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01 Dec 2015
A revised continuing professional development (CPD) registration standard1 takes effect today.
The Podiatry Board of Australia published the revised CPD standard on 30 October to help practitioners become familiar with the new requirements before the standard commenced.
The revised CPD registration standard will apply to all registered podiatrists and podiatric surgeons in Australia except those with non-practising registration. Practitioners will need to meet the obligations of the revised standard by the next registration renewal period on 30 November 2016.
The revised standard does not apply to the current cycle of renewals.
The standard was revised after a scheduled review, which included public consultation.
There have been minimal changes to the Board’s CPD standard. The number of hours of CPD that podiatrists and podiatric surgeons are required to undertake each year has not changed and the categories of CPD are largely the same.
The Board has maintained flexibility in the standard in that while CPD must be completed from at least two different categories, practitioners have flexibility with regards to what, when, where and how CPD activity may be undertaken. This can include attending podiatry conferences; undertaking online CPD activities; discussing case(s) with health sector peers; and self directed learning such as reviewing relevant research publications or journal articles.
The Board has introduced a requirement that a minimum of five hours of CPD must be in an interactive setting with other practitioners, which can include Skype or videoconferencing.
The requirement for podiatrists to complete training that includes cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), management of anaphylaxis and use of an automated external defibrillator and for podiatric surgeons to complete training in advanced life support has been maintained. However, the Board has expanded the approved training organisations that can deliver the training to include a hospital and/or health service.
Updated FAQ for CPD and the following templates to assist practitioners to plan and record their CPD activities have also been published:
National Boards have previously published a consultation report providing a summary of the consultation on the revised CPD registration standards. The report and additional information and resources are published on the AHPRA website.
1Registration standards define the requirements that applicants and registrants in the regulated professions need to meet to be registered.