CAREER DEVELOPMENT EVIDENCE FOR CPD

signed to show their currency and authenticity.

Witness testimony

A witness testimony can be used to back up your other

evidence. The witness giving the testimony should be someone who supervises your work on a regular basis. This is because they need to testify that your performance constantly meets the

required standards over a

period of time. For this reason, he or she needs to be experienced in the skills involved and have an indepth knowledge of the subject matter. A suitable witness should be someone in a reputable, credible position – perhaps a physiotherapist within your club or organisation – but don’t discount other people in the workplace, such as your customers or peers or a colleague as they all make excellent witnesses too. It is quite common for assessors to interview the person who supplies the testimony because they know how easy it is for candidates to write it up themselves! Honesty is of prime importance, obviously. Candidates who take short-cuts are short-changing themselves. The whole point about the exercise is about you – nobody else – and the benefits are for you and you alone!

What goes in your portfolio: Witness testimony written on headed paper (to show that it isn't fraudulent).

Professional discussions A professional discussion is another forum whereby the assessor can gain a rounded picture of your knowledge and your understanding. A discussion can also identify any gaps you might have, or any additional learning that needs to be undertaken. Such feedback should be viewed as positive, not negative, because it prompts you to reflect as well as to plan future CPD opportunities. The professional discussion should be conducted by very experienced individuals – ideally covering relevant and topical subjects. The discussion cannot be used on its own as any kind of proof – as we all know, some people are very good at talking!

What goes in your portfolio: A written record of your discussions, which could even be made available

www.sportEX.net

to your colleagues in the form of a downloadable podcast.

Client notes

Presenting extracts from your clients’ notes helps illustrates the number of people you have seen and the range of situations and conditions you have dealt with. On a cautionary note, remember that they tend not to reveal anything about your depth of understanding of what you are doing or why you are doing it. Imagine, for example, you are trained in gait assessment. Your client notes would record the assessment method you used and your findings but they wouldn’t necessarily show why you chose that particular method, or prove your ability to analyse the findings from such an assessment. It is worth emphasising here how important it is to adhere to rules about patient confidentiality and security. You must either ensure that the client's permission has been obtained or that their confidentiality is preserved. A very effective and powerful option is to turn your isolated notes into a fully

BOX 1: SOME FORMS OF CPD EVIDENCE

n Recognised qualifications n Demonstration n Questioning n Recording of knowledge and reflective accounts n Witness testimony n Professional discussions n Client notes n Use of videos and other media n Photographs n Theory tests and exam papers n Past experiences and achievements n Giving peer-attended presentations n Writing articles in professional publications

documented case study. Not only is this a great learning tool for you, but it is also likely to be very popular with your colleagues. And if you send it to sportEX it may get published and earn you a contributor fee! What goes in your portfolio: Isolated client notes or a fully documented case study, with confidentiality preserved and without any references to the clients themselves.

Videos and other media Video-recordings are an adequate means of recording your performance in the absence of a “live” performance. They can be used to provide evidence of your work in different environments and situations, or to form the basis of a professional discussion (see above). On the practical side, remember to indicate that your recording is current and authentic by using event banners, for example, or some other marker of the date and time it was recorded. Again it is important to respect your patient's confidentiality: either by concealing their identity or by obtaining their signed permission to appear on the recording. What goes in your portfolio: A video- tape or DVD containing footage of you in practice, including event banners with dates and times (or using the date/ time stamp feature within the camera). Clients' faces should appear only with their permission. Without permission, you cannot record their faces or must block them out later.

Photographs Photographs are a good way of 19

THAT YOU ATTENDED AN EVENT

PHOTOGRAPHS ARE AN EASY WAY OF SHOWING

PATIENT CONFIDENTIALITY AND SECURITY

Patients may be identifiable through clinical or personal descriptions in the text or through photographs. You must therefore:

n Obtain signed permission from the patient/client to use any material from which they can be identified, or n Take measures to conceal their identity, by anonymising your description of them, or using a different camera angle for photographs, or cropping or blocking out any distinguishing features on images at a later stage.