Many colleagues feel the same as Mr Exitwound, so I seem to be in the minority.
All the documentation, list of activities and CPD Summary examples of are clearly there on Geoffs link.The process of joining RCT is quite rightly challenging so I'm not going to let it lapse and waste that time and effort. I've been updating my CPD summary since 2014 when RCT started auditing and have got used to putting activities in my phone diary then updating my CPD summary when I get time.
Many job person specs state RCT as desirable and tenders for service contracts I've seen have specified RCT registered staff as essential.
A band 6 medical engineer is paid the same as a specialist nurse so should be able to produce evidence that they are at that level. Our non NHS competitors in the private sector are now becoming registered too, so it seems to becoming a benchmark for this kind of work.
A hospital Chair once asked me: "What's the best medical device 'fix' you've ever done?". I couldn't answer because we're all doing that work every day (and night when on call). These can be faults found, procurement, highly skilled repairs or workrounds to get a clinical service up and running. However, none of these 'fixes' are in our CV's but they should be in our CPD activities with a job number as evidence - it would take 30 seconds to tap it into your phone.
I think IPEM could do more to explain the process and benefits - regional meetings perhaps?
However, the bottom line is that no one is forced to join RCT, but when you do you pledge to maintain and update your skill and knowledge in the profession by maintaining your CPD, or drop off the register!
