McConnell K, Newlon C, Delate T. The Impact of Continuing Professional Development Versus Traditional Continuing Pharmacy Education on Pharmacy Practice. Ann Pharmacother. 2010; 44(10): 1585-95.
This study examined the effect of using CPD as compared to CE. It was a non-blinded, randomized, controlled study, which was completed with full and part time pharmacists at Kaiser Permanente Colorado. The study used two arms, 10 months of CPE or 10 months of CPD, and surveys at the time of enrollment and at the end of 10 months. Results indicated that pharmacists who were enrolled in CPD more often reported improvement in their perceptions of pharmacy practice than pharmacists enrolled in CPE. The participants were surveyed to determine their perception of their ability to identify learning needs, develop learning plans, implement the learning plans, evaluate the outcome/impact, and document the results. The authors state the need for additional studies to assess if the improvement in perceptions leads to better outcomes for patients. They also call for more studies to assess if CPD results in practice enhancements.