1. Successfully recording Continuing Professional Development

2. “...the real test of CPD is not whether you attended a particular course or read a particular book; nor is it to supply evidence to meet your professional institute's membership criteria. It is whether your CPD actually improves your professional competence and adds to the achievement of your personal career objectives.”(1996, p56) >Fowler, A (1996) "How to manage your own CPD," People Management 24.10.96

3. >Or >Testing the limits of your competency > Recognising you have more to learn and checking on a regular basis that you are doing it

4. 5 Steps to Successful CPD 1. Put between 30 and 45 minutes in your diary, and make yourself a cuppa 2. Log in to your MyIOSH record at www.iosh.co.ukwww.iosh.co.uk 3. Put a development plan together for the next three months 4. Create some new activities to match your plan 5. Reflect on the activities you planned last time and how they met your development objectives – then repeat the whole process every three months

5. Put between 30 and 45 minutes in your diary, and make yourself a cuppa >The most difficult part of the Professional Development scheme is actually making time to update your cycle on line. >Putting 45 minutes aside in your diary every three to four months will ensure you are compliant and ensures it is not too onerous a task. >It is extremely difficult to try to remember what you did three months ago let alone one year ago.

6. Log in to your MyIOSH record at www.iosh.co.uk >You will need to register on to the IOSH website in order to create your log in details and you will have to use the email address that is on your membership record. >If you have registered but can’t remember your password there is a forgotten password link where you can create a new password >If all else fails, contact the webteam on 0116 2573144 or email webteam@iosh.co.uk

7. Development plan The first step in creating your online development plan is an assessment of your current level of professional development. To do this, you need to: >assess your current knowledge, skills, experience and performance. This should be based on valid and reliable evidence from your current professional role, including formal appraisals where appropriate >consider and review the nature of your current practice and career path >evaluate past goals and achievements, then

8. Review the development plan for the next six months >The Development Plan should be reviewed and updated on a regular basis. It is still fit for purpose? Have you changed roles between the times you last reviewed it? >Add any new goals or objectives you want to achieve for the next three months >At the end of the period reflect on what did not happen and how you might undertake it in the next period.

9. The aims and objectives that you identify in your plan only contribute to your CPD once you have completed them and reflected on and evaluated their effectiveness. This process of carrying out reflections on your activities is fundamental to CPD.reflections The final stage of your development plan and diary, therefore, is the process recording and reflecting on activities in terms of their worth in assisting you with your overall objectives. No matter how long you spend planning your development, it is likely that unplanned activity will form a significant part of the CPD in any year. The important thing is to recognise this for what it is and to capture it as you go along.

10. Activities An activity is anything you undertake that you feel updates, maintains, or provides you with knowledge The activities you undertake should work towards the goals set out in your plan and diary Once you have undertaken an activity you should reflect on it to review against the goal and determine its effectiveness It is this reflective statement that forms the greatest part of CPD

11. Reflect on the activities you have undertaken >Once you have completed the activities reflect on its benefit to you and ask the following questions  What was the activity and why did you do it  What did you hope to get out of it  What did you learn from it  How did it develop you  How might you use the knowledge gained  Does it map against your development plan  Award the credits accordingly

12. Reflective Statement Demonstrates that you have thought about and gained a clear perspective on your experience from undertaking an activity Describe the activity, giving enough detail to understand the context in which the experience occurred Analyse and evaluate the events and the thinking processes involved Focus on what was most significant about the activity

13. Credits How many credits you add to an activity and where you allocate the credits is your decision based on your reflective statement Each activity has a maximum limit of 3 credits. Large projects, qualifications, etc can be broken into as many activities as you feel are relevant

14. Compliance The Professional Development Scheme is Continuous and we recommend you update your scheme every three-four months However to be compliant you need to make sure it is updated at least every six months

15. Membership Dept telephone: 0116 2573198 Email: membership@iosh.co.uk Web Team telephone: 0116 2573144 Email webteam@iosh.co.uk Contact Details