CPD Homes Policy

P909 v4.1

The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM; the College) provides a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Program to ensure that medical practitioners with a scope of practice that includes a significant component of emergency medicine maintain and develop their knowledge and professional skills. The ACEM CPD Program is designed to meet the requirements of the Medical Board of Australia (MBA) and the Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ) for the purposes of individual medical registration.

This policy outlines the processes for:

• enrolment in the ACEM CPD Program for those who are ACEM Fellows, members or other ACEM CPD program participants.
• adopting an AMC-accredited CPD Home other than the ACEM for FACEMs and other ACEM members.
• membership requirements for those with an alternate CPD Home.
• failure to meet membership requirements associated with holding an alternate CPD Home.

Satisfactory participation in an ACEM-approved CPD Program, or an ACEM training program, is a mandatory requirement for ongoing membership of the College. Completion of appropriate CPD is a requirement of the MBA and the MCNZ for the maintenance of specialist or vocational registration in emergency medicine in Australia or Aotearoa New Zealand, respectively. 

From 1 January 2024, all medical practitioners in Australia must enrol in a CPD program offered by a CPD Home accredited by the Australian Medical Council (AMC) for that purpose.  CPD Homes provide programs that support doctors to tailor CPD to meet their learning needs, keep track of their CPD participation with a system for record-keeping and validation, and ensure that doctors meet their CPD requirements.  ACEM is accredited by the AMC as an approved CPD Home. 

This policy applies to only those medical practitioners who are required to nominate a CPD Home for the purposes of maintaining their registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). As such, this policy does not apply to medical practitioners in Aotearoa New Zealand as they are not governed by MBA requirements to nominate a CPD Home.

ACEM/the College

means the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.

College member

means a person admitted as a member of the College pursuant to the provisions of the ACEM Constitution and associated regulations.

Governing body

means the ACEM Board, the Council of Advocacy, Practice and Partnerships (CAPP), or the Council of Education (COE).

Trainee

means individuals enrolled in and undertaking the FACEM Training Program and, for the purposes of this policy,   also includes Associates and Specialist International  Medical Graduates (SIMGs) undertaking College requirements for the purpose of attaining eligibility for election to Fellowship of the College.

CPD Home

means a CPD Program provider, accredited by the Australian Medical Council as a CPD Home, with whom medical practitioners can register for the purposes of recording the completion of their CPD requirements.  AMC-accredited CPD Homes also conduct audits of compliance and report audit outcomes to the Medical Board of Australia.

Continuing Professional Development

means the ongoing maintenance, improvement and broadening of knowledge, expertise, skills and personal and professional qualities required throughout the careers of medical practitioners.

Medical practitioners in their third or subsequent postgraduate year (PGY3+) with a scope of practice that includes a significant component of emergency medicine who are registered to practice in Australia may choose ACEM as their AMC-accredited CPD Home. 

Participants who wish to move from an AMC-accredited CPD Home other than ACEM to the ACEM CPD Program must complete all requirements as per Section 4 of the ACEM Continuing Professional Development Participation Policy. Upon enrolment with ACEM, newly admitted CPD participants will be required to enter the activities they have completed for that CPD year up, until their enrolment date, into the ACEM CPD platform.

Enrolment in the ACEM CPD program will automatically roll over at the end of each CPD year, unless participants inform ACEM they have enrolled in another CPD Home (see Section 5).

4.1 ACEM CPD Program participants

Fellows, Associates, , Educational Affiliates, International Affiliates and other participants currently enrolled in the ACEM CPD Program who wish to continue their enrolment are not required to take any action.  Enrolment in the ACEM CPD Program will automatically roll over into the following CPD year.

4.1.1 New Fellows

Upon election to Fellowship, new Fellows will automatically be enrolled in the ACEM CPD program unless they advise the College that they have enrolled in an AMC-accredited CPD Home other than ACEM on the Election to Fellowship form.

