In your foundation year (vocational training in Scotland) you keep an e-portfolio as you go. It's the official record of your training. CPD Pro works alongside it, never in place of it.
What goes in your e-portfolio
- Tutorials with your educational supervisor. Some schemes in England now call them supervised learning events.
- Study days on your scheme's programme.
- Reflections on what you've learned and on your clinical experience.
Keep it up to date as you go, not at the end. What your scheme asks for, and how often, differs between nations and schemes, so your scheme's handbook and induction are the guide for that.
When your CPD cycle starts
Your first GDC CPD cycle starts on the 1 January after you first register (dental care professionals: the 1 August after first registering). If you first register in the same calendar year as your foundation year starts, the months up to 31 December come before your cycle starts.
Once your cycle has started, your foundation training can count as CPD, but only if it's verifiable. The GDC also says the minimum of 10 verifiable hours in any two consecutive CPD years doesn't apply in the first year of your first cycle.
Keep every certificate
Verifiable CPD needs evidence from the provider: the subject and learning content, the aims and objectives, the anticipated development outcomes, the date, the hours, your name, who quality-assured it, and the provider's confirmation that it's full and accurate. That's usually a certificate, though it can be a mapping document or an email from the provider. Keep every one you're given, from the first week.
How CPD Pro fits alongside your e-portfolio
- Certificates into records: email, upload or photograph a certificate and the app creates the CPD record.
- Reflections made easier: AI helps you write your reflective notes with the Gibbs Reflective Cycle, ready to copy into your e-portfolio.
- A PDP for your foundation year: goals for the year, each naming the GDC development outcome it supports, with courses linked. It's your CPD plan; the development plan in your e-portfolio stays separate.
- A report when you need it: your PDP and CPD records together, ready for your annual statement once your cycle has started.
Patient confidentiality
Reflections are about what you learned, not about who you treated. Leave out anything that could identify a patient: their name, date of birth, address, record or NHS number, photographs, and any detail unusual enough to point to one person.