Professional development
The Council is responsible for ensuring that standards are met in the medical profession and that doctors are competent and fit to practise medicine. One of the ways Council does this is to require doctors to participate in recertification programmes. Continuing professional development (CPD) is a key component of these recertification programmes.
Doctors undertake planned continual professional development to maintain their competence; and for interns, a professional development plan is an important element in their post-graduate training programme.
What is professional development?
Continual professional development (CPD) is a key component of Council's recertification programmes, and includes:
- audits of your medical practice - which involves structured critical analysis of the quality of every aspect of your practice, so you can compare your performance with national standards
- peer reviews - evaluation of your performance by other doctors
- continuing medical education - for example attending educational conferences, courses and workshops, or self-directed learning programmes
- regular practice review (RPR) - meeting with senior colleagues to discuss your practice and think about ways it could be improved.
-
To ensure that you are continuing to maintain your competence to practise medicine, you must meet recertification programme requirements set by Council, including any minimum continual professional development (CPD) requirements.
-
One of the ways the Council helps doctors to stay competent is by requiring them to participate in recertification programmes. Regular practice review (RPR) is one part of this continuing professional development.
Recommended reading
The information on this page is an overview: we strongly recommend you read the Recertification and Continuing Professional Development booklet.
-
All doctors practising in New Zealand must recertify through a New Zealand-based recertification programme.. This booklet outlines the recertification programme requirements as they apply to doctors who are registered and practising in New Zealand.
-
The HPCAA requires Council to ensure doctors are fit and competent to practise medicine. Council does this in part by setting and recognising recertification programmes under section 41 of the HPCAA, and requiring doctors’ participation in those programmes.
-
The Medical Council of New Zealand (the Council) wants to ensure that recertification programmes for all doctors are robust, help assure the public that the doctor is competent and fit to practise, and improve the current high standards of practice of doctors in New Zealand.