P4-5

12 / 100

12 Speak Out June 2016
Professional Development
Reflecting
on a decade
of CPD
involvement
Kate Bridgman shares her
personal experience of
CPD as an attendee, a SPA
CPD committee member, a
SPA CPD presenter and an
international Conference
presenter.
I’m about to clock up my first decade as a
speechie. No two years yet have been the same, and
as I get older, I’m certainly not wiser. With each year I
want to know more, understand more, do better and
be better. First it was to “fix” my clients, then keep up
with grown-up speechies, and now to get it right in
front of students.
As a new grad I remember attending my first SPA
CPD event. Catching the train into the city, signing in
and then watching, amazed at how everyone seemed
to know each other. Greetings were a mix of hugs
and, ‘I think I know you, have spoken to you, read a
report from you’ exchanges. It was like being a kid
at a dinner party, trying to be grown up but not quite
hitting the mark.
As a student I wasn’t strong in my theory subjects.
I loved placement and very much learnt by doing,
which was really by imitating what I saw my CEs do
that worked. But once I got a taste for attending CPD
events I was hooked. A whole day on a topic that I
was immersed in at work was completely different. I
came to understand the evidence in evidence based
practice, about how clinical research gave context,
and how we had a profession full of speechies who
had years of work and study behind the ideas and
interventions they were sharing.
Following my new grad year I was fortunate enough
to join the CPD committee. What a group. They were
all lovely and had such good ideas. I was very much
the snacks and water girl, but loved the contacts
and to hear of speechie stories from everyone’s
workplaces. Over the years I have seen many a
wedding photo and baby bump—and have even
had my turn in sharing photos and a baby! I have
developed a great network of colleagues and many of
us have worked with each other along the way.
As I have become more involved in the CPD process,
both on the committee and as a presenter, I have
a better understanding of just how incredible the
National Office team are. Earlier this year I spent two
days in a National Office think-tank, tasked with the
job to explore SPA’s Future Learning Strategy. As
I sat around the table, I was both humbled and in
awe of the people we have driving the future of our
profession in Australia.
In recent years I have had the opportunity to travel to
international conferences. While it’s fun (completely