Continuing Professional Development Standard

Continuing Professional Development Standard for the Equine Podiatry Association

Issue: 4.2
Last updated: 30th December 2022

Introduction

These Rules are made in accordance with the Articles of Association and relate to the requirements for continuing training of members.

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 per membership year which should comprise of:

  • EP Contact CPD: a minimum of 8 hours in the company of other qualified EPs which can include shadowing, trim days, attending the EPA conference or face–to-face contact in any horse-related situation. Full Members must attend at least 1 “trim day” with other Full Members or be shadowed by another Full Member for 1 day in any 2 year period.
  • Other CPD: The remainder can be made up of any other activity relevant to professional development; suitable activities are suggested towards the end of this document.

Notes:

  • 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.
  • Where a Full Member joins the association part way through the membership year (e.g. after gaining an approved qualification), the required hours of CPD shall be calculated pro rata on the basis of the remainder of the membership year. For example a member joining 6 months into the membership year will need to supply evidence of 20 hours of CPD in total of which at least 4 hours must be EP Contact CPD.
  • Where a member joins with 3 months or less of the membership year left, that member may optionally lump the remaining CPD requirement for the membership year into the following year. For example, if the member joins 9 months into the membership year there is no requirement to provide evidence of CPD at the next membership renewal but, at the renewal after that, the member must demonstrate that 50 hours of CPD has been undertaken.

Record Keeping

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 must 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 secretary 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.

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 relevant professional journals, etc.). Activity intended to lead to published research can also count.

Examples include (but are not limited to):

EP Contact CPD –

  • Shadowing another Full Member in practice
  • Being shadowed by another Full Member in practice
  • Attending a group ‘trim day’ with other Full Members for the purposes of comparing trims and experiences
  • Attending the EPA conference

Other CPD –

  • Shadowing another relevant equine professional (e.g. vet, farrier, trimmer from another professional body, equine osteopath, equine behaviourist, etc.)
  • Attending an external course of direct relevance to the practice of Equine Podiatry (e.g. course on radiological interpretation)
  • Attending a relevant trade fair
  • 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. research using live animals) are to consult the Association Council first.
  • Attending a first aid course
  • Keeping up to date with published work (e.g. books or scientific journals) 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 courses in equine podiatry and hoof trimming (including from non-EPA providers for the purposes of understanding alternative theories and practices)
  • Attending an equine behaviour/training course

Members unsure as to whether a particular activity counts as CPD should consult the Association Secretary

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