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How Can Online Study Help With CPD (Continuing Professional Development)?
Online study is a brilliant solution for students who want to gain knowledge and qualifications but who are working full time or based far from a suitable university campus. It's also perfect for enabling working professionals to gain formal or informal Continuing Professional Development training.
What is CPD?
Continuing Professional Development, or CPD, is the name for training that all professionals do throughout their careers to maintain and improve their knowledge. Most organisations that represent professionals require their members to keep records of the number of hours of CPD training they do throughout the year, and online courses often form a part of this on-going training.
Which professional benefit from CPD?
Pretty much anyone who works in any job that requires some sort of training will benefit from CPD, and once you have reached management level in many organisations CPD is usually the term that is used to describe this ongoing training. Medical professionals, such as doctors, nurses and physiotherapists, all need to complete annual CPD. As do professionals such as chartered accountants, teachers and members of organisations like the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and other professionals such as those associated with farming, animal care, engineering and the building trade. Many professional organisations, like the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, will offer training packages and CPD sessions. However, it is often up to the professional to source their CPD, and some professionals, for example business managers, are not members of professional organisations.
Find your PERFECT ONLINE POSTGRAD PROGRAMWhat form does online CPD take?
Online CPD will be in the form of online content including lectures that often include assignments as part of the CPD. Some online CPD will be assessed and other CPD sessions are completed with a certificate of completion rather than given a grade – it mostly depends on the value of the knowledge. The more vital the CPD is to the professional the more likely it is to be an assessed course. CPD sessions tend to be short courses for a few weeks rather than months. However, in some cases, a full masters course is considered CPD and these can be completed in two years or so with part-time online study.
What sort of skills can be learnt online?
There is a great range of CPD courses available online. Many medical professionals can access CPD in topics like Pain Management or Trauma Management, and some professionals might take a module from a masters course as part of their CPD. Teachers will often complete CPD sessions on topics to improve their teaching, for example, ‘Learning how to effectively use teaching assistants in the classroom’.
How much does a postgraduate level CPD course cost?
The cost of postgraduate level CPD courses depends on the subject and the length of the course – here are some examples.
What are the benefits of online CPD?
Fitting CPD into the working day or week can be tough, so undertaking a couple of hours outside of work for a few weeks can improve your CPD for that year. Online courses usually fit easily around your working week and can be undertaken in the evenings or at the weekends when you are not working. With online courses, you might find yourself connecting with similar professionals from all over the world.
Where can you find online CPD sessions?
Many large corporations offer online CPD sessions as part of their package of benefits for their employees, so it is always worth asking your employer to see what’s on offer. Many universities offer professionals CPD as either part of their masters programs or as stand-alone short courses, for example at the University of Edinburgh. Many teaching organisations, such as TES, offer CPD online, as do many universities that educate teachers. It's worth checking with your former college or university where you gained your qualifications to enter your profession, as they may offer CPD in your chosen field.
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