Changes Appearing in the New
Professional Development Portfolio Guide
- 2008 -

Beginning in 2006, CDR began a formal evaluation of the Professional Development Portfolio (PDP) recertification process, conducting focus groups, survey research of participants, and reviewing internal data. In 2007, CDR used these results in concert with staff experience with phone and email feedback to revise, streamline and improve the PDP process. A number of changes have been introduced into the PDP process, and are incorporated into the 2008 PDP Guide. Some of these changes are detailed below:

Contents:

1. New Self-study Options
2. Automatic PDP Logging from Online CPE Database
3. Automatic PDP Logging from Online ADA Journal CPE quizzes
4. More guidance for documenting Research
5. Optional mid-point review of logged CPE activities
6. Duplicate prior Step 3: Learning Plan
7. Professional Reading CPEU Limit Increase for Authors
8. CPE Levels
9. Two versions of the Step 1: Self-reflection form
10. All five steps of the PDP to be available online
11. More self-assessment tools
12. PDP Guide Streamlined/Greened
13. ½ CPEU minimum for Exhibits and Posters
14. More guidance for Sponsored Independent Learning

1. New Self-study Options-
   CDR has approved the addition of the following organizations besides CDR and CDR Accredited Providers that can now prior-approve self-study materials (effective for CPE activities completed 6/1/2008 and afterwards):
• AAFP-American Academy of Family Physicians
• AANP-American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
• AAPA-American Academy of Physician Assistants
• ACCME-Organizations approved by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education
• ACPE-Organizations accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education
• ANCC-American Nurses Credentialing Center
• APA-American Psychiatric Association
• APA-American Psychological Association
• APHA – American Public Health Association
• CDR – Commission on Dietetic Registration

Additionally, CAP has approved self-study materials provided by a U.S. regionally-accredited College or University.


2. Automatic PDP Logging from Online CPE Database-
   Now practitioners can search for completed prior–approved CPE activities in CDR’s online CPE Database. From CDR’s PDP Log page, click the “Add Activity via CPE Database” button and pre-populate the Step 4: Learning Activity Log.



3. Automatic PDP Logging from Online ADA Journal CPE quizzes-
   Now available online - provides for automatic pre-population of the Step 4: Learning Activity Log upon successful completion of the online quiz found in CPE articles in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.



4. More guidance for documenting Research – A new example is available on CDR’s website   by clicking here  to illustrate how to document research as a learning activity.



5. Optional mid-point review of logged CPE activities-
   Will be available for those who want to know “how they’re doing.”
   • Mid-point review will be available once for each practitioner during each 5-year recertification cycle
   • Mid-point review will be available only for those logging CPE activities online
   • A minimum of 30 CPEUs would need to have been logged at the time of the request
   • Mid-point review is not available after 12/1 of the last recertification cycle year (e.g., If your recertification cycle ends May 31, 2008 you must submit your mid-point review request by December 1, 2007)



6. Duplicate prior Step 3: Learning Plan-
   An online capability will be available to duplicate a practitioner’s last Step 3: Learning Plan without re-entry when transitioning from one recertification cycle to the next. This new function will make it easier for registrants to create their new Step 3: Learning Plan if they are only going to make minor changes to the plan.



7. Professional Reading CPEU Limit Increase for Authors-
   Effective for CPE Activities completed 6/1/2008 and afterwards, authors of articles published in scientific, peer-reviewed publications and authors of dietetics-related chapters in textbooks are entitled to increased limits for Professional Reading. For each article or chapter published during the 5-year recertification cycle, the CPEU limit for Professional Reading is increased by 5 CPEUs for the author, up to a maximum of 20 CPEUs if the author has written four articles or chapters. This can result in a total increase in the CPEU limit for Professional Reading of up to 20 CPEUs in addition to the current maximum of 15 CPEUs for RDs, 10 CPEUs for DTRs (which would result in a new maximum of 35 CPEUs for Professional Reading for RDs and a new maximum of 30 CPEUs for DTRs). Authors will record online or on the Step 4: Learning Activities Log the qualifying articles and/or chapters, and then can log the additional articles for Professional Reading in the usual manner (.5 CPEU per article), using the new CPEU maximum.



8. CPE Levels-
   will no longer be required for the Step 3: Learning Plan, in an effort to streamline and simplify the PDP process. Although the CPE levels can still be used in Step 2: Self-assessment for learning planning and will be used by CPE providers, they will not be recorded on the Step 3: Learning Plan, as availability of CPE activities at specific levels cannot always be assured.



9. Two versions of the Step 1: Self-reflection form-
   are now available - one for those currently employed and one for those not currently working in dietetics.



10. All five steps of the PDP to be available online-
    Having all five steps available online facilitates the utilization of the entire process.



11. More self-assessment tools-
    Four new Assess and Learn modules are under development this year, providing more self-assessment tools in various areas of practice to make learning needs assessment more relevant and meaningful.



12. PDP Guide Streamlined/Greened-
    To improve readability, form completion examples will be put in the appendix. The PDP Guide will be produced using recycled plastics and metals.



13. ½ CPEU minimum for Exhibits and Posters-
      Allowing practitioners to log 0.5 CPEU for spending 30 minutes on CPE Activity types Exhibits and Posters will facilitate more realistic CPE logging in these areas (previous reporting minimum was 1 CPEU).



14. More guidance for Sponsored Independent Learning-
    A new example is now in the PDP Guide to provide additional guidance on using the sponsored independent learning CPE activity type.

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