Guidance to CPD Provider Standard 2: The CPD provider offers high-quality CPD activities
Why this is important
The RACGP CPD Program supports GPs in maintaining their professional knowledge and skills through their ongoing education. The RACGP requires that activities are of high quality.
Guidance
The RACGP CPD Activity Standards relate to the standard of activities relevant to general practice and must be met by providers. The content of the activity must be relevant to general practice and consistent with accepted evidence-based general practice. This includes being consistent with accepted Australian general practice guidelines, RACGP policies, requirements and position statements. CPD activity content outside the scope of general practice will not be approved. Where there is uncertainty, the RACGP may conduct a review of the content of the CPD activity before it is approved. This could apply to new or emerging products and/or services.
The MBA defines the CPD requirements of all doctors and must therefore be met by all GPs. In addition, specialist colleges may also have high-level requirements that must be met by their members.
The specialist high-level requirement for general practice is a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) course (HLTAID009 Provide Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation). Specialist GPs must complete a CPR course once each triennium – for example, once in the 2026–28 triennium. The RACGP will also accept basic life support (BLS) and advanced life support (ALS) courses that include CPR and meets the Australian Resuscitation Council guidelines. The MBA has determined that all CPR courses will only be eligible for hours under the educational activities (EA) CPD type.
There are some situations where GPs may provide services that require them to meet the requirements of other specialist colleges or other legislative requirements. Some examples include:
- women’s health hours as required by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
- accreditation as a shared care provider with relevant health services
- General Practice Mental Health Standards Collaboration (Mental Health Skills Training, Focussed Psychological Skills Training)
- diagnostic radiology
- medical acupuncture
- anaesthetic skills.
The provider must assist the GP in recording their professional development by providing them with a statement of completion or attendance that details the total hours for activity completion, the MBA type of activity and any high-level requirements. The provider also needs to submit participant completion to the RACGP in a timely manner.
Evidence that could be provided in meeting this standard includes:
- activity details and content as provided under the RACGP CPD Activity standards
- reference to relevant current policies, guidelines, requirements and/or position statements
- reference to the RACGP educational framework.