CPEUs for Reading Research

by

How many peer-reviewed articles do you think you read on the job in a typical month?

  • If you’re working clinically inpatient, I bet you read some
  • If you’re working outpatient, I bet you read some
  • If you’re working in community or food service, I be you also read some
  • If you’re a writer, I bet you read WAAAAYYYY more than you can count!

Basically, we all are reading research to some degree. And if we’re not, we should be.

Now, of course, you enhance your own practice and your service to others by keeping up with the latest research. BUT, there’s another good reason to soak up all that evidence-based goodness… the CPEU credits you can log!

Did you know that in the Professional Reading category of continuing education, you may earn 0.5 CPEU for each peer-reviewed journal article or professional newsletter article you read?

That’s right, no quiz, pre-approval, or anything else needed. So long as it’s peer-reviewed AND dietetics-related simply print or save the abstract or first page of the article and log it in your PDP log at https://myCDRnet.org. Oh and make sure it was published within the last 5 years. Anything older than that won’t count.

When you are logging the article, you’ll select the Activity Type “200 Professional Reading”. It’s important to remember that the journal or newsletter’s citation needs to be entered in the “Activity Title” box. All other boxes all need to be completed before clicking on the “Add Activity” button.

Are there limits to how many credits you can earn?

This is the catch. According to CDRs PDP Guide, you can only log a maximum of 15 CPEUs of this type of activity (200 Professional Reading) per 5 year re-certification cycle or around 6 articles per year. While it’s not that much, it’s a little bit of credit for something you’re already doing AND there’s no additional cost to complete it.

There is some additional good news here if you are an author of a scientific article in a peer-reviewed journal or a chapter in a dietetics-related textbook. For each published article or book chapter, you may earn an additional 5 CPEUs for articles read up to 20 CPEUs. That brings your total allowed for the “200 Professional Reading” activity type up to 35 CPEUs per recertification cycle. Congrats, that’s half your total requirement if you’re a dietitian and more than that if you’re a diet tech!

Journal Article Quizzes

Now, you may be thinking to yourself “Wait, but I thought I could get 1 CPEU for reading certain articles in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics”. And yes, that’s true! The difference here is that you also need to take a quiz to receive 1 full CPEU. By taking the quiz, it makes the activity type change to “720 Pre-Approved Self-Study”. A benefit to earning your CPEUs this way, is that there is no limit to the credits you can earn for your cycle. You could technically earn all 75 (or 50) in this category!

While you earn more credit for reading the article and taking the quiz, you are limited to the handful of articles chosen each month to offer a quiz. These may or may not fit your learning plan, which is critical to have the credits count.

I hope you’ve found this article helpful! Let me know in the comments your thoughts on earning CPEUs with professional reading!

Originally Published 11/7/2019

3 Comments

  1. Clear answers. Thank you!

  2. Hello, I know there have been some changes to the way CEUs are counted. Is this still accurate in 2024? I would love to begin journal clubs and it would be even better if we could earn credits for them. Thank you in advance.

  3. Hi Marta,

    You are correct! As of June 2024, things have changed! The limit for reading research articles (activity type 200) has increased to 35 CPEUs for RDs and 30 CPEUs for DTRs.

    Journal clubs are a different activity type (161/162) and there is no limit. Just be sure to refer to CDR requirements for documentation.

    -Sandy

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get Your Free CPE Quick Reference Guide

Get the info on the latest CPE updates, hub enhancements, and services right in your inbox.

As a special gift, you’ll receive our exclusive CPE Quick Reference Guide. You’ll quickly see a list of all the activity types that count and which activity types have maximum allowances per year or cycle. Enjoy!

Check your email for your free CPE Reference Guide!

Share This