FAQs: New Medical Board of Australia (MBA) CPD registration standard

What is the new MBA CPD registration standard?

Australia’s health ministers approved the below changes, effective 1 January 2023.

• Medical practitioners must meet the requirements of a CPD program of an accredited CPD home.
• Medical practitioners must develop a written annual professional development plan.
• Medical practitioners need to complete 50 hours of CPD each year through self-directed and/or provider-led education, made up of:
  • 25 hours of CPD, categorised as reviewing performance and measuring outcomes – GPs can decide on the best mix for these activities to suit their practice, with five hours minimum of each type
    • examples of reviewing performance are Basic Life Support and Advanced Life Support courses, teaching medical students/GPs in training, multisource feedback, peer-group learning and provider-led education activities that indicate this category
    • examples of measuring outcomes are an individual or group audit, PDSA (plan, do, study, act), practice accreditation and provider-led education activities that indicate this category
  • 12.5 hours of learning or educational activities, categorised as knowledge and skills
    • examples include reading medical journals, attending lectures, conferences, workshops and provider-led education activities that indicate this category
  • 12.5 hours of GPs’ choice across the three categories of CPD.

For more information, refer to new MBA CPD registration standard.

What is an accredited CPD home?

An accredited CPD home is an organisation that is accredited by the Australian Medical Council to provide a CPD program (s) for medical practitioners.

The organisation may be a medical college, university, health service, professional indemnity, professional association or society. CPD homes must demonstrate appropriate governance structures, expertise and resources to deliver a CPD program (s) that supports meaningful professional development.

The RACGP and other medical colleges are already accredited and recognised as CPD homes by the MBA.

What was the consultation process?

Consultation with the MBA on the proposed changes to CPD has been ongoing since 2016, and these changes are not unexpected.

For the final MBA consultation, in December 2019, the RACGP distributed the MBA’s public consultation paper to all GPs and collated around 700 responses that was provided to the MBA. These can be accessed at Submission to the MBA.

Do these changes affect all medical practitioners?

Yes. The changes to MBA CPD registration standard apply to all registered medical practitioners effective 1 January 2023.

Other medical colleges have already incorporated these changes to their CPD program and moved to annual CPD cycles, recording CPD in hours and introduced a Professional Development Plan (PDP).

Does this standard apply to me?

This standard applies to all registered medical practitioners, with the exception of:

• medical students
• interns in accredited intern training programs and doctors in postgraduate year- two positions who are participating in a structured program that leads to a certificate of completion
• medical practitioners who have limited registration in the public interest or limited registration for teaching or research (to demonstrate a procedure or participate in a workshop) and who have been granted registration for no more than four weeks
• medical practitioners who are granted an exemption or variation from this standard by their CPD home in relation to continuous absence from practice of at least six months and up to and including 12 months for parental or carer leave, serious illness or other approved circumstances
• medical practitioners with non-practising registration.

Is the standard the same for part-time and locum GPs?

Yes. The new MBA CPD registration standard as outlined above applies to part-time and locum GPs without pro-rata.

Will the RACGP continue to set the CPD minimum requirements for specialist GPs?

Yes. The college will continue to set the CPD minimum requirements for Fellows of the RACGP.

What is the RACGP doing to address these upcoming changes?

The RACGP is prepared and will be available to assist GPs to achieve the regulatory requirements of the MBA without additional administrative workload.

Some aspects of the new CPD standard have already been incorporated into the CPD program:

• Hours are recorded alongside points, visible on your myCPD dashboard
• Quick Log, accessible through myCPD dashboard, enables you to quickly record your CPD hours
• Activities are categorised into reviewing performance, measuring outcomes, and knowledge and skills, and you can track CPD hours in each category on your myCPD dashboard
• CPD points and hours for activities delivered by our education providers are automatically uploaded to your CPD dashboard
• The current Handbook for general practitioners includes examples of activities in the categories of measuring outcomes and reviewing performance (please note, the handbooks is currently being reviewed)

Below is a range of examples of education activities in each CPD category. The activities in bold fit into more than one category of CPD.

Last updated 24 March 2022