Training and bursary cash on offer for healthcare professionals

Healthcare professionals have the chance to win sexual health training and a bursary to improve their practice's website, thanks to two new initiatives from Durex.

The Catalyst Excellence FYI sexual health quiz is designed to test the knowledge of healthcare professionals and features some questions on how the law relates to sexual health. Entrants who answer all the questions correctly will be asked to answer a short tie-breaker, and a panel of judges will then decide — based on these responses — who will win the prize of an FPA trainer for the day.

The quiz, written by senior lecturers on sexual health from Staffordshire University, aims to tackle difficult questions and encourage participants to reflect on how they navigate complex moral obstacles professionally.

Meanwhile, the Catalyst Innovation Website Award offers healthcare professionals the chance to win £1,000 to develop or promote their site. Entrants need to submit details of their health clinic or social care centre's website and explain exactly what they would do to improve it if they were to win the cash.

Applications will be assessed by an expert panel of judges — including representatives from Brook, Durex and FPA — who will rate each website based on its objectives, strategic thinking, content and website programming.

The two competitions are the latest projects from Durex Catalyst, an initiative that powers excellence, innovation and leadership amongst sexual health professionals throughout the UK.

Charles Shepherd, Head of Health Promotion at Durex, said: "These two projects are designed to continue with Durex Catalyst's aim of making a genuine contribution to the nation's sexual health."

" Professionals working within health and social care often face moral and professional dilemmas when dealing with complex issues around STI prevention, but the Catalyst Excellence FYI quiz aims to shed light on these issues."

"The Catalyst Innovation Website Award is a great opportunity to show off the quality of your site and even win a prize to help develop it further. The size of your current site isn't important — we are looking for an exciting website with bags of potential."

The FYI quiz will close on February 28 2011 and the winner of the FPA trainer will be announced before the end of May 2011. Entries for the Website Award must be received by February 28 2011, and applicants will hear if their entry has been successful by the end of May.