Transition to the New CPD Programme
Drivers for change:
- RCOG’s Becoming Tomorrow’s Specialist
- Introduction of revalidation by the GMC, which has emphasised the role of CPD
- Ensuring that both UK and International Fellows, Members and Associate have access to a high quality CPD programme that helps them maintain and develop their clinical and wider professional skills, wherever they may be practising.
Professional development is key to providing high quality women’s health care in the UK and globally. The previous programme was highly regarded, but we needed to redesign it to support lifelong learning.
Individuals take ownership of their professional development, planning CPD based on their role, the needs of their team and their aspirations. Another aspect is the importance of learning ‘on the job’; we wanted to ensure this is recognised, encouraged and rewarded.
We also wanted to highlight the outcome of CPD: by including actions that follow a CPD activity we can start to show that CPD has had an impact.
The old CPD ePortfolio becomes read-only from September 2021. There will be innumerable advantages when you move to the new CPD ePortfolio. The new tool:
- can be used on mobile technology
- is designed to mirror the GMC Supporting Information for Appraisal and Revalidation requirements and will reduce duplication
- can capture reflection and outcomes of CPD
- has the ability to link CPD activities to GMC domains
- can download customised output report between customised dates to align with the appraisal year
- lets you plan your learning objectives for the appraisal year
- allows you to demonstrate that your CPD activities relate to your practice and roles
The new CPD ePortfolio is available at: https://cpd.rcog.org.uk/
You will need to log on using your RCOG website login details.
The new Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Programme is based on a learning process with four stages:
- Planning
- Learning event
- Reflection
- Action
When you start using your CPD ePortfolio, you need to set up your Personal Plan. The Personal Plan is the starting point for your CPD programme and has two components:
- My Practice and Roles (P&R)
- My Personal Learning Plan (PLP)
At the beginning of your appraisal year, you will need to state in your CPD ePortfolio what your practice and roles are (P&R) and you will need to set out your learning objectives for the forthcoming year (PLP). See further information in the CPD Framework and the CPD Guidance. It is important that you do not overlook this step as when you add your Learning Events, you will need to link them to the relevant P&R and PLP. If you don’t, you will not be able to save your Learning Event as complete and your CPD credits will not be counted. Please see how to set up your P&Rs and PLPs in the Getting started instructions document.
A In the CPD ePortfolio homepage, please click on ‘View all Learning Events’. In the ‘View all Learning Events’ page, please click on the title of the event that appears as a draft. In the next screen, please click on ‘edit’. You will need to make sure that you have completed all the necessary steps:
- Select a Dimension
- Select a Type of Learning Event
- Link your Learning Event to your P&R and PLP. If you don’t you, you will not be able to save your Learning Event as complete and your CPD credits will not be counted. Please see guidance on how to link your Learning Event to your P&R and PLP.
The College no longer sets a CPD cycle with fixed dates. When you begin using the new CPD ePortfolio you will start on a rolling cycle and you will be able to download an output report of your Learning Events between dates of your choice.
You will need to check if your Learning Event is saved on the system in draft form. If so, the credits will not count towards your totals. Please see FAQ on saving a draft as complete.
A Learning Events table with number of credits claimable is available on pages 27-29 of the CPD Framework.
When on the CPD ePortfolio homepage, please scroll down the page to the bottom and click on Output Report. You will find a page with instructions on how to download the report.
The report is a printable PDF and will contain:
- Your name
- Information about the RCOG CPD programme.
- A summary of credits gained by CPD Dimension, Type of Learning Event, Personal Plan and GMC Domain.
- A list of your Learning Events and, as an option, your full reflections.