Editorial

Article Outline

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As part of our commitment to innovation and support for our readership, this edition of the Journal sees the introduction of papers accredited for Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

All clinicians are under increasing pressure to provide evidence that they are keeping their professional knowledge up to date, and this has spawned a whole industry that offers courses, multimedia, and on-line opportunities to record educational activity. Because of the nature of these services they are often quite general and do not address the specific needs of specialists.

The papers approved for CPD in this journal are designed to address this problem. Because they have been published in a specialist maxillofacial journal they will be of interest and relevance to maxillofacial surgeons, and will be evidence of participation in relevant educational activity.

After you have read the papers and completed the CPD module, a certificate for one hour of verifiable CPD, endorsed by the education committee of the British Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons, will be issued.

The module is available on the BJOMS website (http://www.bjoms.com). Click on the CPD link on the contents section on the left hand side of the home page and this will take you to the first page, on which the process is outlined.

There will be two questions for each of the 5 CPD papers, which will be in the format of multiple choice questions. The pass mark is 70%.

When the questions have been completed, a CPD certificate for one hour will be issued, which can be downloaded and printed out for inclusion in a portfolio. This service is free for members of the BAOMS and AAOMS, and for non-members the certificate can be obtained by paying on-line.

If you fail to complete the module satisfactorily you will be able to view the correct answers and retake the module. The module will be available for 12 months, after which time it will be withdrawn.

The future for all clinical professionals will involve the compilation and production of evidence of continuing professional development. This new service for maxillofacial surgeons will enable them to record and store some of this evidence and I commend it to readers of this journal.