendations for future work are detailed in support of an evidence-based approach to CE that better articulates and aligns its objectives with its outcomes in an era of renewed accountability in the health professions. (shrink)