4.1.2  New Associates, , Educational Affiliates, International Affiliates

Upon admission to membership, new members will automatically be enrolled in the ACEM CPD Program to commence 1 January of any given CPD Year unless they advise the College that they have enrolled in an AMC-accredited CPD Home other than ACEM on the Application for Admission to Membership form.

4.1.3 Non-members

Medical practitioners who wish to enrol in the ACEM CPD Program and nominate ACEM as their CPD Home must:

•  submit the Application for Enrolment - Non-member form.
• Nominate previous CPD Home where relevant and provide evidence of completion of their CPD requirements in the year prior to applying to joining ACEM’s CPD Program.
• Provide evidence that their scope of practice includes a significant component of emergency medicine.

5. Withdrawal from the ACEM CPD Program

Members who wish to withdraw from the ACEM CPD Program must notify the College by submitting a completed Withdrawal from the ACEM CPD Program form and nominate their alternative AMC-accredited CPD Home.

Members who wish to maintain membership of the College, whilst choosing an AMC-accredited CPD Home other than ACEM, must meet the relevant requirements of membership as outlined in Sections 6.1 of this document.

ACEM members may choose to participate in a CPD program offered by an AMC-accredited CPD Home other than ACEM. CPD Homes accredited by the AMC offering a CPD Program relevant to the scope of emergency medicine practice will be pre-approved by ACEM Board for this purpose.

Emergency physicians who wish to maintain their registration with AHPRA as specialists in emergency medicine must achieve the Emergency Medicine High Level Requirements (HLRs), irrespective of the CPD provider they nominate as their CPD Home. Details of the high-level requirements for emergency medicine specialists can be found on the Medical Board of Australia website.  It is the responsibility of individuals to ensure they remain familiar with the requirements of registration with AHPRA as an emergency medicine specialist.

6.1 Membership requirements for those with an alternate CPD Home

ACEM members who nominate an AMC-accredited CPD Home other than ACEM, while wishing to retain their College membership including the right to use their postnominals (e.g., FACEM), must formally notify the College of their nominated CPD Home and meet the following annual requirements:

6.1.1 Fellows

• Submit annual evidence of compliance from their nominated AMC-accredited CPD Home by 30 June for the preceding CPD Year.
• Submit annual confirmation of completion of the following procedural skills by 30 June for the preceding CPD Year and supply evidence upon request.
  • a minimum of one (1)* procedural skill undertaken by performance, teaching or supervision in a clinical or simulated setting, from each of the High-Level Requirement procedural skill activity types:
    • airway
    • breathing
    • circulation.
  • a minimum of four (4)* different procedural skills undertaken by performance, teaching or supervision in a clinical or simulated setting, from the Essential Emergency Medicine procedural skills list.

• From 2026, submit annual confirmation of completion of the following High-Level Requirement leadership activity by 30 June for the preceding year:
  • One (1) Leadership Activity and Reflective Component (no minimum duration and can contribute to the minimum duration targets in any of the three (3) CPD categories) to reflect, enhance and develop leadership skills that contribute to one or more of the following areas:

• • • workplace improvement
    • system-wide improvement and/or
    • effective interdisciplinary teamwork

6.1.2 Associates,  Educational Affiliates, International Affiliates

• Submit annual evidence of compliance from their nominated AMC-accredited CPD Home by 30 June for the preceding CPD Year.
• Submit annual confirmation of completion of the following procedural skills by 30 June for the preceding CPD Year and supply evidence upon request.
  • a minimum of four (4)* different procedural skills undertaken by performance, teaching or supervision in a clinical or simulated setting, from the Essential Emergency Medicine procedural skills list.

7. Failure to meet membership requirements

Where a member is non-compliant with the membership requirements in section 6.1 of this policy for two (2) consecutive CPD years, regardless of their CPD Home, the member may be suspended or terminated by the ACEM Board.

For example, if a member is non-compliant with the ACEM CPD Program in one year and subsequently fails to meet the membership requirements for holding an alternative CPD Home the following year, this will be considered non-compliance for two (2) consecutive years and the member may be suspended or terminated by the ACEM Board.