What is CPD?
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is essential to good professional practice, showing the public, service users and employees that members are committed to upholding high standards. FHT Members and Fellows are committed to CPD*, completing a minimum of 10 points each year, and this can be done in a variety of ways.
Each year, a random selection of members is asked to submit their CPD evidence for review. Make sure to keep a record of your CPD evidence in case you are selected. It is your responsibility to set up your own CPD portfolio, in a format that suits, but FHT recommends that you record the following:
- Date of the activity;
- Type of activity e.g. professional activity, work based learning, etc;
- Therapy(s) practised that this activity relates to;
- Brief description of the activity and how this has benefitted your practise;
- Total time to complete activity; and
- Number of points allocated.
How to get free CPD
Two of the most convenient ways to achieve CPD points come right to your door, four times a year. The CPD questions and Spiral Quiz in each issue of International Therapist magazine are good places to start. The Spiral Quizzes can net up to a maximum of four points a year, and each CPD question will gain you two CPD points.
If you are based in England, you can also earn free CPD points from vision2learn, and across the UK from HMRC. vision2learn offers FREE online courses in association with further education colleges. These include level 2 certificates in Nutrition and Health, Working in the Health Sector, Diabetes Care, End of Life Care, in addition to essential business skills such as Customer Service – all of which will award ten CPD points – your total for the year!
There are a number of other ‘free’ CPD activities that you can complete on your own. Maybe you are a therapy teacher or write articles for publication. As long as this is related to your therapy work, these activities can count towards CPD. You could also develop a business plan or update your marketing.
Reflective practice about an article or element of therapy practise is another free way to earn CPD. Reflective practice is the term given for something that many of us do every day without even realising it! By recording what and how you have learnt from your experience, step-by-step, you can earn five CPD points. It’s similar to keeping a private diary and requires you to be completely honest with yourself. You can use it to record a positive experience or a difficult one.
There are many journals, including our own, that update you on therapies, best practice, research and other CPD articles. You can count this work for CPD, but it is a requirement that you reflect on the article in writing (min 300 words). In every issue of our journal we publish an aid to this reflective work based on the articles published.
Other CPD sources
Local Support Groups
The FHT local support group meetings, as well as any other professional support group meeting, can enhance your therapy knowledge. While not free, local support groups do offer discounts for FHT members, and meeting dues are typically less than the price of a cup of coffee. For information on the FHT local support groups www.fht.org.uk/lsgs
FHT Hosted Courses
We’re committed to supporting every member with CPD, whatever your field. We offer a range of training courses that have been vetted and approved by the FHT, so you can be sure they meet the highest standards.
FHT Training Congress
You cannot earn points by simply attending the exhibition, but you can earn one CPD point per hour for attending any seminars or workshops offered at exhibitions as long as they relate to the therapies you practise.
For more information and CPD points allocation, visit fht.org.uk/CPD
*FHT Students, Affiliates and Associates are not required to complete CPD.
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