Literature review of CPD effectiveness is now available on Open Access

A literature review that underpins recent proposed changes to how we measure continuing professional development (CPD) has been published in the Veterinary Record, and is now available to view for free online.

The article, co-authored by Simon Wallace, a former Education Officer at the College, and Stephen May (pictured right), Junior Vice-President and chair of the CPD Working Group, comprises a literature search of both medical and veterinary medical journals for evidence of the effectiveness of input-based and outcomes-based CPD.

Its conclusion is that outcomes-based CPD, which concentrates less on hours logged and more on interactive and reflective learning, is the most effective at improving practice and patient health outcomes.

The paper was originally presented to our CPD Policy Working Group on 4 December 2015 to inform its discussions. A six-week consultation with the profession was held over the summer asking for their views on the resulting proposals for an outcomes-based approach to CPD.

The proposed model for CPD has four key components: planning, doing, recording and reflecting. While an overall majority of the 3,357 people who responded to the College’s consultation agreed with the proposed changes, certain elements received less support than others. The lowest amount of support was received for the ‘reflection’ component with 35% of respondents disagreeing with it.

With this in mind our Education Committee and VN Council decided that a pilot of a new outcomes-based approach should be held during 2017 with a group of volunteers, and made this recommendation to RCVS Council. RCVS Council approved this pilot at its meeting on 10 November.

The pilot is expected to be launched in February next year and we are now looking for volunteers who both support the proposals and those who have a ‘healthy scepticism’ about them.

Volunteers will receive help and support throughout the trial and will also be invited to attend an introductory CPD meeting at our offices on 28 February.

If you are interested in volunteering please contact Jenny Soreskog-Turp, our CPD Officer.

To access the article for free, please visit the Veterinary Record website.

Further information, including the CPD Policy Working Party’s response to the consultation, is available on our website.