Changes to CPD Requirements in 2024 Explained
February 21, 2024
The Shift to CPD Homes
One of the most significant changes is the requirement for all practising doctors to choose an accredited ‘CPD Home’ by January 2024. CPD Homes are accredited entities, tasked with overseeing the CPD activities of their members. There are currently 20 CPD Homes including the 16 specialist medical colleges and four non-college homes – CPD Home (By Australian Medical Association WA), HETI, Osler, and Skin Cancer College Australasia. This move aims to standardise CPD activities and ensure they meet the high-quality educational standards set by the Australian Medical Council. In addition, these entities are tasked with providing robust, monitored, and evaluated CPD programs that support safe practice and continuous learning. By ensuring access to quality-assured CPD activities, CPD Homes play a crucial role in maintaining the high standards of medical practice in Australia.
Key Functions of CPD Homes
– Quality-Assurance
CPD Homes are responsible for delivering CPD programs that meet stringent quality criteria set by the AMC. These programs are regularly monitored and evaluated to ensure they remain relevant, effective, and aligned with current medical practices and standards.
– Tailored Learning Support
Understanding that learning needs vary widely among practitioners, CPD Homes offer support to doctors in tailoring CPD activities to their specific learning requirements. This personalised approach ensures that CPD efforts are directly relevant to the practitioner’s scope of practice and professional development goals.
– CPD Coordination and Record-Keeping
A critical function of CPD Homes is to coordinate CPD programs, ensuring that activities offered are of high quality and meet the defined requirements. They also provide systems for CPD record-keeping, assisting doctors in tracking their CPD hours efficiently.
– Compliance with CPD Requirements
CPD Homes ensure that doctors meet their CPD requirements, focusing on key areas such as culturally safe practice, addressing health inequities, and upholding professionalism and ethical practice. These areas reflect the broader goals of the medical profession to enhance patient care and address systemic health challenges.
Obligations for Medical Practitioners
All doctors practising in Australia must join an AMC-accredited CPD Home before commencing their CPD activities for the year 2024, unless exempt. The choice of CPD Home should align with the practitioner’s scope of practice, and they must log their CPD activities with their chosen Home.
At the time of the 2024/25 registration renewal, practitioners are required to declare their CPD Home, affirming their compliance with the CPD requirements set forth by the Medical Board of Australia.
Exemptions from Joining a CPD Home
Certain groups of medical practitioners are exempt from the requirement to join a CPD Home. These include:
Interns and PGY2 doctors in accredited training programs or supervised clinical practice positions.
– Medical practitioners with limited registration for specific purposes such as teaching, research, or public interest, granted for no more than four weeks.
– Practitioners granted an exemption or variation from the standard CPD requirements due to circumstances like parental or carer leave, serious illness, or other approved reasons.
– Medical practitioners with non-practising registration.
– Specialist trainees and specialist international medical graduates (SIMGs) fulfil their CPD requirements through participation in programs offered by the relevant specialist medical college.
CPD Education Requirements
As part of this alignment to a CPD Home, they are required to complete an Annual Professional Development Plan, which should clearly outline their goals and the strategies for achieving the mandatory 50 hours of CPD. This entails engaging in a variety of educational activities to accrue a minimum of 50 hours of annual CPD, ensuring they participate in activities across three core CPD categories to foster a comprehensive professional development experience. Additionally, to uphold the highest standards of patient care, practitioners must complete CPR training every three years, maintaining competency in these critical life-saving procedures.
The three core categories are simple and easily achieved. To fulfil the requirements, doctors must engage in (1) Educational Activities for a minimum of 12.5 hours, which aim to enhance their knowledge, skills, and attitudes through various means such as webinars and lectures. Additionally, a minimum of 5 hours must be dedicated to (2) Reviewing Performance, where doctors reflect on peer feedback and engage in self-reflection on cases to improve their practice. Another 5 hours at least must be allocated to (3) Measuring Outcomes, utilising data from their work to ensure quality through audits and research. To complete the 50-hour requirement, doctors have the flexibility to allocate an additional 12.5 hours to any of the aforementioned categories, allowing them to tailor their CPD activities to their specific needs and interests.
Adapting to Change
The updates to the CPD requirements represent a shift towards a more structured and reflective approach to professional development for medical practitioners in Australia. Although Med CPD is not a CPD Home, by understanding these changes and leveraging available resources like Med CPD, doctors can navigate the new CPD landscape with confidence, ensuring they continue to provide the highest standard of care to their patients.
