Continuing Professional Development

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Continuing Professional Development

• Mike Hopley
• Clinical Practice Director

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Continuing Professional Development

• Continuing Professional Development may be
  defined as, any process or activity that
  provides added value to the capabilities of the
  professional through the increase in knowledge,
  skills and personal qualities necessary for the
  appropriate execution of professional and
  technical duties, often termed competence.
  (Professional Associations Research Network)

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Continuing Professional Development

• The British Psychological Society state that,
  Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is a
  career long process and it has become
  increasingly important as knowledge develops and
  new types and areas of expertise develop, for
  professionals to keep up-to date by augmenting
  and enhancing their professional skills. It is an
  extension of the basic principle in the Society's
  Code of Conduct
• Psychologists shall endeavour to maintain and
  develop their professional competence, to
  recognise and work within its limits, and to
  identify and ameliorate factors which restrict
  it."

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Continuing Professional Development

• and they go on to say, Increasingly,
  professional bodies are being required to
  demonstrate that their members are taking a
  systematic approach to CPD, in order to maintain
  standards of professional practice. CPD for
  professionals (not just psychologists) is
  increasingly being viewed as an indicator of
  continuing competence to practice..

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Continuing Professional Development

• and so the focus is not just on inputs, but
  perhaps more importantly, on outcomes and
  reflective evaluation, both the application of
  learning to practice and the identification of
  what has been learned through practice.
  Reflection will need to be undertaken in the
  context of an individual psychologist's
• Complexities of professional practice
• Role and work setting
• Changing nature of their personal professional
  practice and that of the profession as a whole

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Continuing Professional Development

• - A Professional requirement
• - Linked to the issue of a Practising
  Certificate
• - Two professional needs to be identified, but
  generally four to six needs are identified
• - A minimum of 40 hours CPD is required by the
  Society, however the Division of Clinical
  Psychology recommend 70 hours as a minimum
• - A random sample of 5 of submitted logs
  assessed

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Continuing Professional Development

• CPD is designed to
• help maintain knowledge and skills
• provide evidence of competency
• contribute to clinical governance
• Help discharge the Duty of Care
• support applications for Registration/Re-Registrat
  ion
• maintain role competency and role adequacy

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Continuing Professional Development

• There remain however challenges
• Just how are competences assessed?
• Car mechanic, Electrician, Plumber, Bricklayer,
  Psychologist?
• - National Vocational Qualifications
• - National Occupational Standards
• Concern over a reductionism approach
• Common language
• Observable skills
• Value judgments or expert opinion?

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Continuing Professional Development

• An independent assessment process through
  submitted CPD logs will not assess clinical
  competence as such, but will allow some
  inferences to be made that will defend the
  issuing of a Practising Certificate. The
  challenge is, how do we more robustly and
  comprehensively assess an individuals fitness to
  practise as part of Continuing Professional
  Development?