CPD Diary - about and frequently asked questions

Your CPD Diary is in RCPCH ePortfolio, and on the risr/advance platform (formerly Kaizen). It's a lifelong platform for paediatricians, from training and throughout your working life.

This page has FAQs and user guidance on how CPD Diary works.
Last modified
16 November 2022

Update - November 2022 The company that supplies RCPCH ePortfolio and CPD Diary is changing its name from Kaizen to risr/advance. Your CPD Diary is not changed.

How do I access CPD Diary in RCPCH ePortfolio?

You can log in using your RCPCH number (not GMC number) and RCPCH website password. You can find it in the Quick Links menu of this site - select CPD Diary or ePortfolio and follow the prompts to log in.

CPD Diary does ont support Internet Explorer as of July 2020. This is due to Microsoft discontinuing support and security updates for the Internet Explorer browser. We strongly recommend the Google Chrome browser to ensure the system works as expected; other browsers may not work as well.

Log in to CPD Diary

How do I create, edit and print activities and reports?

You can download our updated CPD Diary user guide below, which shows how to create and edit records, reports and CPD personal development plans, etc.

There is also a FAQs (frequently asked questions) in ePortfolio. The CPD-related ones all start with 'CPD' to help you find them more easily.

We've explained some key areas in ePortfolio below.

Your timeline

This lists all your activities. If you have more than one 'role' in ePortfolio, eg CPD role, supervisor role, you can filter your timeline relevant to your different roles. Those with a CPD role will see a CPD Diary filter in Timeline. Select this to just show CPD 'events' such as your CPD diary activities, reflective notes, special circumstances, PDPs for CPD, RCPCH approved events you subscribed to, etc.

Your CPD Diary timeline allows you to locate and edit existing events - you can search for events by keyword, or by event type, eg CPD Diary activity, Reflective note, etc., as well as by date occurred, date created, state (eg draft or private).

You can also 'create new' events from the CPD Diary timeline or by selecting the '+' button, top right of your screen.

Your dashboard and profile

Your dashboard looks different depending on the role you have selected. Use the blue arrow next to your role to change to another role dashboard if you wish.

The CPD Diary dashboard gives you another route to create new events and saved reports, upload documents and access the CPD Diary user guide and FAQs.

Documents

All documents you have uploaded are stored here. All CPD Diary documents from the old CPD Diary have been brought across as 'private'. If you upload new documents, they will be uploaded as 'shared' unless you make them private. Most CPD Diary users won't need to share their documents; this functionality is there for trainees and others wishing to share ePortfolio information with their superviso, etc. - so we recommend you make them private.

If you wish, you can organise your documents into different folders, or just leave them as a list.

Goals

If you create a PDP CPD (personal development plan for your CPD), any objectives you add to that PDP will appear in the Goals section.

From here, you can select any goal and link it to an existing or new event, to demonstrate that you have achieved the goal.

Your To do list

This is indicated by the bell at the top of your screen. If it is red, you have items pending.

Why are my CPD entries all 'shared' and CPD documents all 'private' / Who can see my CPD records?

All CPD diary events (stored in the timeline) are 'shared' to allow them to appear in any reports you run. The system is set up so that no CPD events are visible to anyone else, regardless of whether they are shared or private. So you do not need to change CPD diary events from shared to private.

Documents (stored in the documents section) do not have the same set up, which is why CPD documents have been imported as 'private' and we recommend that, when you upload new documents, you change them to 'private' as they will, by default, upload as 'shared'.

However, most CPD users will not give anyone else access to see their documents. Only those doctors who have a dual trainee and CPD role (e.g. some SAS doctors, clinical fellows etc who wish to access trainee assessments and reports) and therefore an educational/clinical supervisor etc need to be aware that those supervisors can see their documents if changed to/uploaded as 'shared'.  But again, no CPD diary events are viewable by supervisors, only trainee events. Keep all documents as 'private' unless you are happy for your supervisor to see them.  

Can I add my CPD activities retrospectively?

Yes. You can create a new CPD Diary activity entry, Reflective Note or other event type for any historical CPD activity and set the date to when you want it to be recorded as.

Why do all my newly added activities look like they took place on the same day?

Your CPD Diary timeline automatically defaults to order events by date created. To ensure you can see them by the date of the actual activity, change to filter to order by date occurred.

Does RCPCH ePortfolio have a web app, or offline access?

No, there is no app (that can be downloaded from an app store). But you are able to use RCPCH ePortfolio on your mobile device in a way that behaves like an app.

You can save a 'smart bookmark' to RCPCH ePortfolio on your device's home screen to easily access it. And, you can enable 'offline mode' so you can use it when you cannot access WiFi or a mobile network connection. 

For instructions, download our user guide, Adding the ePortfolio to your mobile device home screen guide below.

Do not continue to use the old CPD Diary web app (which has the RCPCH icon) to record your CPD if it's still on your phone. This app stopped working in May 2019 when the old CPD Diary was taken offline. Any records saved on it since May 2019 cannot transfer across to the new CPD Diary in ePortfolio and may be lost. We recommend uninstalling the app.

As a trainee due to CCT, what should I do to join the CPD Diary?

All those who have been CCT recommended to the GMC since July 2019 will have the CPD role automatically added to their ePortfolio accounts. If you CCT'd before this time and don't have a CPD Diary link in your Timeline and want to access the system. please email cpd@rcpch.ac.uk 

I don't have an ePortfolio account/RCPCH website account/RCPCH number. What should I do?

If, as an existing CPD Diary user, you already have an ePortfolio account and RCPCH web account, we will not contact you directly to let you know the CPD Diary is live, we will instead put out messages via ePortfolio, the RCPCH website and social media. You can login to the CPD Diary in ePortfolio via the Quick Links menu of the RCPCH website.

If, as an existing CPD Diary user, you did not have a RCPCH website account, we have emailed you to explain how to create one and login.

If, as an existing CPD Diary user, you did not have a RCPCH number, we have created one for you and emailed you to explain what to do next.

If you think you should have a CPD Diary in ePortfolio but don't have one, please contact cpd@rcpch.ac.uk 

Why did CPD Diary move into RCPCH ePortfolio?

It moved in summer 2019 so we could introduce new reports and templates and and have a design that works better on mobile phones and other devices.

Where can I found more information about the privacy of my data?

The privacy notices are available on the main ePortfolio page for trainees.

Which email address are you using for me in RCPCH ePortfolio?

We use your main email address on your RCPCH account.

You can check and update this email address by logging in to your web account (which will automatically update your ePortfolio acount). You can edit your personal details or your work details, and check your preferred email address in the contact preferences form. 

If I have questions or can't login, who can I contact?

You should email cpd@rcpch.ac.uk in the first instance. 

We would welcome any suggestions you have to improve the user guide, FAQs and general guidance on how to use the new CPD Diary functions in ePortfolio.