Continuing professional development throughout our professional career leads to increased job satisfaction and improves our prospects for advancement in our chosen speciality. CPD is a life long system of learning enabling us as individuals to maintain and update our knowledge base and professional skills regularly. Professional development can involve specific training and may lead to additional qualifications but really means keeping abreast of the latest developments by attending lectures, seminars, conferences or by distance learning. In addition to specialist scientific training, CPD also includes the building of managerial and organisational competencies. (link to professionalism doc - change access).

Increasingly, CPD is part of the infrastructure of many societies and organisations as a means of ascertaining how members keep abreast of new developments in their field. Additionally, those members who are Registered Toxicologists are required to provide evidence of CPD to retain registration. For further information on the Register of Toxicologists click here.

The BTS recommends currently the CPD scheme run by the Royal College of Pathologists as the most flexible option for toxicologists.