CPD FAQs

CPD is a registration requirement for the Medical Board of Australia (MBA) and the Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ).

Completion of CPD in an approved CPD Home is also a regulation for all ACEM members.

The Medical Board of Australia (MBA) has set annual CPD requirements for doctors. 

To align with the MBA’s annual requirements, ACEM has reduced the duration of its CPD program from three years to one year, commencing 2024.  

The 2024 Annual CPD program retains the annual requirements from the 2021-2023 ACEM CPD program and adds pro-rata Cycle requirements into the yearly requirement. 

• Scope of Practice procedural skills have been re-named Essential Emergency (EEM) procedural skills.
• FACEM/EMC/EMD/EMAD/Educational Affiliate/Associate (Intermediate)/Associate (Advanced) and International Affiliate member participants will be required to complete four (4) EEM skills annually. 

All CPD participants are required to complete four (4) Health Outcomes.

As a FACEM CPD participant, your annual CPD requirements are: 

50 annual hours of CPD activities including: 

• 25 hours of Reviewing Performance and Measuring Outcomes activities with: 
  • minimum five (5) hours of Reviewing Performance activities; 
  • minimum five (5) hours of Measuring Outcomes activities; and 
  • remaining 15 hours comprising Reviewing Performance and/or Measuring Outcomes activities. 
• 12.5 hours of Educational Activities 
• 12.5 hours of activities from any one or more category of Reviewing Performance, Measuring Outcomes and/or Educational Activities. 

High-Level Requirements – Three (3) Core procedural skills by performance, teaching or supervision (in a clinical or simulated setting): 

• One (1) Airway skill 
• One (1) Breathing skill 
• One (1) Circulation skill  

​Four (4) different Essential Emergency Medicine (EEM) procedural skills by performance, teaching or supervision (in a clinical or simulated setting). 

Four (4) Health Outcome activities: 

• One (1) Culturally Safe Practice activity and one (1) reflection 
• One (1) Professionalism activity 
• One (1) Addressing Health Inequity activity 
• One (1) Ethical Practice activity 

Professional Development Plan and Reflection 

Annual Conversation (NZ registered participants only) 

As a non-FACEM CPD participant, your annual CPD requirements are:

50 annual hours of CPD activities including:

• 25 hours of Reviewing Performance and Measuring Outcomes activities with: 
  • minimum five (5) hours of Reviewing Performance activities; 
  • minimum five (5) hours of Measuring Outcomes activities; and 
  • remaining 15 hours comprising Reviewing Performance and/or Measuring Outcomes activities. 
• 12.5 hours of Educational Activities 
• 12.5 hours of activities from any one or more category of Reviewing Performance, Measuring Outcomes and/or Educational Activities. 

​
Four (4) different Essential Emergency Medicine (EEM) procedural skills by performance, teaching or supervision (in a clinical or simulated setting).

Four (4) Health Outcome activities: 

• One (1) Culturally Safe Practice activity and one (1) reflection 
• One (1) Professionalism activity 
• One (1) Addressing Health Inequity activity 
• One (1) Ethical Practice activity 

​
Professional Development Plan and Reflection 

​
Annual Conversation (NZ registered participants only) 

As an International Affiliate member, you will be automatically enrolled in the Modified ACEM CPD program. 

Your Modified CPD Program requirements are: 

50 annual hours of CPD activities in any of the three (3) CPD categories: 

• Educational Activities – Self-directed learning, group learning, teaching and educational development; 
• Reviewing Performance – Performance reviews, meetings, supervision; 
• Measuring Outcomes – M&M meetings, root cause analysis, publishing research. 

​Four (4) different Essential Emergency Medicine (EEM) procedural skills by performance, teaching or supervision (in a clinical or simulated setting).

Four (4) Health Outcome activities: 

• One (1) Culturally Safe Practice activity and one (1) reflection 
• One (1) Professionalism activity 
• One (1) Addressing Health Inequity activity 
• One (1) Ethical Practice activity 

Professional Development Plan and Reflection 

As a non-Member CPD participant, your annual CPD requirements are: 

50 annual hours of CPD activities including: 

• 25 hours of Reviewing Performance and Measuring Outcomes activities with: 
  • minimum five (5) hours of Reviewing Performance activities; 
  • minimum five (5) hours of Measuring Outcomes activities; and 
  • remaining 15 hours comprising Reviewing Performance and/or Measuring Outcomes activities. 
• 12.5 hours of Educational Activities 
• 12.5 hours of activities from any one or more category of Reviewing Performance, Measuring Outcomes and/or Educational Activities. 

