How to Tell if your CPD eLearning Course is Legitimate

Are you struggling to meet your CPD mandatory training requirements on time?

A CPD eLearning course could be the answer. You don’t have to commit to being in a particular place at a particular time. You can progress at a speed that suits you. You can fit it in around demanding shift patterns, on-calls and whatever else your profession may throw at you.

There are, of course, thousands of CPD health courses online, but how do you distinguish between those that are legitimate and those that simply aren’t? Your time is precious and you don’t want to waste it on classes or courses that won’t count towards your training requirements, or those that provide limited value for the time and money you invest.

That’s why we’ve put together this guide to help you understand what to look for in a legitimate CPD eLearning course.

Use these four checks to ensure the course you’re intending to take will be a good use of your time and further your development.

Is the CPD eLearning Course Certified by the CPD Certification Service? 

This should absolutely be the first thing you look for when weighing up whether an eLearning course is worth your time and personal investment.

As a general rule of thumb, if a course hasn’t been reviewed independently for quality of content and teaching, look elsewhere.

The CPD Certification Service is the UK’s independent accreditation service for professional development courses. It works with the NHS, top universities and other professional bodies to make sure the courses its members offer are up-to-date and meet a stringent set of standards.

CPD certification is a guarantee that the content is high value and taught competently. Look out for the “CPD Certified” stamp of approval on the eLearning courses you’re considering.

Who Is the eLearning Course Taught By?

As a healthcare worker, you expect all on-site training to be delivered by a qualified expert. You shouldn’t expect any less from your CPD eLearning course.

A legitimate eLearning course for healthcare practitioners should be designed and delivered by accomplished faculty members. The best person to lead a facial acupuncture course, for example, is a leading facial acupuncturist.Whilst this might seem like stating the obvious, there are plenty of online courses out there run by amateurs and imposters with little to no formal training or qualifications.

Taking an expert-led approach also helps to ensure that courses are as up to date as possible. To really have an impact on your career and on your practice, the CPD eLearning courses you choose should be informed by the most recent research available.

The only way to guarantee this is to look for courses with renowned healthcare practitioners at the forefront of research in their field – so make this a priority whilst browsing your CPD opportunities.

Does the Online Course Have Clearly Defined Goals?

When you’re considering taking a CPD course, it’s important to understand what outcomes you can expect and how they will progress your career.

That’s why a legitimate CPD course will have clearly defined learning objectives laid out from the get-go. Your provider should be able to tell you what you’ll be able to do and how your practice will have been developed by the end of the course, together with the type of methods you’ll use along the way.

Don’t accept anything less than absolute clarity here – you’re investing your time and money (or your employer’s money) into this training course. You deserve to know how it will impact you and your career and whether the teaching methods used will suit your existing commitments and style of learning.

Take a look at Health Med. Training Soutions’ Acuskinlift Method course as an example. From the course overview, it’s clear that:

• You’ll be able to incorporate facial cosmetic acupuncture into your practice by the end of the course
• The confidence the course gives you will help you and your clinic stand out in a competitive skincare market and increase revenues
• The learning will be conducted via an online portal with a variety of training resources
• The course is modular and there is a detailed breakdown of what you’ll learn in each module
• You’ll need membership of a recognised healthcare board and medical malpractice insurance to participate

In other words, you can clearly discern who the course is for,whether it will be beneficial for you, what’s contained in each module, what the key learning outcomes are and who the course was designed by.

Legitimate CPD providers are forthcoming with the particulars of their courses from the outset.

 

 

Does It Sound Too Good to Be True?

“You get what you pay for”may be a cliché – but it’s a useful one.

Of course, there are good eLearning solutions out there that are cheap – or even free – for everyday consumers to up their skills or knowledge in certain disciplines. However, as a working healthcare professional, few, if any of these,provide the depth of knowledge you’re looking for in a healthcare CPD course.

Whilst all legitimate CPD providers aim to make their courses as affordable as possible, the reality is that there are costs associated with creating a useful, informative CPD eLearning course that will provide the meaningful personal and professional career benefits you’re looking to attain as a healthcare worker.

Unfortunately, there has been a recent rise in the number of fake online courses that can be found being advertised on the internet at the moment. “With so many new providers entering the online learning market, it has become the new Wild West, where learners can be easily hooked by cowboys,” warns Amanda Rosewarne of The CPD Standards Office. “It is critical that genuine providers seek accreditation to ensure that their products stand head and shoulders above the rest and that learners are not hoodwinked by cowboys.”

To avoid both outright scams and courses that may be vague, generalist, or otherwise of poor quality, always check for CPD certification, the legitimacy of faculty members, and consult official review sites to see if the reviews match up to the testimonials you’ve seen from the course provider.

Accredited CPD Courses from Health Med. Training Solutions

CPD is not an easy one to manage. Fitting it in between a busy work rota and personal life commitments can be a struggle.

That’s why you have an obligation to yourself to invest those hours in legitimate eLearning courses that provide tangible benefits. For all the effort you put in, you deserve online learning options that result in solid professional skills development.

Health Med. Training Solutions offers progressive, specialised courses through online eLearning to empower you and your practice.

Try our latest online courses Acuskinlift Method (by Dr John Tsagaris and Brett Robertson) and Acupuncture for Female Health (by Archna Patel) independently accredited by CPD-UK.

Coming soon are courses by leading professors and doctors from a more biomedical stance. Register your interest here, or get in touch for more information.