Continuing professional development (CPD)

You’ll already have been told by now that being a doctor means that you and lifelong learning go hand in hand – Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is your way of showing your commitment to this. As you’ve gone through your GP training, you'll already be used to the idea of continuous learning – you’ll have, and be working on, your Personal Development Plan (PDP) which will mean you're constantly reflecting on your learning and growing your skill set.

The GMC requires you to do enough CPD to keep up-to date across your whole scope of work. Your supporting information must cover your whole scope of practice and be of sufficient quality to support your learning and development and helps you to identify areas for improvement in your practice. The GMC does not set a minimum quantity of supporting information, hours or credits you must collect. The GMC advises against collecting multiple examples that demonstrate reflection and learning of the same skills. We recommend in preparing for your appraisal you reflect on three examples of learning over the year that have led you to make a change in your own practice and reflect on changes you have made as a result of reflecting on patient feedback/complaints and learning events.