CPD Reflection Examples for Healthcare Professionals

Writing CPD reflections can feel difficult at first — especially when you are not sure what level of detail is expected. The four examples below cover common activity types and show how a brief, focused reflection can demonstrate genuine engagement with your learning.

What makes a good CPD reflection?

Regardless of activity type, a strong reflection answers three questions:

  1. What did I learn? — Specific knowledge, skill, or insight gained
  2. How will it affect my practice? — A concrete change you plan to make
  3. What will I do next? — Further learning, sharing, or follow-up

Example 1 — Conference attendance

Activity: NMC Annual Safeguarding Day (1 day, external, clinical)

I attended the NMC Annual Safeguarding Day, which updated my awareness of county lines and child criminal exploitation in adolescent patients. The case studies presented reinforced the importance of looking beyond surface presentations when assessing young people. I will share the new identification checklist with my team at next week's handover. I have identified a gap in our departmental escalation pathway and will raise it at the next governance meeting.

Example 2 — Online course

Activity: RCPsych e-learning — Prescribing in Renal Impairment (2.5 hours, personal, clinical)

This module reinforced my understanding of dose adjustments in patients with reduced eGFR, and highlighted that I had not been using the BNF appendix as systematically as I should. I identified three drugs I prescribe regularly where I need to be more consistent about checking renal function before issuing. I will add an eGFR check to my prescribing checklist and complete the companion module on hepatic impairment in the next quarter.

Example 3 — Teaching session

Activity: Bedside teaching — ECG interpretation for F1 doctors (1 hour, internal, academic)

Preparing and delivering this teaching session on ECG interpretation required me to revisit Brugada pattern recognition, an area where my own knowledge had gaps. I sourced two recent review articles to supplement my preparation. The session went well but the questions from trainees revealed that I need to spend more time on left bundle branch block morphology. Teaching remains one of the most effective ways for me to identify and address my own learning needs — I will continue to seek teaching opportunities each month.

Example 4 — Clinical audit

Activity: Departmental audit — VTE prophylaxis compliance (professional, internal)

Our departmental audit found that 15% of inpatients were not receiving appropriate VTE prophylaxis according to NICE guidelines. I led the feedback session and worked with the ward pharmacist to revise our VTE assessment checklist and update the electronic prescribing prompt. We will re-audit in six months to measure improvement. This project reinforced for me that clinical audit is only useful when it leads to a genuine change in practice — not just a report.

Common mistakes to avoid

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