What does international CPD certification mean?
CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development and is an internationally used model for documented, continuous professional development. A CPD-certified course or training programme is more than simply a course certificate – the structure, learning objectives, professional content and educational value of the programme must undergo an external assessment process before it can be approved as CPD-certified. For example, The CPD Certification Service assesses training programmes based on factors such as their educational value, coherent structure, clearly defined learning objectives and learning outcomes. The organisation works with providers in more than 100 countries.
Recognised CPD Certificate
Upon completion of a CPD-certified course or training programme, the participant receives documentation of the professional education completed. The certificate can be presented to employers, professional organisations, business partners and other relevant parties as documentation of structured professional development worldwide.
CPD is used internationally across a wide range of industries and professions.
Professional credibility and continuity
CPD is not simply about completing a single training programme. The fundamental principle is Continuous Professional Development – ensuring that professionals continuously maintain, document and develop their knowledge and competencies.
CPD certification therefore supports a professional approach to:
- continuous professional development and further education
- up-to-date knowledge and new treatment methods
- structured and documented learning
- responsible professional practice
- continuous development of competencies for the benefit of both the client and the clinic.
CPD is used by many professional organisations specifically to structure and document the continuing professional development of their members or practitioners.
It takes more than simply issuing a course certificate
An academy cannot simply describe a training programme as CPD-certified because it considers its own teaching to be of a high professional standard.
As part of an external CPD certification process, the training provider, the academy itself and the company or organisation behind the academy undergo a comprehensive approval process before certification can be achieved.
The individual courses and training programmes are then assessed separately. This includes a review of training materials, course structure, learning objectives, learning outcomes and professional relevance, and the certification body may require additional documentation, changes or adjustments before a course or training programme can be approved.
The complete certification process can be extensive and – depending on the organisation, documentation requirements and number of training programmes – can take up to one year before both the academy and the relevant programmes receive final approval.
To ensure that the professional standard continues to meet the established requirements, courses and training programmes are also reviewed once a year. CPD certification is therefore not simply a one-time approval, but an ongoing quality assurance process in which the content, relevance and professional standard of the programmes are regularly reviewed and assessed.
The process can in principle be compared with certain elements of a quality certification process: the organisation must be able to document its processes and educational content and comply with defined criteria that are assessed by an external body.
International quality and standardisation
A significant advantage of CPD is that the training programme is assessed according to a consistent model for professional continuing education rather than solely according to the academy's own criteria.
This provides:
- Independent quality assessment
The training programme has undergone an external assessment of factors including its structure, learning objectives and professional educational value. cpduk.co.uk - Consistent and documented learning
The participant can document the structured professional development that has been completed. - International applicability
The CPD concept is used across countries and industries. The CPD Certification Service, for example, has members and training providers in more than 100 countries. cpduk.co.uk - Greater professional credibility
An external assessment provides clients, business partners and professional organisations with additional documentation that the training programme has not been developed and assessed solely internally by the training provider.
CPD can be important for insurance and professional practice
In several international markets – particularly within beauty, aesthetics and professional treatments – documentation of relevant and accredited education can be important in connection with professional liability insurance. Requirements vary between countries, insurance providers and types of treatment. Some accreditation organisations specifically emphasise that final acceptance always depends on the individual insurance provider. CPD Accreditation Co
Similarly, organisers of professional trade fairs, congresses, workshops and other professional events may impose specific requirements regarding the qualifications and documentation of instructors or training providers.
In several countries – and increasingly at international trade fairs and industry events – CPD certification or an equivalent documented and accredited educational background may be required in order to teach, conduct workshops, demonstrations or professional presentations.
International CPD certification can therefore provide important documentation of the instructor's professional standard and demonstrate that the training has been developed according to recognised principles for professional competency development. Requirements may, however, vary from country to country and between individual organisers.
Why we choose CPD certification
For us, CPD is not simply about a logo or a certificate. It is about ensuring that our training programmes are structured, documented, professionally relevant and assessed by an external organisation.
This provides both the academy and the individual participant with stronger documentation that the training programme has been developed with professional competency development as its foundation – and that the learning achieved can be documented long after the course has been completed.
Dermatech-Group – including MESOSKINLINE® and PMU-line – are the only providers in Scandinavia and Northern Europe whose courses and training programmes have achieved this international CPD certification.
This places our academy in a unique category and documents a standard of education that meets international requirements for quality, professionalism and professional competency development.