Aligning values with standards: a comparison of professional values in Continuing Education standards

Continuing education (CE) aims to help health professionals fulfill their ethical responsibility of maintaining professional competence. This research compares the CE guidelines and standards of 11 health professional organizations in relation to five domains of evolving professional values: ethics, cultural diversity, social justice, interprofessionalism, and self-care. Results showed that ethics received the greatest attention across the CE standards, followed by interprofessionalism and cultural diversity. This study offers a starting point for CE accreditors to examine the extent to which their CE standards align with their profession's stipulated values, and to situate themselves within the broader context of health profession accreditors.