News
CPD Focus and Professional Registration event report
Hannah Maskell MAAPT gives an overview of the recent AAPT CPD focus evening
With CPD being a hot topic in my place of work I was pleased to attend an online CPD focus evening provided by the AAPT.
As APTs we have a professional duty to maintain our skills and knowledge and highlight the great work we all do. However, this can be a daunting task to undertake and fit around a busy work schedule.
Christian Burt IBMS Professional Support Services Manager, gave a presentation on the CPD scheme available to AAPT members, showing how to effectively use this to evidence CPD learning with tips on how to add activities, how to evidence learning and how to reflect.
He also explained how to access read test and reflect (RTR) which not only give CPD credits but the knowledge gained from these would definitely be beneficial to advancing professional knowledge as an APT. It was really useful to see how easy it is to utilise these tools, I definitely felt a lot more confident to start using the scheme after this.
Next was a presentation by Chris Ward, Head of Examinations at the IBMS, on Reflections. Chris discussed what reflective practice means, how this is something we do all the time but we just don’t document it.
Chris explained that by writing reflection on events/situations we can make sense of a situation and its outcomes and perhaps use this knowledge to improve the way we work, developing confidence in ourselves and our abilities. Chris discussed several different approaches to reflective writing as well sharing some fantastic templates which I found really useful to help me structure and analyse reflections I have been writing. Chris provided some really useful links that even has ideas on the language and phrases used to effectively write reflections, which will certainly help me clarify the points I try to convey.
The next presentation provided by Samantha Bell MAAPT RSciTech on Science Council registration was really informative.
It was great to find out from an APT about the process of registering and about the positive outcomes gained from achieving registration. Sam explained the application process, offering advice and showing examples of some of the work she had submitted. Sam also explained the assessment process, explaining that if there are any areas of the application that need improvement the assessors will provide feedback, you can then improve the required areas and resubmit your application. It definitely made me think more about the benefits of registering and how I could use my reflections as part of my application.
The evening was wrapped up by a presentation written by Tarot Noble FAAPT (presented by Christian) on CPD reflection. Tarot had some great examples of good and not so good reflections which really made me think about why I write them and how I can convey the learning and any gained improvements to myself or the situation to the reader.
At the end of the evening I definitely felt a lot more informed and confident on CPD and science council registration. It left me feeling that it is worth the time to develop my skills in reflective writing and showcase my work as an APT. I know have the tools to do this with confidence so I really have no more excuses.