CPD (Continuing Professional Development) is an essential part of any professional’s life. It is a way to ensure that you are constantly learning and developing your skills and keeping up to date with the latest industry trends. For people in regulated professions, such as doctors or teachers, CPD is essential for revalidation. Here we look at what CPD is and how you can get it.
What is CPD for revalidation?
CPD is a way to keep up to date with the latest best practice in your field. It could be reading journals, attending conferences, or completing an online course. The important thing is that you are always meeting new people and gaining knowledge about developing yourself as a professional.
CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development, a lifelong process that never ends. It is a way to keep learning and growing as a professional, even when you’ve finished studying for your qualifications.
Why do I need CPD?
If you are in a regulated profession such as teaching or nursing, gaining CPD hours is crucial. In some professions, it is mandatory by law to have a certain amount of CPD hours every year to maintain your registration and work legally. These professionals include:
- Doctors, dentists, and pharmacists
- Nurses and midwives
- Teachers
- Veterinarians
- Dieticians
- Architects
- Social workers
- Speech & language therapists
- Occupational therapists
- Physiotherapists and exercise professionals
- Psychologists
- Counselors and psychotherapists.
Once you have qualified, you need to keep up your CPD hours every year to ensure you are registered with the professional body in your country. If they do not have enough CPD hours recorded on their records, they may not be able to revalidate.
How can I do CPD?
There are many ways to get your CPD hours, and there is no right or wrong way to go about it. Here are some ideas:
Attend conferences
Industry conferences allow professionals to meet other like-minded people and learn new things. They’re also a good way to gain knowledge about the industry itself. For example, if you’re in the education sector, attending an educational conference will inform you about new teaching methods and best practice guidelines.
Online courses
More people are learning online these days, with free or cheap online courses for many topics. This is also an excellent way to meet new passionate people about the same topics as you. WikiHow has some great courses on many different topics, which could also be studied at your own pace.
Read journals
Industry-specific journals contain regular articles written by experts for other professionals in that field. These can be a great source of knowledge and help you stay up to date with the latest developments within your industry. Try searching online for journals related to your field.
Networking
Talking to other professionals in your industry is one of the best ways to gain new knowledge and meet new friends/associates to collaborate with in future projects or studies. Try joining industry-specific online forums to meet people or attend conferences and participate in as many seminars as possible.
How do I maintain CPD?
The process of maintaining your CPD hours is straightforward. You just need to log in the CPD hours you have completed in a diary or journal at the end of each year. If it’s a particularly busy year, then that’s fine – just make sure you have enough time to complete these hours.
You should note down what was completed, who you did it with, what date it happened, and where. You can then use this information to prove that you have indeed completed your CPD hours in the future when you need to revalidate.
If you are short of time at the end of each year, try planning CPD activities throughout the year, so they don’t all come at the last minute. This means you can plan them into your daily schedule and complete them in your free time.
Conclusion
It’s never too late to get on the CPD train. If you’re looking to revalidate your certification, then consider what types of activities interest you and make time for them in your schedule.
Whether it be e learning, industry-specific journals, or networking events, there are plenty of opportunities available that will keep you up-to-date with practices in your field while also providing a learning opportunity for new skillsets at the same time!
We hope this article helped you learn about cpd for revalidation. Thanks for reading!
