4 minute read
The CPD Cycle
THECPD CYCLE
Continuing professional development (CPD) is obviously mandatory, but the stress and anxiety that often surround keeping your portfolio up-to-date is not. Let’s look at the expert advice offered by CPD UK to ensure you keep on top of your professional development throughout the year
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Keeping clear and organised records of your CPD doesn’t sound like a huge task, however, if you are not the most organised person in the world and tend to leave mundane tasks, like filing and admin, to the very last minute then it can feel like an insurmountable chore. If you are selected for an HCPC audit, you don’t want to be caught without enough time to get your portfolio in order, it will cause you undue stress and panic, so the best way to avoid this is to ensure you keep on top of your portfolio all year round. CPD UK recommend adopting the CPD Cycle as a way to clearly set out your CPD plans each year, to help you focus on the areas that will help your professional development and achieve all the learning objectives and outcomes that you set your mind to. It will enable you to manage your CPD portfolio easily and it will also help you to keep up-to-date with industry developments and innovations.
IDENTIFYING YOUR NEEDS
In order to effectively plan your CPD needs, you first must take a step back and assess the areas of your professional role that you would like to improve on or expand. Recognising your areas of strength and weakness will help you to pin down the areas you should focus on to help expand your knowledge and further your career.
PLANNING
Once you have identified the areas you wish to develop, it’s time to start searching for training opportunities, webinars, networking events or projects that would support your learning objectives. Get some dates in your diary for throughout the year and plan your learning outcomes accordingly.
Time to attend your chosen seminars, events and training opportunities. Before each event make notes of what you are looking to learn from it and be sure to make the most of every event you attend. Keep in mind the areas that you want to develop and remain focused on improving those, increasing your knowledge and furthering your professional skills. Make sure you retain any CPD certificates on offer through these programmes and events.
REFLECTION
As soon as you have completed any form of CPD activity make sure you reflect on what you have learned. This is best to do shortly after so everything is still fresh in your mind, allowing you to assess what you have taken from it. Consider the following questions: 1 What did I learn? 2 How has my knowledge increased? 3 What skills have I learnt? 4 What can I put into practice? 5 How can I make a positive improvement to my existing work activities?” This will help you concisely extract your observations and learnings and allow you to implement them easily in your practice.
IMPLEMENTATION
The final stage of the CPD Cycle is ultimately using your new-found knowledge and skills in your current practice. Implementing what you have learned in your own practice is the best method of developing your skills and improving your work as an OT. This is the best way to learn and further your practice as an OT, so don’t be afraid to assert your new leanings. Don’t let your CPD portfolio overwhelm you at the last minute, make your life easier by continually recording your learning outcomes and reflections, and keep track of all the certificates you gain from attending seminars and events, both in person and virtually. Try to file them in date order to keep them organised and consider looking at some of the CPD apps out there to help you store everything in one safe place.
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