According to the Medical Board of Australia:
Practitioners are required to meet the CPD registration standard in each of their specialties and/or scopes of practice. Where possible, practitioners will be able to complete their CPD within a single CPD home that covers all their specialties/scopes of practice.
However, where this is not possible, practitioners with more than one specialty/scope of practice may need to complete more than one program, noting that individual CPD activities may count towards the CPD requirements for more than one specialty or scope of practice.
Note: The number of hours and type of activities that practitioners with more than one specialty and/or scope of practice are required to complete will depend on their individual circumstances. Some might be able to meet the CPD registration standard in each specialty by completing a total of 50 hours of CPD if all their CPD homes agree that the completed CPD meets their CPD home’s requirements.
However, others may be required to complete additional hours of CPD to meet the requirements of each of their CPD homes. Where specialties and/or scopes of practice are very different, practitioners may need to complete the entire CPD prescribed for each specialty and/or scope of practice.
FACRRM
No additional CPD Hours are required; all hours are “shared CPD Hours”. If you complete CPD requirements for FACRRM, you will meet all the CPD requirements as a specialist general practitioner (FRACGP).
High-level requirements
Some AMC – accredited specialist medical colleges require additional CPD activities which are linked to the outcomes of training to achieve specialist registration in the relevant specialty. These are called Specialist High-Level requirements and are approved and published by the Medical Board of Australia. Any practitioner registered as a specialist must include the relevant high-level requirements in their annual CPD program, regardless of the CPD home the specialist chooses.
The Specialist High-Level requirement for General Practice is CPR certification once every triennium. Specialist High-Level requirements can all be counted towards “shared CPD Hours”.
Search your specialty to see if there is a Specialist High-Level requirement.
Program-level requirements
No additional CPD Hours are required; all hours are “shared CPD Hours”. The CPD Hours spent on culturally safe practice, addressing health inequities, and professionalism and ethical practice as part of your dual fellowship (non FRACGP), can be counted towards the 50 Hours CPD required for FRACGP.
Determining your shared CPD Hours as a dual fellow
The number of “shared CPD Hours” depends on the following factors:
How many specialist registrations do you have?
Most doctors have one (1) specialist registration (specialist general practitioners), several have two (2), and a few have more than two (2).
If you have 2 areas of specialisation, as a first principal, your CPD Hours requirement is 50 + 50 (=100). However, adjustments typically apply as below:
How much time do you spend practising in each area of specialisation?
Irrespective of the time spent in each area of specialist practice, you need to fulfil the CPD requirements for each speciality. Part-time doctors need to do the same number of CPD Hours as do full-time doctors.
However, some CPD Hours can be shared between areas of specialisation, reducing the total.
How much overlap / common content is there between each area of specialisation?
Your CPD Hours spent on culturally safe practice, addressing health inequities, and professionalism and ethical practice as part of your dual fellowship, can be counted towards the 50 Hours CPD required for FRACGP, and hence reduces the total for both specialities below 100 Hours.
The number of hours you spend on culturally safe practice, addressing health inequities, and professionalism and ethical practice is determined by you, depending on what is relevant to your scope and role.
What are your roles, what is your scope of practice?
The CPD content that you choose each year should be determined by your role/s and scope of practice.
For some dual fellows, there will be significant overlap between roles and hence areas of specialisation. These could include, for example, Physicians, Palliative Care Medicine or Sports Medicine.
Examples
Dr A, a specialist general practitioner is also a specialist in public health medicine. Dr A has 2 completely separate roles, one as a general practitioner for two (2) days each week, and the second working for her state health department as a member of the infectious diseases team. Her CPD Hours requirements start at 50+50=100.
On reviewing her CPD needs, Dr A recognises that overlap is about 50% based on common clinical conditions content, the need to review performance and measure outcomes, as well as meeting expectations around program-level requirements, and high-level requirements. She decides that 60 Hours CPD in 2024 will fulfil her CPD requirements for both specialities, and Dr A keeps good records allowing any audit to be easily passed.
Dr B is a specialist general practitioner and a specialist medical administrator. He spends one (1)day each week in general practice and four (4) days each week as director of medical services (non-clinical) at the local hospital. His CPD Hours requirements start at 50+50=100.
On reviewing his CPD needs for 2024, Dr B recognises that to retain both specialist registrations he will need to do 65 Hours of CPD. This is because the overlap between his two (2) roles is modest, and he recognises the vital importance to retaining good clinical skills in his general practice work. There is considerable overlap from meeting program-level and high-level requirements, and his work in medical administration includes substantial workplace assessment and review, and professional development.
Dr C is a specialist general practitioner and a specialist in emergency medicine. She works four (4) days each week, split fairly evenly between general practice and the local emergency department. There is very broad overlap in the types of patients Dr C sees in both settings and so the CPD she needs to do is broadly common across her roles. As such she finds that a total of 50 Hours CPD fulfils the requirements, she has to do to retain both specialisations.
Where can I get help and further guidance?
The Medical Board of Australia and the RACGP recognise that every doctor’s circumstances are different and therefore determination of the appropriate amount of CPD and overlap of CPD for each specialisation is individual.
To check if you are meeting your requirements for your medical specialty, the Medical Board of Australia publishes the approved Specialist High-Level requirements every year.
We encourage you to discuss your specific situation with a member of the CPD team by emailing: cpd.national@racgp.org.au.