Four (4) Health Outcome activities: 

• One (1) Culturally Safe Practice activity and one (1) reflection 
• One (1) Professionalism activity 
• One (1) Addressing Health Inequity activity 
• One (1) Ethical Practice activity 

Professional Development Plan and Reflection 

Annual Conversation (NZ registered participants only) 

High-Level Requirements (HLRs) are a specialist registration requirement only. For ACEM, HLRs apply only to FACEM members.
 
The Medical Board of Australia (MBA) has invited accredited specialist medical colleges to set high-level requirements for CPD programs for vocational trainees, specialist international medical graduates and specialists practising in the relevant scopes of practice in each specialty. The purpose of HLRs is to ensure consistency among CPD Homes with respect to CPD programs for medical practitioners with certain scopes of practice.
 
A High-Level Requirement (HLR) is an activity that must be completed because they are essential to maintain or update knowledge and skills to practise safely in a specialty.
 
In 2022, the MBA approved the following HLRs for Emergency Medicine specialists for implementation from 2023:
 
Core Procedural Skills by performance, teaching or supervision (in clinical or simulated setting). to be recorded in Educational Activity category for a maximum of 1.5 hours (30 minutes for each of the three (3) HLR requirements).
 

• One (1) Airway
• One (1) Breathing
• One (1) Circulation

From January 2024 the Emergency Medicine HLRs are three Core Procedural Skills (one each of Airway, Breathing and Circulation) by performance, teaching or supervision (in clinical or simulated setting). For the ACEM CPD program they will be allocated to the Educational Activity category for a maximum of 1.5 hours (30 minutes for each of the three (3) HLR procedural skills recorded).

The Medical Board Australia (MBA) and Medical Council New Zealand (MCNZ) require registered practitioners who are working in any capacity, to maintain CPD compliance by completing the CPD program as outlined by the CPD Home or Recertification programme to which they are enrolled.
 
Full time and part-time practitioners are required to complete the annual CPD program requirements.

If a personal circumstance affects your capacity to undertake the CPD program you may apply for a full or partial exemption from annual CPD Program requirements.
 
Grounds for exemption:

• Not practicing for the duration of the exemption period (6-month or 12-month exemption from the CPD program)
• No longer in clinical practice (procedural skills exemption)
• Hold current Fellowship with another Specialist College (Dual & ‘other’ Fellowship exemption)

Before applying for an exemption you are advised to read the following policy document:

• CPD499 Policy on exemption from the ACEM CPD Program
• CPD307 Policy on Re-entry to Practice Following a Period of Absence.

The requirements of this policy align with the Medical Board of Australia (MBA) ‘Recency of Practice Standard’ and the Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ) ‘Policy on doctors returning to medical practice after an absence from practice for three years or more.’
 
Please note, you may still be required to complete reduced CPD requirements for the CPD year once an exemption is applied.
 
Contact the CPD Unit for more details.

The ACEM CPD Program exemption is available for all FACEM members, Non-FACEM members and Non-member CPD participants who meet eligibility criteria for the exemption being sought.

You can apply for an exemption using the online Exemption/Concession form accessible via the ‘Home’ page in your ACEM CPD Platform. 

Once completed and submitted your exemption application form will go directly to the CPD Unit for processing. You will be asked to provide official documentation to support your exemption application, without this your application cannot be processed.

For exemption requests due to leave, suitable documentation is (a) a copy of your leave approval showing the dates of your leave, or (b) a copy of your EDD / medical certificate or similar document, or (c) a letter from HR/employer confirming dates of leave. Please discuss other documentation with CPD Unit staff if you cannot provide the suggested verification.

For procedural skills exemption requests, suitable documentation is (a) a copy of your job description showing that the role is 100% non-clinical with verification that it is your current job description, OR (b) the portion of your contract with your name on it that includes specification that the role is 100% non-clinical OR (c) a letter from HR/employer confirming your role is 100% non-clinical.

Note:

1. Procedural Skills exemptions are approved for a full CPD Year only (1 January – 31 December) – no partial-year exemption is available.
2. Procedural Skills exemptions must be applied for each CPD Year in which a Procedural Skills exemption is required.

If you are applying for a Dual and ‘Other Fellowship exemption to be applied to your ACEM CPD records, you will need to provide documentation that you have completed your annual CPD requirements with your alternate College. This may be a copy of the CPD records and Professional Development Plan that you have recorded or an annual CPD certificate.

You will need to read the Policy on CPD Program Exemption to determine if you are eligible for an exemption from the ACEM CPD program and if so for how long.

