FAQ: general registration CPD

Medical practitioners who are engaged in any form of medical practice are required to participate in continuing professional development (CPD). The CPD must be relevant to your scope of practice so you can maintain, develop, update and enhance your knowledge, skills and performance and deliver appropriate and safe care.

CPD must include a range of activities to meet individual learning needs, including practice-based reflective elements, such as clinical audit, peer review or performance appraisal, as well as participation in activities to enhance knowledge such as courses, conferences and online learning. CPD programs of medical colleges accredited by the Australian Medical Council (AMC) meet these requirements.

For CPD, general registrants fall into three groups.

TABLE 1 (below) shows the different CPD requirements and the relevant category of the CPD Registration Standard.

TABLE 1 - CPD evidence requirements by practitioner type

Trainee

Self-directed - includes medical practitioners who have general registration only (i.e. do not have specialist registration)

Member or Fellow of an accredited specialist medical college

A member of RACGP or ACRRM can provide the following documents together with evidence of college membership. No other documents are needed.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine

1.1 What is the CPD requirement?

The Board’s CPD registration standard requires medical practitioners who have general registration and are prevocational trainees or college vocational trainees to participate in supervised training and education programs associated with their position.

1.2 What do I need to do?

If you are a trainee in an Australian supervised training or education program you must provide either:

• a signed letter or report from your supervising hospital or teaching practice that confirms you participated in the supervised training and education programs associated with your position from 1 October to 30 September in the year being audited. You can ask your hospital or teaching practice to complete the letter template that is accessible on the Audit page.
• a signed report from your supervisor on hospital rotations from 1 October to 30 September in the year being audited is not acceptable evidence.

If you were a trainee in an overseas supervised Fellowship training or education program you must provide:

• a signed letter from the relevant AMC accredited specialist college advising whether the CPD undertaken is acceptable to the college.

2.1 What is the CPD requirement?

The Board’s CPD registration standard requires a self-directed program of 50 hours of CPD to be completed in the period from 1 October to 30 September each year. The 50 hours must include a mandatory practice-based self-assessed reflective element/activity of either: a clinical audit, OR a peer review OR a performance appraisal.

Please note: This is your reflection of one of your three mandatory elements/activities, not that of another practitioner.

2.2 What do I need to do?

You must submit documentation and evidence to substantiate the declaration you made when you renewed your registration, that you undertook the required 50 hours of CPD in the period from 1 October to 30 September in the year being audited including:

• a mandatory practice-based reflective element of either clinical audit, OR peer review OR performance appraisal, AND
• activities to enhance knowledge including: courses, conferences and online learning.

Your activities must be relevant to your scope of practice.

You must provide:

• a completed cover sheet that outlines the categories and the correct number of hours claimed AND
• copies of evidence to substantiate the activities claimed. (Please don’t send original documents to AHPRA.)

The coversheet is accessible on the Audit page of the Board’s website.

2.3 What is acceptable evidence?

TABLE 2: Self-directed CPD program shows the types of acceptable evidence. You can access TABLE 2 as part of the coversheet on the Audit page of the Board’s website.

For recurrent activities, a signed summary statement from head of department or clinical director is acceptable.

TABLE 2 - Self Directed CPD Program: Acceptable Evidence 

3.1 What is the CPD requirement?

If you are a general registrant who is a Member or Fellow of an accredited medical college then you must meet the standard for CPD set by the medical college (category 6 of the Board’s CPD registration standard).

3.2 What do I need to do?

If you are a Member or Fellow you must submit evidence of activities in the year being audited that you participated in a college program.

Your activities must be relevant to your scope of practice.

You must provide:

• The college statement/certificate of participation/completion; the college’s expanded summary of activities with dates and timings; copies of evidence to substantiate the activities claimed. (Please don’t send original documents to AHPRA.) Please refer to your college’s requirements.

Please note: A Member or Fellow of the RACGP or ACRRM can provide the documents together with evidence of college membership as stated above in the section: Overview - CPD evidence requirements. No other documents are required.