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Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
The RCVS Guide to Professional Conduct makes it very clear that veterinary surgeons have a responsibility to ensure that they maintain and continue to develop their professional knowledge and skills. CPD is therefore the personal obligation of all responsible veterinary surgeons and should be seen as the continuous progression of capability and competence.
The recommended minimum CPD is 105 hours over three years with an average of 35 hours per year. It is appreciated that most veterinary surgeons will do considerably more than this.
What is Continuing Professional Development and why is it necessary?
What should be recorded on the CPD Record Card?
What other records should I keep?
When do I need to submit my CPD Record Card?
Where can I find information about courses and other CPD activities?
CPD Requirements for Postgraduate Qualifications
CPD - The Future
Mandatory CPD is already a requirement in many other professions, and recertification or revalidation is an issue that may need to be considered by the veterinary profession in the not too distant future. Professor Stephen May, Chairman of the Education Policy & Specialisation Committee, wrote about the development of a universal CPD culture, participation in further CPD learning and its certification in his 2003 paper, “CPD the Future” which can be downloaded here.
CPD - The Future (PDF 156Kb)
CPD - The Future (Word 40Kb)
What is Continuing Professional Development and why is it necessary?
The RCVS has adopted the definition of CPD as "the systematic maintenance, improvement and broadening of knowledge and skills and the development of personal qualities necessary for the execution of professional and technical duties throughout the Member's working life." As members of a self-regulating profession, veterinary surgeons are under a professional obligation to maintain their competence and should be seeking to make continuous improvements to the standard of service they provide to their patients and clients.
The RCVS expects all its members to engage in CPD to ensure the maintenance of the highest professional standards in line with the promise each made on admission to membership, namely, "I promise above all that I will pursue the work of my profession with uprightness of conduct and that my constant endeavour will be to ensure the welfare of the animals committed to my care".
What counts as CPD?
Broadly speaking, any activities you undertake in order to further your professional competence as part of a planned development programme can be counted towards your CPD. You do not have to participate in 35 hours of face to face learning.
Although this is not an exhaustive list, appropriate activities may include:
- Studying towards a qualification
- Shadowing or mentoring in your own practice or in another practice
- Participating in 'learning sets' - informal networks of colleagues who learn together, for example by comparing and discussing case reports
- In-house training
- Attending organised courses, lectures or seminars
- Secondments to other practices
- Critical reading of veterinary journals and other relevant publications - keeping a reading diary/notes...
- Research, including research in preparation for giving lectures/seminars/presentations
Working on new projects or other workplace activities such as case conferences could also count as CPD activity if you systematically reflect on what you have learnt. Similarly, research and clinical audit activities can also be recognised as adding to your professional development if you can account for how they have contributed to your own personal learning.
Private, documented, self-directed learning such as keeping up to date with relevant veterinary journals can be incorporated into your CPD plans and it is good practice to keep your own personal record of such activities, perhaps in the form of a learning diary. Otherwise, undocumented private studies can account for up to ten hours per year on average on the CPD Record Card.
There are increasing opportunities to take part in on line assessment, and other 'mediated' distance learning involving on line tutors and learning groups. There is no restriction on the number of hours of on-line assessment or mediated distance learning that can be counted towards your CPD.
You may choose to work towards a recognised qualification, such as the RCVS Certificate or Diploma, modules of the new RCVS Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice qualifications, or a university postgraduate degree, and achieving such a qualification will provide ample evidence of engagement in CPD activities. Use the card to make a summarised note of any courses you attend, secondment experience, and time spent putting together your case logs/reports and keep a seperate file of further details, plans, learning diaries, attendance certificates and notes.
Ultimately, the judgement of what should count as CPD will vary for each individual, and it is therefore up to you to decide how best to fulfil your own learning needs. It is your responsibility to keep a record of your learning plans and activities, and to keep documented evidence of participation in courses and other events.
Planning your CPD
You should review your CPD needs regularly and plan ahead so that you can make the most of development opportunities as they arise. Planning ahead will also enable you to take part in more cost-effective and focused activities, rather than attending seminars or other events ad hoc, and then finding that they perhaps did not meet your needs. If you take part in an appraisal process at work, this will help you to identify areas you need to concentrate on, and should also provide you with an auditable record of your agreed development plans and activities. Remember that undertaking CPD is not just about attending courses - it's about continuing your professional learning in whatever way best helps you to maintain your competence and helps you to improve the professional service you provide.
What should be recorded on the CPD Record Card?
Follow the headings on the table to give brief descriptions of the CPD you have undertaken. Under the heading "Where undertaken/Provider name" indicate not only the location, but also the name of the CPD provider or institution involved. For the subject area, it may be helpful to group different activities together under subheadings, e.g. clinical, non-clinical, practice or other management development activities.
Time is considered to be the simplest way to record CPD activities. It is not always easy to measure the time spent on development activities, but an estimate of time (in whole hours) should be shown in the appropriate column. If you are working towards an external qualification, or taking part in a nationally accredited distance learning programme that includes interaction with tutors and others, you can record your study time under column B. Include the name of the qualification towards which you are working, and the name of any courses you attend. You may record up to ten hours average per year for other undocumented private studies under column A. Attendance at a whole day conference or course would normally constitute seven claimable hours under column C. An evening meeting would normally count for one to two hours.
What other records should I keep?
You should keep a seperate personal file with any certificates of attendance, learning diaries, CPD plans, assessment results, or other documents that serve as evidence of your involvement in CPD. You may find it useful as part of planning your professional development to have a detailed account of your learning experiences for your own reference.
When do I need to submit my CPD Record Card?
Completed record cards need to be submitted with applications for RCVS Certificates and Diplomas and for Recognised Specialist status, and will be viewed during inspections for approval under the RCVS Practice Standards Scheme. The RCVS also inspects CPD records for all veterinary staff when it visits the veterinary schools. The RCVS may at times undertake random sampling of record cards in order to monitor CPD participation so you could therefore be invited to submit your record card at any time.
Where can I find information about courses and other CPD activities?
The RCVS does not itself accredit any CPD courses but there are various sources of information, such as the CPD Events Calendar published in In Practice, available at http://inpractice.bvapublications.com/cgi/calendarcontent. The various BVA specialist and regional divisions organise CPD events, as do universities and many commercial CPD providers. Other useful sites include: LifelongLearning and http://www.cve.edu.au/.
RCVS Trust Library can help you meet your continuing professional development targets. The Library holds over 30,000 books, reports and conferences, all available for postal loan upon request. In addition, for a small annual membership fee , library members can enjoy access to our range of electronic resources from home and work PCs. This includes being able to download full-text articles from over 2,600 journals and carry out your own literature searches with access to millions of abstracts. Library membership also provides substantial discounts on services such as photocopies of journal articles, postal loans, literature searches and quarterly updates. Quarterly updates are lists of bibliographic references of recently published articles on a particular subject.
CPD Requirements for Postgraduate Qualifications
As the professional and statutory body for the veterinary profession, a significant concern of the RCVS is to promote the continuing professional development of its members.
Submission of completed CPD record cards is necessary for applications for all RCVS Certificate and Diploma examinations, and for Recognised Specialist status.
For more detailed information on RCVS postgraduate qualifications, select from the list below:
Information for overseas candidates
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