Abstract: The mutual complementarity of continuous professional development (CPD) and self-development of a medical specialist is characterized. The contours of the CPD in the Central Scientific Research Institute of Physiotherapy and Maxillofacial Surgery, the training structures of systematically organized training of students is described. The introduction of joint parameters of CPD and self-development into the educational practice of dentists and maxillofacial surgeons helps to increase the effectiveness of their professional training, since self-development activates all aspects of the professional activity and scientific activity of doctors of this profile. The CPD system that is emerging on a global scale creates educational environment that precisely ensures the self-development of a highly qualified specialist, building his individualized educational trajectories and supporting career growth. A comparative analysis of the concepts of CPD and self-development is carried out. Based on the methods of historical analysis, growth points of scientific development in educational activities are identified. A research program has been substantiated and implemented to study the characteristics of the perception and evaluation of CPD by residents, graduate students and students of additional vocational training cycles at the Central Scientific Research Institute of Physics and Maxillofacial Surgery, based on questionnaire and interviewing methods. The article contains the results of empirical studies conducted for the first time in December 2023 among students at the Central Research Institute of Chest and Physiology. It is shown that the personal and professional growth of specialists is the main goal of CPD, and its implementation in Russia should be based on local traditions of forming its personnel potential and become an integral part of state social policy.