Keeping up to date with Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

Continuing professional development, or CPD, is the ongoing process of developing, maintaining and documenting your professional skills. These skills may be gained formally, through courses or training, or informally, by on the job or by coaching others. This is to ensure that individuals enhance their skills and abilities once qualified and now practicing as a veterinarian or veterinary specialist.

CPD ensures that you maintain and enhance the knowledge and skills you need to deliver a professional service to your clients and the community and that you and your knowledge stay relevant and up to date. This will allow you to keep abreast with the changing trends and directions in your profession.

CPD regulations - Veterinarians

All veterinary professionals registered with Council are required to comply with CPD requirement to maintain their registration with Council. These regulations give more information on:

  • CPD requirements;
  • number of CPD points;
  • accreditation and monitoring of CPD activities;
  • system of point allocation – structured activities;
  • system of point allocation – to other activities (unstructured);
  • level of participation;
  • recording of CPD;
  • deferment of compliance; and
  • non-compliance.

CPD compliance

Council monitors the veterinary professional’s compliance with CPD requirement via annual CPD audits. Registrees are randomly selected on an annual basis and the individuals who are selected for a CPD audit are required to submit proof of their CPD activities with supporting documents for their specific CPD cycle.

Deferment of CPD compliance

Deferment of compliance with the requirements of CPD may be granted to a veterinary professional on submission of an application and motivation of such request, if approved, then the deferment would be granted with conditions as determined by Council and the applicant must comply with the conditions of deferment.

SAVC Online CPD process: Accreditation of CPD events and automated allocation of structured CPD points

An online accreditation of CPD events and automated allocation of CPD points process for service providers commenced in October 2019. The online CPD process means that if a registree attends SAVC online accredited CPD events, the CPD points will automatically reflect in their CPD cycles’ structured points on their Registree Portal account, once uploaded by the providers. These points will be automatically updated as and when CPD events are attended.  When you have accumulated the required number of structured points (20), the remaining points will automatically transfer to unstructured points (required: 40).

Registree will not be able to upload their own structured points in their Registree Portal account as this functionality is only available to the CPD providers and they will update CPD points as and when a registree attends a SAVC online accredited CPD event.

All CPD events attended and CPD points accumulated prior to October 2019 (when the SAVC online CPD accreditation process was launched) will not reflect on the Registree Portal account. You must keep proof of attendance of these CPD events should you be audited.

Email cpd@savc.org.za for queries relating to CPD cycles and allocation of points.

Individual accreditation of CPD events for allocation of CPD points

Applications for individual allocation of CPD points (e.g. events attended abroad, or a SA event attended by fewer than 5 SAVC registered professionals; presenting; training) should be emailed to edu.coordinator@savc.org.za. The points will be uploaded by the Administration when accredited.

From 1 April 2021 individually allocated CPD points will be manually uploaded by the Administration. Proof of allocation of individually allocated CPD points earned prior to 1 April 2021 should be kept.

List of CPD events for veterinarians

During the year you can participate in various CPD events to accumulate CPD points. Below is a list of SAVC accredited events that took place in the past.

CPD information – CPD events

Structured activities for CPD purposes should aim to maintain or enhance the knowledge, skills and professional competence of those who participate in them. These activities should meet an educational and developmental need and provide an effective learning experience for the participants. The proposed activity should be free of commercial influence and applicants should clearly indicate the time (hours) reserved for commercial/social activities. The proposed presenters should be accepted experts in their respective fields as well as good communicators. A brief curriculum vitae of the proposed presenter(s), a copy of the programme as well as the content of the presentations should be submitted when providers apply online for accreditation of activities via the CPD Provider Portal. The programme should encourage participants to submit their evaluation of the relevance, quality, and effectiveness of the activity in writing.

SAVC Online CPD process

SAVC Online CPD process: Accreditation of CPD events and automated allocation of structured CPD points

An online accreditation of CPD events and automated allocation of CPD points process for service providers commenced in October 2019. The online CPD process means that if a registree attends SAVC online accredited CPD events, the CPD points will automatically reflect in their CPD cycles’ structured points on their Registree Portal account, once uploaded by the providers. These points will be automatically updated as and when CPD events are attended.  When you have accumulated the required number of structured points (20), the remaining points will automatically transfer to unstructured points (required: 40).

Registree will not be able to upload their own structured points in their Registree Portal account as this functionality is only available to the CPD providers and they will update CPD points as and when a registree attends a SAVC online accredited CPD event.

All CPD events attended and CPD points accumulated prior to October 2019 (when the SAVC online CPD accreditation process was launched) will not reflect on the Registree Portal account. You must keep proof of attendance of these CPD events should you be audited.

Email cpd@savc.org.za for queries relating to CPD cycles and allocation of points.

Individual allocation of CPD points

Individual accreditation of CPD events for allocation of CPD points

Applications for individual allocation of CPD points (e.g. events attended abroad, or a SA event attended by fewer than 5 SAVC registered professionals; presenting; training) should be emailed to edu.coordinator@savc.org.za. The points will be uploaded by the Administration when accredited.

From 1 April 2021 individually allocated CPD points will be manually uploaded by the Administration. Proof of allocation of individually allocated CPD points earned prior to 1 April 2021 should be kept.

List of CPD events for veterinarians

List of CPD events for veterinarians

During the year you can participate in various CPD events to accumulate CPD points. Below is a list of SAVC accredited events that took place in the past.

CPD information – CPD events

CPD information – CPD events

Structured activities for CPD purposes should aim to maintain or enhance the knowledge, skills and professional competence of those who participate in them. These activities should meet an educational and developmental need and provide an effective learning experience for the participants. The proposed activity should be free of commercial influence and applicants should clearly indicate the time (hours) reserved for commercial/social activities. The proposed presenters should be accepted experts in their respective fields as well as good communicators. A brief curriculum vitae of the proposed presenter(s), a copy of the programme as well as the content of the presentations should be submitted when providers apply online for accreditation of activities via the CPD Provider Portal. The programme should encourage participants to submit their evaluation of the relevance, quality, and effectiveness of the activity in writing.