WILLINGNESS OF GRADUATE RADIOGRAPHERS TO CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

BACKGROUND: Continuing professional development (CPD) is a systematic and ongoing process of education undertaken by health professionals to maintain up-to-date knowledge and development skills. OBJECTIVE: To assess the level of willingness of Radiographers to undertake continuing professional development in Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A convenience sampling technique was adopted for the study. A self-administered and wellstructured questionnaire consisting 21 items with 3 sections; A, B and C was developed. Section A was on the sociodemographic data of the respondents with 7 items. Section B had 12 items that elicited responses on the level of willingness and section C with 2 items that focused on suggestions to encourage CPD. These were distributed online and offline to Radiographers in Nigeria. A total of 100 respondents were recruited for the study: 30 respondents were offline and the remaining 70 via the online route. Across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria, 30 respondents were gotten from the SouthSouth, 18 from the South-East, 20 from the South-West, 10 from the North-West, 10 from the North-East, and 12 from NorthCentral. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0 at a p-value of > 0.05. Statistics used were descriptive statistics which included charts and tables, inferential statistics which include Kruskal-Wallis Test which was used to test for differences in level of willingness across the 6 geopolitical zones. Cochran's Q test was used to compare the willingness simultaneously. A correlation test using Spearman's rho was used to assess the relationship between years of working experience and level of willingness. A Chi-square analysis was also used to check for association. RESULTS: A total of 84 respondents (84%) willingly participated in continuing professional development programme out of the 100 participants used in this study. There was no significant difference in the level of willingness across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. Lack of finance (41%) and location of programmes (27%) were observed to be the major barriers to continuing professional development. There was also a significant positive relationship between years of working experience and willingness to participate in Continuing Professional Development programmes. A majority (39%) suggested that the cost of the programmes be reduced and 21% suggested the programmes be decentralized. CONCLUSION: The study concluded tha