CPD activities or CPD education are forms of education that health practitioners undertake in order to comply with their mandatory CPD requirements each registration year.
In regards to undertaking education, you can technically participate in any forms of education you wish. However, to the question of does it count as CPD? The simple answer to this is; if it related to your context of practice, it can be claimed towards your CPD requirements once documented.
There are a variety of regular activities that can be considered CPD. It can be formal learning such as a postgraduate course, or an opportunistic unscheduled event from your experience that includes reflection on your practice. Examples of CPD include (but are not limited to):
Formal reflection and documentation must be undertaken for any of these activities to be contributable towards your mandatory CPD requirements.
In Australia, you are required to measure your CPD in units of time - hour by hour. Some providers assign 'points' to their CPD activities, it's important to check with individual providers what their definition of a 'point' is. Not all providers equate one point with one hour.
In addition to this, neither points nor hours are a tradable commodity. If you are being awarded points for any education you complete, consider asking the provider for a certificate outlining the hours of CPD you have obtained. Remember to double-check that every hour of CPD you claim corresponds to one hour of active learning.
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