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CPD is any learning outside of undergraduate education or postgraduate training that helps you maintain and improve your performance. It covers the development of your knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours across all areas of your professional practice. It includes both formal and informal learning activities.

The aims of CPD

Your CPD activities should maintain and improve:

• the quality of care you give your patients and the public
• the standards of the teams and the services in which you work.

Your CPD should keep you up to date and competent in all the work that you do. It should affirm what you do well, address areas requiring improvement and explore new knowledge, skills and behaviours.

Why CPD is important for doctors

• CPD helps you update what you learnt at medical school and during postgraduate training to reflect changes in practice, changes in the needs of patients and the service, and changes in society's expectations of the way doctors work.
• Effective CPD will help you to anticipate and respond to these changing demands. It enables you to keep up to date and fit to practise, and to maintain the professional standards required of you throughout your career.
• You will need to bring a summary of your CPD activities to your annual appraisal to show that you have met the requirements for revalidation. To find out more about how your CPD feeds into the broader appraisal and revalidation process, visit our Medical Appraisals & Revalidation page.
• CPD can also support specific changes in your practice, which may enhance your career opportunities and work satisfaction. For example, it can support you to work more effectively within multiprofessional teams and to develop leadership and educational skills.

If you want to align your CPD activities with a structured long-term career plan, career coaching can help you identify the right learning priorities and set meaningful goals for your professional development.

Activities could include:

• Attending an approved course by a medical college.
• Attending a specialist medical event, conference or clinical workshop.
• Undertaking a CPD e-learning course/module as run by an accredited online programme (e.g. Royal College, BMJ).
• Reading professional books or journal articles.
• Post-graduate teaching, educational supervision, examining and publishing.
• Peer-group meetings – peer reviews and peer tutoring.
• Non-clinical professional development – e.g. management training, communication skills and Information Technology (IT) training.

Still unsure how to present your CPD activities for your appraisal or what counts towards revalidation? Book an advisory call for clear, personalised guidance tailored to your scope of work.

For further information on medical appraisals and revalidation, kindly visit our Medical Appraisals & Revalidation page.

Want to learn more? Watch our expert guidance on medical appraisals and revalidation on our YouTube channel.