Steps to a perfect CPD course

Steps to a perfect CPD

CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development and is the term used to describe the learning activities professionals engage in to develop and enhance their skills and knowledge. Our standards say that you have benefited from the cpd course if you can 1) improve your work and 2) have a positive impact on your service users. To help you get started with the following steps might be useful to consider:

1. Planning

 Planning your CPD would set your weakness and strengths, which would require you to make an honest analysation of your current situation and determining your future goals i.e., what you would like to achieve from doing the CPD course. Create a plan of action to achieve these goals

2. Start

Once your planning is completed, the next step is to start working on it. Get out there and start developing your skills. You would need to have organisational and time management skills to include fit this into your schedule.

3. Record

Make sure to be always writing a reflection and recording all the tasks you have done throughout the course to help you keep track of the plan. Show CPD you have done. CPD is more about quality than quantity so make sure you focus to record on the skills you have done and learnt and not get confused with daily or generic activities.

4. Reflect 

Reflection is very crucial as it will give you insight into your performance. Value for work, your colleagues and your company. Without reflection, CPD becomes less beneficial and meaningful as a tool. Therefore, it is useful to ask yourself questions like:

What have you learned?

Did you aim to achieve your goals through the course?

How will you apply the skills gained in practice?

What are some positive and negative aspects you’ve experienced with the course and how do you reflect upon it? 

And so on.