Continuing Professional Development - CPD

Name: Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery And Medicine
Address: Australia
Telephone: 1800 804 781

In line with the regulatory requirement, from 2024 all medical practitioners need a CPD Home.

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) requires that all registered medical practitioners participate in CPD. The activities undertaken must be relevant to their scope of practice, must enhance their knowledge, skills and performance, and ensure that they contribute to the delivery of high quality and safe care.

For more information on CPD Homes, please see the Medical Board website here.

A summary of the new requirements are outlined below.

OLD REQUIREMENTS	NEW REQUIREMENTS
80 hours of CPD required annually	50 hours of CPD required
Categories of CPD per the ACCSM by-laws: 1. Hospital/ committee meetings (surgical only) 2. Meetings with peers 3. Self-directed education 4. Additional CPD activities 5. Reflective practice (one per year mandatory)	CPD must be completed in the following domains: 25 hours (50%) of hours recorded across Reviewing Performance and Measuring Outcomes. With a minimum of 5 hours for each category 12.5 hours (25%) of hours recorded under Educational Activities 12.5 hours (25%) across any of the CPD categories
No requirement to develop a Professional Development Plan	Professional Development Plan mandatory (under Performance domain)
NZ members – no requirement for a structured conversation	NZ members must complete an annual structured conversation with a supervisor/ peer, with a focus on cultural safety and health equity
No requirement to join a CPD Home	CPD Home mandatory from 1 January 2024
Mandatory reflective practice activity	Reflective practice activities are included in the Performance Review domain

What is a CPD Home?

A CPD Home is a program that outlines specific objectives for your learning in any one calendar year (1st January to 31st December). There are core requirements that are consistent across all CPD Homes, including those provided by colleges. These include :

A documented Personal Development Plan (PDP) for the current 12 month period
The completion of at least 50 hours of CPD activities, which are comprised of :
- a minimum of 12.5 hours of Learning Activities
- a minimum of 5 hours of Reviewing Performance
- a minimum of 5 hours of Measuring Outcomes
- a combined total of 25 hours for Monitoring Performance and Measuring Outcomes
- the remaining time can be completed from any of these three categories

Your learning must also include activities focussing on Professionalism, Ethical Behaviour, Cultural Sensitivity and Addressing Health Inequalities

Finally, depending on the specialty program you choose, you also need to meet specific requirements over and above the basics (above), which are defined by that specialty college. These are known as Specialist High Level Requirements.

Osler CPD Home Partnership

Affordable, Efficient, Supportive

The ACCSM and Osler have agreed to work together to support ACCSM Fellows with their CPD Home needs.

The College has partnered with Osler as they remove as much of the administrative time burden as possible, by automating the capture of your learning activities. They support you to find high quality, high value activities that ensure the time you spend on CPD meets your needs. They provide tools to help you meet hard-to-get targets such as reviewing performance and measuring outcomes.

The Oser Community site includes valuable resources and videos: Osler Community

ACCSM CPD Program

Pre 2024

The ACCSM CPD Program consists of educational activities undertaken after qualifying as a Fellow of the College which serve to increase, maintain and develop the knowledge and skills needed to provide effective and safe patient care, in relation to Cosmetic Surgery and Cosmetic Medicine.
There are four categories of activities:

Category 1 - Hospital and Committee Meetings

This includes attendance at any of the following meetings:

Specialty Unit Meetings.
Clinical Outcome Meeting including grand rounds.
Any hospital committee involved with clinical care of patients.

The total minimum requirement for Category I is ten hours active involvement per year.

Category 2 - Scientific Meetings (1 day = 8 hours)

This includes attendance at any internationally accredited meeting involved cosmetic surgical / medical activities. Attendance at College meeting/conference at least once every two years is a pre-requisite of fulfilling CME requirements.

The total minimal requirement for Category II is thirty hours per annum.

Category 3 - Self-Educational Activities

These include the following:

Internet activities related, to clinical practice.
Surgical journals, tapes, videos etc.
Arranged visits to special units.
Preparation for and participation in self-assessment tests.
Acquisition of new skills related to cosmetic surgical practice.

Category 4 - Other Activities

These include the following:

Internet activities related, to clinical practice.
Surgical journals, tapes, videos etc.
Arranged visits to special units.
Preparation for and participation in self-assessment tests.
Acquisition of new skills related to cosmetic surgical practice.
The minimum requirements for Categories Ill and IV is a total of forty hours.

Summary of Requirements for Re-certification Program

Engage in a total of 80 hours of continuing medical education per annum.
Conduct an audit of some aspect of the Fellow or Member's clinical practice related to cosmetic surgery / medicine.
Arrange a peer review of that audit.
Engage in audit activities for at least 5 hours per annum (in addition to activities referred to above.
Be credentialled at a hospital that is accredited by the Australian Council on Health Care Standards or that meets the standards for an ACCSM approved hospital.

If requested, Fellows are required to supply documentation to support the information provided on the Annual Re-certification Data Form.

At the end of each calendar year, each Fellow will be sent a Recertification Data Form which is required to be completed and return to the College by the due date. All documents will be assessed and as soon as possible after the due date each Fellow who meets the minimum standard will be sent a Recertification Statement for the previous year. It is a condition of Re-certification that Fellows/Members produce evidence that they have current appropriate medical indemnity insurance with an appropriate medical defence organisation in order to protect the public.

Continuing Professional Development

...is how health practitioners maintain, improve and broaden their knowledge, expertise and competence, and continually develop their personal and professional qualities.