A locum rota can take you through several teams in a month. Each team can teach you something different, from a clinical pathway to the way a handover is organised. Keep one learning record across those placements and use your roles to organise what you capture. By the time appraisal comes around, you can choose evidence that represents your work across settings.
For UK doctors, the GMC asks for CPD based on day-to-day and future work, tailored to the whole scope of practice, with reflection on how learning has maintained or improved practice. For doctors who work in more than one place, describing the settings and roles is also part of the appraisal conversation. GMC CPD requirements · GMC information-sharing responsibilities
Map your roles before choosing your examples
Write down the main roles you are currently doing. A portfolio GP might have daytime practice sessions, out-of-hours work and occasional teaching. A hospital locum might cover a ward on short placements, support an outpatient service and take part in departmental learning. Include roles that account for a small part of your time when they involve a distinct set of responsibilities.
Give each role a recurring question. What decision keeps coming up here? Which local process should I understand better? What feedback have I received? Which skill would make my next session easier? This creates a shortlist of things to watch for, and helps you notice development needs beyond the clinical topics you look up most often.
Maintain your formal scope of work and the list of organisations through your appraisal arrangements. In the learning entry, a general role description such as “out-of-hours primary care” usually gives enough context for the reflection. Keep the focus on your learning and use an anonymised description. GMC guidance on reflective notes
Use a short capture routine at the end of a shift
Keep four items while the activity is still fresh.
- Role and date. Record the activity date and the part of your practice it relates to.
- Learning question. Write the one thing you wanted to understand.
- Source or activity. Record the relevant guidance, team teaching, supervised discussion or reference you used.
- Next check. Identify what you will review, practise, discuss or observe on a later shift.
Capture only the material you need for the learning task. An induction document may be specific to a workplace, so keep a short description and refer to the document through the organisation’s approved route. When a topic will recur at another placement, add a prompt to compare the local pathway there.
One learning theme can span several settings
Consider a fictional GP doing daytime practice, out-of-hours sessions and teaching. A daytime team discussion raises a question about preparing a telephone consultation with an interpreter. The doctor reviews the organisation’s guidance and learns how that team arranges an interpreter. At an out-of-hours placement, the doctor checks how the equivalent service is accessed and who can help to arrange it.
For teaching, the doctor builds a fictional exercise on preparing for an interpreted call. They ask learners to identify the information they need before the call and practise how they will explain the consultation to the patient. After the session, the doctor adds one reflection about what learners found difficult and adjusts the exercise.
An appraisal selection could include the teaching exercise and a reflection on working across the two services. The records show how a topic learned at work informed both clinical practice and teaching. Record the learning activity date and keep the examples free of identifying patient details.
Choose a capture tool and an appraisal destination
| Option | Use it for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| iatroX | Linked reference, targeted practice, reflection and a portable learning record | Turn a recurring question from a locum shift into a reviewed learning entry and export selected evidence |
| FourteenFish | Appraisal portfolio and learning diary, where that is your chosen route | Bring selected learning into the portfolio you will discuss at appraisal |
| A spreadsheet or notes app | A quick capture list and personal index | Log the date, role, source and next action in a single row |
FourteenFish offers routes for adding learning diary entries through its website, app and email, and explains how Portfolio users can include learning in appraisal. For a clinician already using FourteenFish, a connected learning workflow in iatroX can feed reviewed entries into that portfolio through the linked-account export. FourteenFish learning diary guidance · iatroX CPD
Build a portable record with iatroX
Start with the professional context in which you did the learning. With all-access, select Save learning on an eligible Ask iatroX answer to open a source-linked reflection. When a question deserves more study, use a targeted 5, 10 or 20 question session, then review a point of uncertainty with Tutor. The activity can carry into a private draft with learning prompts so that you can explain the relevance to your own work before confirming it. Ask iatroX · iatroX CPD workflow
Review your confirmed entries in My CPD by period and professional context. A locum preparing for appraisal can select a relevant date range, check that their examples reflect their roles, then use a PDF or the linked FourteenFish export. Finalised evidence remains available to view and export after a subscription ends, which helps keep the record portable through changes in jobs and plans. My CPD · iatroX evidence and access
Review for coverage before appraisal
Read your scope list alongside your learning log. Look for one or two examples that show how you maintained or developed a skill in each major area. If several entries tell the same story, select the example with the clearest reflection and follow-up. Where an important role has little evidence, use that gap to plan a learning activity while you still have time to apply it. The GMC’s guidance supports choosing relevant evidence that can lead to meaningful appraisal discussion. GMC supporting information guidance
For a simple weekly review, use the routine in our guide to logging CPD at work. How to log CPD at work
Frequently asked questions
How can locum doctors log CPD from multiple workplaces?
Keep a record you can access across placements. For each entry, record the activity date, professional role, learning source and planned action. Use your appraisal process to declare the organisations and roles in your whole scope of work. GMC information-sharing responsibilities
Can I send iatroX evidence to FourteenFish?
Yes. Review and confirm the learning record, then export to your linked FourteenFish account or keep a PDF. iatroX CPD
What should I select for appraisal?
Choose entries that represent your responsibilities and show learning you can discuss, including how you applied it or what you plan to do next. GMC CPD guidance