Continuing Professional Development

CPD: What is it and how do I do it?

Continuous professional development (CPD) is something we all do all of the time, in fact it is probably very difficult not to engage in CPD. So, what is CPD?

It is the process of learning and developing as a professional from what we do everyday;
It is about identifying our development needs in order to maintain the currency of our practice;
It requires that we organise activities to meet these needs; and
We need to make sure these needs and activities are sufficiently broad to ensure that we remain effective practitioners.

There are two main purposes of CPD:

To help you continue to update and improve your own professional expertise
To reassure the public

Examples of Common CPD Activities:

Supervising others/being supervised
Attending conferences/workshops/training programmes
Presenting at conferences/delivering training
Conducting research
Reading relevant books and journals
Developing teaching skills
Peer group discussion.
Professional committee work
Etc.etc…..

This list is by no means exhaustive, and CPD can be pretty much anything that helps you to develop as a health psychologist.

Frequently Asked Questions about CPD

What is required to maintain Chartered Health Psychologist Status?

Chartered Health Psychologists with practising certificates are required to maintain a CPD log in order to provide evidence of their CPD activity. The Society recommends a minimum of 40 hours of CPD activity per year, and most psychologists show considerably more than this.

How do I maintain my CPD log?

The log is available on-line in the members’ section of the BPS website (http://www.bps.org.uk/professional-development/cpd/). Demonstration logs will be available to help.

When do I need to submit my CPD log?

The date for submitting your first log depends when your practising certificate is due to expire.

Who examines the logs and how?

A sample of CPD logs will be examined each year in order to ensure that practising health psychologists are engaging in appropriate CPD.

Sample logs now available

The BPS website now contains example CPD logs which illustrate the type of activities which may be relevant, and provide examples of good and not-so-good reflection. The examples are accessible from within the online CPD recording system which can be found at http://cpd.bps.org.uk/ (member login required).

Full details on the context and requirements of the CPD process can be found at

http://www.bps.org.uk/professional-development/cpd/cpd_index.cfm

CPD Events

If you would like to request a training event or if you have the expertise to host a training event for Health Psychologists please contact Emily Buckley.

Previous events:

CPD Workshop - Clinical Skills for Health Psychologists The DHP CPD Subcommittee hosted a one-day workshop on 18th May 2007 in Stoke on Trent, providing an introduction to clinical skills for health psychologists. This was attended by 25 Chartered Health Psychologists, and a review of the day will appear in an upcoming edition of Health Psychology Update.
Dr Andy Keen hosted another one-day CPD workshop on clinical skills for health psychologists before the DHP Conference at Nottingham, on 11th September 2007.

Upcoming events organised by the DHP CPD committee include:

REFLECTIVE PRACTICE AND REFLEXIVITY IN RESEARCH, March 7th 2008. Please see the workshops page for more information.
Behaviour Change Interventions: Design and Evaluation. Friday 9th May 2008. Facilitated by Professor Charles Abraham, at the BPS London Office, Tabernacle Street, EC2A 4UE. Please see the workshops page for further information.
Motivational Interviewing. Friday 14th November 2008. Facilitated by Sasha Cain, at the BPS London Office, Tabernacle Street, EC2A 4UE. Further details to follow.

Useful links

Here are just a few sites you may find useful in identifying CPD activities to help meet your developmental needs.

Research Seminar Series – Bristol

Organised by the Bristol Clinical Psychology Doctorate Programme. Health Psychologists are welcome to attend. Please contact Dr Kate Gleeson, Research Director (kate.gleeson@bristol.ac.uk) for details or visit the website: http://www.bris.ac.uk/clinicalpsychology/cpd

ShortCourses, Seminars, Individual Modules on the Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology – Staffordshire University, Stoke on Trent.

Organised by the Centre for Health Psychology. For further information please contact Dr Mark Forshaw (m.j.forshaw@staffs.ac.uk) or visit the website: http://www.staffs.ac.uk/schools/sciences/ihr/chp/

Short Courses, Seminars – health focus, qualitative methods – Aston University, Birmingham

Professional Development, Aston University. Courses in qualitative research methods. For further information contact Julia Brown (j.y.brown@aston.ac.uk) or visit the website: http://www.aston.ac.uk/lhs/profdev/index.jsp

Short Courses, Seminars, & other courses – health focus – Oxford

Health Sciences CPD programme, University of Oxford. Wide range of courses specialising in evidence based health care. For further information email the team (cpdhealth@conted.ox.ac.uk) or visit the website: http://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/cpd/healthsciences

Short Courses, Seminars & other courses – health focus – York

Department of Health Sciences, University or York. Wide range of courses already taken as stand-along modules/study days by health & social care professionals. For further information or to apply visit the website: http://www.york.ac.uk/healthsciences/ugrad/modules.htm

Short Courses, Seminars & other courses – health focus, some generic – West Midlands

Faculty of Health & Community Care, University of Central England. For further information email the CPD team (cpd.hcc@uce.ac.uk) or visit the website: http://www.hcc.uce.ac.uk/cpd/courses.htm

Short Courses, Study Days – health focus – Middlesex

Middlesex University. For further information visit the website: http://www.mdx.ac.uk/hssc/cpd/index.htm

Short Courses – generic – East Midlands

Institute of Life Long Learning, University of Leicester. Non-university employees welcome. For further information or to apply contact Ian Grayling (idg1@le.ac.uk) or visit the website: http://www.le.ac.uk/ad/cpd/index.html

The DHP CPD Committee

Dr Emily Buckley chairs the DHP CPD Committee, whose remit includes:

• Providing information to members about CPD and CPD events;

• Providing support for members in completing their CPD requirements;

• Organising and managing the assessment of CPD logs.

Information will be available via this website, Health Psychology Update, the DHP Announce email alert, and through discussion and workshops at the annual conference. We will survey existing events that are appropriate for health psychologists and provide information about these. We will also endeavour to organise additional events where resources are currently lacking, be that in terms of geography or substantive content.

Current committee members:

Emily Buckley, (Chair) Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Staffordshire University
Sarah Dryden, Practising Health Psychologist, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Sarah Hobill, (DHP Chief Assessor) Practising Health Psychologist, Four Seasons Health Care
Jilly Martin (Postgrad Rep) University of Sheffield

Last updated: 26th February 2008