Simon Wallace, a former Education Officer at the RCVS, and Stephen May, Junior Vice-President and chair of the CPD Working Group, have published a literature review in the Veterinary Record which underpins the recent proposed changes to how the College measures continuing professional development.

The article, which is available open-access, comprises a literature search of both medical and veterinary medical journals for evidence of the effectiveness of input-based and outcomes-based CPD.

Its conclusion is that outcomes-based CPD, which concentrates less on hours logged and more on interactive and reflective learning, is the most effective at improving practice and patient health outcomes.

The paper was originally presented to the RCVS CPD Policy Working Group on 4 December 2015 to inform its discussions. A six-week consultation with the profession was held over the summer asking for their views on the resulting proposals for an outcomes-based approach to CPD.

The proposed model for CPD has four key components: planning, doing, recording and reflecting. While an overall majority of the 3,357 people who responded to the College’s consultation agreed with the proposed changes, certain elements received less support than others. The lowest amount of support was received for the ‘reflection’ component with 35% of respondents disagreeing with it.

With this in mind the RCVS Education Committee and VN Council decided that a pilot of a new outcomes-based approach should be held during 2017 with a group of volunteers, and made this recommendation to RCVS Council. RCVS Council approved this pilot at its meeting on 10 November.

The pilot is expected to be launched in February next year and the College is now looking for volunteers who both support the proposals and those who have a ‘healthy scepticism’ about them. Volunteers will receive help and support throughout the trial and will also be invited to attend an introductory CPD meeting at the College’s offices on 28 February.

If you are interested in volunteering, contact Jenny Soreskog-Turp, RCVS CPD Officer, on cpd@rcvs.org.uk.

To access the article for free, visit the Veterinary Record: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/179/20/515.full?keytype=ref&ijkey=bwDIVYMY8Vwd0su.

Further information, including the CPD Policy Working Party’s response to the consultation, is available at www.rcvs.org.uk/CPDpilot. 

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