Free Accredited RACGP CPD Education

GPs practicing in Australia need to earn three types of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours to satisfy their continuing education requirements and retain their practicing license.

The three types of CPD hours are:
Educational Activities (or EA),
Measuring Outcomes (or MO) and
Reviewing Performance (or RP)

EA activities are those that expand knowledge, skills, and attitudes. They typically refer to hours spent doing didactic learning, i.e., attending a live event or webinar, or watching an on-demand video. In this type of learning, there is typically no input required from the person learning. The communication is normally one-way.

Examples of common EA Activities include:
Lectures / Webinars,
On-demand videos,
E-learning modules,
Podcasts,
Workshops,
Conferences,
Short Courses,
Case-Based discussions.
EA is the most commonly accredited type of activity by education providers and are arguably the easiest to accrue.

Reviewing Performance (RP) activities are those that require reflection on feedback about your work as a practitioner. Feedback might be from patients, peers or even from yourself.

Examples of common RP Activities include:
Case-based discussion,
Peer-group learning,
Professional Development Plan (PDP),
Patient feedback,
Multi-source feedback,
Self-care review,
Supervisor activities.

Measuring Outcomes (MO) activities are those that use real work data to ensure quality results.

Examples of common MO Activities include:
Mini-audits / Audits,
Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA),
Research,
Practice Accreditation,
Development of clinical guidelines

The term 'Integrated' in relation to Australian GP CPD hours refers to any educational activity that is accredited for two or more of EA, MO or RP hours categories. It means that the education has been designed help you actively improve your practice by means of integrating your learning through practical application.

Strictly speaking, if an activity is not officially accredited for two or more types of hours, it cannot be described as an 'Integrated' activity.

If the education provider makes resources like MO or RP templates available, GPs can use these resources to self-record MO or RP hours directly with their college or CPD home. Although this provides another way to earn MO or RP hours, such activities should not be called 'Integrated'.

NB: 'Integrated' CPD activities have also been previously referrred to as 'Hybrid' CPD activities.

As of January 2023, Australian General Practitioners need to complete an average of 50 CPD hours per year across each of the 3 learning categroeis: EA, MO and RP. While those 50 hours can be completed in various combinations across the 3 categories, the minimum requirements are:

Total = 50 hours minimum;
Educational Activities (EA) = 12.5 hours minimum;
Reviewing Performance (RP) and/or Measuring Outcomes = Minimum 25 hours combined, with a minimum of 5 hours in RP AND a minimum 5 hours in MO.
The remaining 12.5 hours can be earned using EA, RP or MO.

Praxhub's free CPD education library includes a rich collection of activities that are either accredited as 'Integrated', or come with templates to help you get on top of your MO & RP hours more easily.

In January 2023, CPD requirements for GPs received a fairly major overhaul. One of the big things that changed is how CPD is recorded. 'CPD Points' are no longer used for General Practitioners, and everything is now structured around earning 'CPD hours'.