The Equine Podiatry Association

Continuing Professional Development Standard

Issue:2.0
Last updated: 11th June 2007

Introduction

Full Members of the Association have a responsibility to ensure that they maintain and continue to develop their professional knowledge and skills. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is therefore a requirement for continued Full Membership of the Association. CPD serves a number of purposes:

It maintains high standards and demonstrates to both clients and other professionals a commitment to those standards
It ensures that Members are up to date with the latest developments in the field
It encourages Members to seek additional training/experience in related fields such as biomechanics or equine behaviour, so helping Members to have a breadth of experience that can contribute to providing the best possible care for equines
It allows for career development

CPD Requirements

Full Members are required to undertake a minimum of 40 hours of CPD study per year. Where more than 40 hours of CPD are undertaken in a membership year, any additional hours of CPD up to a maximum of 16 hours may be carried over towards the next year's requirement.

Of the 40 hours of CPD each year, a minimum of 24 hours must be directly relevant to Equine Podiatry of which 16 hours must be made up of either a trim day or shadowing another Full Member or a combination of both. The remainder can be made up of any other activity relevant to professional development (see below for more details).

The Association requires each Full Member to maintain a record of all CPD activity. The Association provides a form to record this information and members are encouraged to keep this form up to date. A copy of this form should be sent to the Association Secretary with each annual membership renewal after first qualifying for Full Membership.

Members should wherever possible keep on file any certificates of attendance, learning diaries, CPD plans, assessment results, or other documents that serve as evidence of involvement in CPD. These do not need to be submitted to the Association at the time of membership renewal but should be available for inspection if requested by an officer of the Association. The Association may at any time request that a Full Member provides full documentary evidence of CPD undertaken to date and the Member must provide this evidence within 30 days of request.

This CPD Standard will be reviewed periodically by the Association Council. The Association Council reserves the right to update this standard at any time.

What counts as CPD?

CPD can encompass any activity that furthers professional competence or increases relevant knowledge or skill levels. Members are encouraged to plan CPD programmes that are appropriate to their needs and current professional skills.

Broadly speaking, whatever activities a Member undertakes in order to further professional competence can be counted towards CPD. This could be formal study (perhaps leading to some form of qualification), but can also include informal activities such as working under supervision of a more experienced mentor, group workshops with colleagues or periods of private study (e.g. keeping up with professional journals, etc.). Activity intended to lead to published research can also count.

Private study that is not accompanied by documentary evidence can count up to a maximum of 8 hours CPD per membership year.

Members unsure as to whether a particular activity counts as CPD, or which category of CPD it fits in should consult the Association Secretary.

CPD is divided into two categories:

CPD directly related to Equine Podiatry (minimum 24 hours per year)

This category covers activity likely to improve skills/knowledge directly in the field of Equine Podiatry. Examples include (but are not limited to):

Shadowing another Full Member in practice
Attending a group 'trim day' with other Full Members for the purposes of comparing trims and experiences
Attending any course on Equine Podiatry approved by the Association
Attending an external course of direct relevance to the practice of Equine Podiatry (e.g. course on radiological interpretation)
Carrying out scientific research (e.g. cadaver studies or studies based on case records) aimed at furthering understanding/knowledge of Equine Podiatry, so long as any relevant findings are published in a format available to other Members. Note that members intending to undertake any research that might have ethical considerations (e.g. experimentation on live animals) are strongly advised to consult the Association Council first.

Other CPD

This category encompasses all other CPD activity not covered above. Examples include (but are not limited to):

Attending a first aid course
Keeping up to date with published work (e.g. books or journals such as the EVJ/EVE) on the equine foot or related topics such as horse handling.
Attending a course in interpersonal or presentation skills
Attending a course in anatomy, biomechanics, gait analysis or body work
Attending a trimming course provided by a non-approved provider (e.g. AANHCP) for the purposes of understanding alternative theories and practices
Working with, training with or shadowing a farrier or vet
Attending an equine behaviour/training course (e.g. Mark Rashid, Ben Hart, Kelly Marks, etc.)