Continuing professional development (CPD) is important for all professions, occupations, and industries. In the medical world, the value of outstanding practitioners goes without question, and fortunately, there is a wide range of ways in which qualified individuals can continually improve and enhance their knowledge, skills, and competencies. In China, sports rehabilitation practice is a relatively new mainstream field. It rose in prominence in the lead up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic games and has steadily continued to increase in popularity in the intervening years. That said, there is a lack of studies readily accessible about this field in English-speaking academic outlets. There is also a relative dearth of qualitative depth enlightening studies to complement the statistical and quantitative ones. Consequently, this chapter seeks to add to an emerging body of knowledge in an emerging field.
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Professional development is defined as the acquisition of new skills through continued education and training, and may include classes, workshops, conference attendance and certification (Parsons, 2022). Parsons (2022) also notes how continuing professional development (CPD) may be realised through in-house learning sessions and mentorship, alongside independent self-led initiatives. The benefits of CPD are vast, with employers able to achieve higher retention rates, attract better talent, and upskill employees to meet emerging industry trends, while learning new skills, boosting confidence and credibility, enhancing leadership capabilities, network building, and career advancement are all possible benefits for employees (Parsons, 2022). In some countries, such as Australia, physiotherapists are required by the national board to continually upgrade their professional knowledge and skills so that healthcare standards are as high as possible (Australian Physiotherapy Association, 2023). The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (2023) also advocates a long-term perspective, suggesting that practitioners and students in this field ought to keep an up-to-date CPD portfolio regardless of career stage. The challenge for many physiotherapists however is that all contexts differ with respect to CPD access and availability. One challenge may be time demands. Another challenge may be access to funding. In China, some research studies have indicated that greater faculty development is needed on some field specific courses (Meng et al., 2021). On a national level, with physiotherapy having only come to the fore when the Olympic bid was successful in 2008, as Jones and Skinner (2013) highlight, this is understandable. It does not however downplay the importance of critical reflection on a practitioner level within the same given context, especially as there is a growing and ageing population in need of greater rehabilitation support, to which Guo et al. (2019) draw attention and the work of Cao et al. (2018a and 2018b) illustrates. In light of the challenges domestic practitioners consequently face, such as time pressures and relatively heavy workloads, this paper considers a case study example and the CPD experience of a sports rehabilitation physiotherapist over the course of her career to date. It will consider what CPD she has undertaken, starting with her domestic studies before considering her overseas learning and moving on to her work in a private clinic. How useful this was for her at that time, and what would have been helpful and would still be beneficial to her and many similar health professionals as they engage with their lifelong learning CPD journey will also be investigated.