What should be recorded?

A list of activities which may be counted as CPD is detailed above.

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 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. You can use the online PDR to keep such notes. When documenting your private study, you should record:

• the subject matter;
• the type of learning you have undertaken to improve your knowledge and/or skills;
• the resulting outcomes of your learning - for instance, a change to the way you undertake a procedure or approach a problem.

There are increasing opportunities to take part in online assessment, and other 'mediated' distance learning involving online tutors and learning groups. There is no restriction on the number of hours of online assessment or mediated distance learning that can count towards your CPD. You should keep notes of all such activities so you can account for what you have learnt.

You may choose to work towards a qualification, such as the European Diploma, modules of the RCVS Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice, the Diploma in Advanced Veterinary Nursing or other university postgraduate certificates and degrees. Achieving such a qualification will provide ample evidence of engagement in CPD activities.

Use your CPD recordings to make a summarised note of any courses you attend, secondment experience, and time spent putting together your case logs/reports. If you are using the online Professional Development Record, you can enter more information about your studies, including your observations and reflections on what you have learnt; you can upload notes, reading plans or other documents; you can set yourself objectives in the development plan, and keep a note of planned CPD activities or goals in your personal CPD diary and check them off when you’ve achieved them. If you’re using the paper-based Record Card, keep a separate file for your more detailed notes of your learning.

Ultimately, the judgement of what should count as CPD will vary for each individual, and it’s therefore up to you to decide how best to fulfil your own learning needs. It’s your responsibility to keep a record of your learning plans and activities, and to keep documented evidence of participation in courses and other activities.

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.

If you are using the online Professional Development Record, you can use the “My Development Plan” section to set your objectives, define your criteria for measuring success, make notes on the actions you propose to take to meet your goals, and describe how you intend to implement your plans.

If you are using the online Professional Development Record, there are sections for you to keep a more detailed reflective account of your development activities, as well as a structure for recording your plans. If you wish, you can upload electronic records of attendance, certificates, photos, and other notes.

If you are only using the printed version of the CPD Record Card, you should keep a separate 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.

You don’t need to send in your CPD Record Card to us every year. Completed records may need to be submitted with applications for the RCVS Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice, Diplomas and for Advanced Practitioner and Specialist status, and will be viewed during inspections for approval under the RCVS Practice Standards Scheme. We also inspect CPD records for all veterinary staff when it undertakes its statutory visits to the veterinary schools. We may at times undertake random sampling of CPD records in order to monitor CPD participation so you could therefore be invited to submit your CPD record at any time. Records may also be requested from members who are subject to investigation and disciplinary proceedings.

If you are using the online Professional Development Record, we will be able to view the “My CPD Record Summary” page which lists your CPD activities. We may use this in the future to monitor members’ CPD. However, we will not routinely be able to view the more detailed records and plans underlying this summary screen unless you have given permission through the system. You may occasionally be asked to give that permission, either as part of a random sampling exercise, or if you are subject to an investigation and disciplinary proceedings.

We don’t accredit any CPD courses ourselves but there are various sources of information, such as the CPD Events Calendar published in In Practice. The BVA and BVNA organise CPD events, as do universities and many commercial CPD providers.

The RCVS Knowledge Library can help you meet your continuing professional development targets. The Library holds over 30,000 books, reports and conference proceedings, all available for postal loan upon request. In addition, for a small annual membership fee, library members can enjoy access to the Library's range of electronic resources from their own computer. This includes being able to download full-text articles from a wide range of 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.

You are asked to record your CPD by hours, not by credit points. We don’t allocate credit points to courses as such. We only allocate credit points to the achievement of modules in the Certificate of Advanced Veterinary Practice. Although some CPD courses and activities may accrue ‘points’ values, you are asked to record details of your CPD in terms of hours completed.

The RCVS does not accredit or otherwise ‘kitemark’ activities designed and marketed by training providers as CPD, as it considers that members should identify and plan their CPD to meet their own individual skills and knowledge developmental needs as practising vets. It is the responsibility of each vet to record the number of hours spent on their CPD activities. CPD providers may find it useful to benchmark their courses against the modules in the Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice and make it clear to those who attend whether the course is intended to cover some or all of the learning objectives of the CertAVP modules.

If you are a vet listed on the RCVS Register of Members as inactive and non-practising, then you are not expected to comply with the RCVS requirement of 105 hours of CPD over three years. The same applies if you are a VN who has voluntarily removed themselves from the RCVS Register of Veterinary Nurses. However, if you plan to return to practise at some point in the future, you are strongly advised to keep up-to-date with the profession and your area of practice, as far as possible.

Keeping a record of CPD activities during any period away from practice will help you to plan and prepare for your return to work as a veterinary surgeon or a veterinary nurse. Vets who return to work after a few years out of practice, can if they wish use the PDP section of the online Professional Development Record in order to benchmark and track ‘Year One competences’.

Vets, who’re planning to return to work after a break from veterinary practice, may wish to use the PDP section of the online Professional Development Record in order to benchmark and track ‘Year One competences’. Once you return to practice, you should not undertake any procedures for which you are not competent.

Whether you’re a vet or VN, you may find it useful to undertake a ‘return to practice’ refresher course before you start back at work and/or arrange for some supervision when you start back until you feel confident to work unsupervised.

Veterinary nurses who are returning to the Register after a period of 5 years absence or more will need to undertake a Period of Supervised Practice (PSP) before being able to apply to restore to the Register.

All vets practising in the UK, whether they graduated overseas or in the UK, must comply with the RCVS requirement of 105 hours of CPD over 3 years.