There are two (2) exemption periods:

• Six-months (reduces CPD hours only – annual CPD requirements remain)
• 12-months (CPD Year – no annual requirements)

*If you take an extended period of leave (nine to 12 months) across two (2) CPD years whereby the leave length meets the eligible criteria for each year, a six-month exemption could be applied to each of the CPD years individually.

If you are a Fellow of a Specialist College listed below, you are able to apply for a Dual or ‘Other’ Fellowship exemption.

• RACP (Paeds)
• CICM
• RACMA
• RACGP
• ACRRM

As a Dual or ‘Other’ Fellow you may choose to complete the annual 50 hours and your Professional Development Plan through your alternate College platform. You will still need to complete the following ACEM requirements: 

If you are a FACEM Member: 

High-Level Requirements – Three (3) Core procedural skills by performance, teaching or supervision (in a clinical or simulated setting): 

• One (1) Airway skill 
• One (1) Breathing skill 
• One (1) Circulation skill  

​Four (4) different Essential Emergency Medicine (EEM) procedural skills by performance, teaching or supervision (in a clinical or simulated setting). 

Four (4) Health Outcome activities: 

• One (1) Culturally Safe Practice activity and one (1) reflection 
• One (1) Professionalism activity 
• One (1) Addressing Health Inequity activity 
• One (1) Ethical Practice activity 

Annual Conversation (NZ registered participants only)

If you are a non-FACEM member:

​Four (4) different Essential Emergency Medicine (EEM) procedural skills by performance, teaching or supervision (in a clinical or simulated setting). 

Four (4) Health Outcome activities: 

• One (1) Culturally Safe Practice activity and one (1) reflection 
• One (1) Professionalism activity 
• One (1) Addressing Health Inequity activity 
• One (1) Ethical Practice activity 

Annual Conversation (NZ registered participants only) 

A CPD exemption should be applied for prior to the commencement of leave so that you know what, if any, CPD requirements you need to complete to meet your annual CPD requirements.

A retrospective exemption can be applied to your CPD record if necessary.

The purpose of the CPD Professional Development Plan (PDP) is to ensure your CPD is relevant to your scope of practice, beneficial to your practice and tailored to meet your personal career goals. The CPD Plan will help you to develop and accomplish your life-long learning goals using learning, reflective and educational activities.
 
The PDP is designed to:

• Focus your efforts on achievable goals
• plan your workload
• make the most of opportunities

A workplace performance appraisal may result in the development of workplace professional development plan which can be uploaded on the Professional Development Page in lieu of completing an online Professional Development Plan.

Reflection on your learning experiences and an assessment of the success achieved, can reinforce the educational value of the activities selected.

Your reflection may also identify the need for further learning activities, or Personal CPD Plan changes.

The outcome of the reflection is intended to promote development of new attitudes, enhancement of skills and knowledge and ultimately to further your professional development.

To meet audit and regulatory body requirements, CPD participants are required to retain evidence of all CPD activities for a minimum of three (3) years.

The Provision of Evidence Guidelines have been developed to provide guidance on the nature and type of documentation to be retained and uploaded for the purpose of meeting CPD audit requirements.

Your CPD records and supporting documentation must be deidentified and must not contain any confidential information.

You are not required to upload evidence for College activities and activities that bear a current ACEM CPD Activity Approval logo. These activities will be recorded on your behalf by CPD Unit staff. The College retains evidence of your participation in these activities which will be used in the case of a CPD compliance audit.

Although it is assumed that all CPD participants will comply with the ACEM CPD program and accurately document required activities each year, it is essential that the process is transparent and open to external agencies. 

Immediately following the close of each CPD Year, a cohort of a minimum of five per cent (5%) of ACEM Fellows and a minimum of five per cent (5%) of non-Fellow participants, shall be selected for compliance audit in respect of that year. The cohorts shall include any ‘mandatory auditees’.

Mandatory auditees are ACEM CPD participants who:

• Have not recorded the minimum requirements by the due date, for the year to which the audit relates;
• Have not submitted a compliance audit by a nominated due date in the immediately preceding CPD Year to which the current audit relates;
• Failed a compliance audit in the immediately preceding CPD Year to which the current audit relates.
• Were granted a deferral from the audit process in relation to the CPD Year immediately preceding the year to which the current audit relates.

All ACEM CPD participants selected for a compliance audit will be notified in writing that they have been selected; the reason for their selection for audit; the next steps and due dates; and how to successfully satisfy the CPD compliance audit requirements.

An annual completion certificate will be available via your CPD platform, unless you have been selected for a CPD compliance audit.
 
A CPD compliance certificate will be available to participants via the CPD platform upon successfully passing a compliance audit.