ARCS Continuing Professional and Personal Development (CPD) Scheme

CPD is an important part of career progression and is a process of lifelong learning.

Through CPD participation you are able to:

• Ensure that your knowledge and skills remain current, enabling you to deliver the highest standards of care to patients.
• Assess your training needs, identify and partake in learning opportunities.
• Reflect on what you have learnt and implement this knowledge in your clinical practice.
• Demonstrate your commitment to the evolving field of reproductive science via CPD.

The ARCS CPD scheme is set up to meet the specialist requirements of reproductive scientists and practitioners, and aims to help members continue to learn, develop and evolve their skills and practice throughout their working career.

The ARCS CPD scheme is available to all full members of ARCS.

Once you have joined the scheme you will have access to a personal ePortfolio in which you can keep records and reflection of your CPD activities. You can use your ePortfolio to create summary reports of your CPD points and upload supporting evidence of your activities. The scheme also contains links to recommended practice development resources, Journal Based Learning activities, user guides and policy documents. The pages are regularly reviewed and updated to include frequently answered questions, hints and tips to allow you to get the most from the scheme. You can also ask questions or send comments via social media.

If you are a HCPC registered Scientist or a Practitioner registered Professional Standards Authority and you have used the ARCS scheme, all the information and evidence within your diary will assist with meeting the requirements for registration and inspection.

For more information please see the ARCS CPD Policy Document and the CPD training video below.

Obtaining your 5 year cycle CPD certificate

If you would like a certificate for your five year cycle we ask that you request this by email to cpd@embryologists.org.uk to request ‘validation and certification’.

To gain a CPD certificate you need to accumulate 250 credits in total within a five-year period from joining the scheme. This will be subject to review by the CPD committee. Please refer to the Policy document for more details.

The 5 year end certificate is useful as it demonstrates that an external body has reviewed the entries and verified that these include a mixture of learning activities, which have been appropriately reflected upon and are appropriate for the profession. The certificate is therefore very useful evidence for HCPC, if a member is selected for audit by the council.

“What is HCPC CPD auditing? Is it related to ARCS CPD?”

If you are registered with the HCPC, you may be audited at random and need to provide evidence of CPD. ACE CPD audits are not linked to the HCPC.

“Do you have to keep a paper copy of the evidence e.g. agenda…….even if it is just a lab meeting?”

Paper or electronic evidence is required to be kept for your own personal records. You will not be requested to submit or upload electronic evidence for ACE CPD audit.

You can find out more about the ARCS CPD scheme by visiting our FAQ page on the website here.