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Professional Competence
 

Planning CPD

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Planning CPD

 

Overview

From 1 May 2025, completing a Professional Development Plan is a Medical Council requirement.  A Professional Development Plan helps to reflect, plan, and focus learning objectives that align with personal and professional goals.

Planning CPD attracts up to 5 CPD credits

Developing and putting the Plan in place is a critical step in the maintenance of Professional Competence. Registered medical practitioners must develop and then update their Plan annually.  Up to five credits can be recorded for this CPD activity.

Planning CPD encourages you to:

  • Define your practice
  • Identify CPD (including Practice Review) activities appropriate for you
  • Set out goals for your personal development

Your plan can be used to monitor your progress. It will also help you reflect on the various roles that you fulfil in your post and possible steps to update your knowledge, maintain your experience, and improve your skills if necessary.

Having a plan will help you see when you need to arrange leave or cover in order to attend an educational activity.

Your plan may change during the year, depending on circumstances within your practice, but it is important to create a plan at the beginning of the year so that you can organise the necessary resources, for example, book leave, confirm cover for while you are away, and so on

How to gather 5 CPD credits for Planning activity

  • Submitting your plan to your ePortfolio attracts 3 CPD Credits
  • Recording your peer review in your ePortfolio attracts 1 CPD Credit
  • Recording some notes about reviewing and reflecting on your plan at year-end attracts 1 CPD Credit

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Help Us to Help You!

It's all too easy to leave your ePortfolio to the last minute. To make sure that we have time to help you with any potential problems before the professional competence year-end, please try to record your activities regularly, and contact us straightaway if you need help.

You can find a wealth of information on how to use your ePortfolio in our knowledge base "Using CPDValet for Professional Competence"

We have a highly experienced Professional Competence support team that is always happy to answer your questions and advise you on how to maintain Professional Competence.  The fastest way to contact this department is by logging in to our support desk here.

  • If you need help with your ePortfolio, we can arrange a convenient time to work with you to ensure your records are up to date.
  • Contact the Professional Competence Team at professionalcompetence@rcpi.ie. If you would like a callback, please let us know the best time and phone number to call you.
  • Alternatively, you might like to visit Professional Competence FAQs
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