Continuing Professional Development, commonly referred to as "CPD," is an approach to lifelong learning that is being explored in the United States . One definition that has been offered for CPD is as follows:

"CPD is a self-directed, ongoing, systematic and outcomes-focused approach to learning and professional developmen t."

The principles of CPD have already been incorporated into continuing education systems in several countries, including Great Britain , Canada and New Zealand . In the US , several national pharmacy organizations, including ACPE , have adopted statements or policy regarding CPD. During 2006-2007, five states (Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina, Washington, and Wisconsin) are piloting a program that aims to provide pharmacists with the knowledge and skills to accept the responsibility to fully engage in and document their learning through reflecting on their practice, assessing and identifying professional learning needs and opportunities, developing and implementing a personal learning plan, and evaluating their learning outcomes.

As with all continuing education, the goal of CPD is to enhance the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values required by pharmacists for their practice. Research has shown that traditional approaches to CE can be effective in both learning and practice change, but that outcomes of learning can be improved if the learning is in an area of interest or preference, related to daily practice, selected in response to identified need, interactive and hands-on, self-directed, focused on specific outcomes and objectives, and if the learning uses more than one intervention (i.e., is continuing, not opportunistic) and includes a "commitment to change." These principles are incorporated into the CPD approach.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM), among others, has called for an overhaul of the education and training of healthcare professionals and recommended that regulatory boards move toward requiring licensed professionals to demonstrate their ability to deliver patient care. The IOM has called for measures of competence and outcomes that are evidence based. It is important to stress that CPD is not a replacement for CE; CE (as defined by ACPE) is an integral and essential component of CPD. CPD is, therefore, being considered as a quality improvement to current systems for continuing education and, as such, is one of the focus areas of ACPE's Strategic Plan .

A resource document and two publications that provide additional detail and background regarding CPD are available on the website of the Council on Credentialing in Pharmacy (CCP). Click here for a short presentation that provides a summary of the components of the CPD cycle. The state-based pilots referred to above are using the cycle described in the presentation. Furthermore, in the pilots, prototypes of CPD tools and resources are being evaluated.