BMJ Learning, part of the BMJ Group, announced today (Monday 4 October 2010) that it is developing an online revalidation toolkit to make it easier for doctors to meet their professional development needs.
The toolkit will be free of charge for BMA members and will be available to non-BMA members at a commercial price via annual subscription.
The announcement comes as funding by the Department of Health in England for the NHS Appraisal Toolkit is due to end on 31 October 2010.
Doctors have raised concerns that meeting the anticipated future demands of appraisal and revalidation will reduce the time available for direct patient care. The new toolkit will tackle this issue by helping doctors in all specialties including general practice plan, record and track their activities in one easy-to-use online portfolio.
Available in the first quarter of 2011, the toolkit will record all activity on BMJ Learning seamlessly, and there will be a one click recording from all other BMJ Group products. The system will also allow doctors to log other professional development activities (such as audits and 360 degree appraisals) by uploading relevant documents and adding free text entries.
A unique tagging system will also enable doctors to "mark up" learning activities for particular purposes, such as GMC duties of a doctor and the foundation year curriculum. Doctors will also be able to sort their learning activities by date, subject or type of activity, so they can produce relevant reports for appraisal and revalidation.
The toolkit can also be used as a personal development plan to map out significant future events and career goals against a curriculum or in a calendar. Doctors in training should also find this a valuable and time-saving resource.
Dr Kieran Walsh, Editor of BMJ Learning said:
"This initiative reflects our continuing commitment to helping doctors learn and develop the skills they need to provide high quality patient care. As well as providing interactive learning resources and revision aids, doctors can now also plan their learning needs and record all the learning they undertake in one place. We are confident that this toolkit will help doctors' progress through appraisal and revalidation as smoothly and efficiently as possible."
Tony Bourne, Chief Executive of the British Medical Association added:
"We are delighted to partner with the BMJ Group on this initiative and offer the toolkit as an additional membership benefit. We are confident that BMA members will find the toolkit a valuable resource at every stage of their career."
For further information please contact:
Emma Dickinson
direct telephone: +44 (0)20 7383 6529
email:
British Medical Journal
BMJ Group
BMA House
Tavistock Square
London
WC1H 9JP
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