Engaging in CPD Activity

NB: Requirements for the current PCS year are 40 CPD credits and 1 clinical/practice audit

Professional competence is intended as a flexible, self-directed and practice-based process and it is the responsibility of each individual GP to ensure that their activities reflect all aspects of their own practice. It is beneficial for you to engage in a variety of professional competence activities that allow you to reflect on and evaluate different elements of your practice from internal quality checks through to your communication with your patients and colleagues.

You should aim to reflect the 8 Domains of Good Professional Practice in your recorded CPD activity.

To assist you with planning your learning for the PCS year, the Irish College of GPs has created a Professional Development Plan (PDP) template, which can be recorded for up to 8 internal CPD credits. 

Yes, you can record eLearning modules that have an assessment element and certificate of completion for external CPD credits. Irish College of GPs elearning modules are free to all College members. You can also avail of external CPD through participation in Irish College of GPs webinars.

We recommend that, where possible, you attend some activity each year that allows you an opportunity to interact with your colleagues. For example, CME small group meetings or faculty meetings are a great way to obtain CPD credits while also having an opportunity to engage with GPs in your own area. Likewise, conferences and seminars offer a chance to update knowledge and skills while networking with other GPs. Remember that your CPD activity should reflect all aspects of your practice and the 8 Domains of Good Professional Practice as recommended by the Medical Council. 

External CPD credits should predominantly come from activities recognised by a Medical Postgraduate Training Body or by a Third Level institution. If a doctor attends a course or event which has not been recognised for external CPD, it is their responsibility to justify its relevance to their scope of practice and their maintenance of professional competence in the event that they are selected for audit by the Medical Council.

While there are times that unrecognised activities may be of relevance, these should be the exception rather than the norm for recording external credits. If recording an event of this nature, 1 hour of education activity = 1 credit and credits cannot be recorded for opening/closing speeches, lunch time, breaks, registration or unmoderated poster sessions.

Yes, the Irish College of GPs PCS committee has agreed that committee participation in the following activities can be recorded for 1 internal CPD credit per meeting (to a maximum of 6 per year):

• Irish College of GPs Executive/Council
• Irish College of GPs standing committees
• GP trainers
• Irish College of GPs assessors/visits
• Irish College of GPs examiners
• GP training programme directors
• Academics
• Irish College of GPs project directors
• Representing general practice on committees
• GP co-op committees.

NB: a maximum of six internal CPD credits per year can be recorded for committee participation.

Research and teaching credits can also be recorded for any research or preparation work you engage in through your role in these activities.

The Irish College of GPs PCS committee have agreed that this activity can be recorded to a maximum of 3 internal CPD credits per annum.

Internal CPD refers to practice evaluation and development, and can include activities such as practice meetings, quality improvement processes and chart reviews. Please see our 1 page guideline (PDF, 307KB) to assist you with meeting your internal CPD requirement.

Remember that your recorded PCS activity should reflect all aspects of your practice and therefore it is advisable that your credits reflect a range of activity types. 

CPD Recognition is granted by the Irish College of GPs where the activity is deemed relevant to the scope of General practice, is organized specifically for the purpose of External CPD, takes place in Ireland, meets the Irish College of GPs CPD Recognition guidelines and meets relevant quality and educational standards. Many meetings granted CPD Recognition are sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, however only the educational component of these meetings will be recognized, therefore breaks, dinners, registration time and opening/closing speeches will not receive recognition.

You can record a postgraduate medical course for a maximum of 40 CPD credits per PCS year (1 May-30 April). This was agreed by the PCS Committee as a fair reflection of the amount of time spent undertaking the course.

This applies to courses which are relevant to your practice and which have been provided by a recognised Postgraduate Medical Training Body or Third Level Institution. 

These may be claimed at an equivalent level under Research and Teaching, however a medical practitioner's PCS activity must be balanced and mirror his/her clinical practice and activity and reflect his/her scope of practice across all domains of practice. It is mandatory for Medical Practitioners to maintain competence in all the areas of practice and medicine in which they engage including involvement on an occasional or infrequent basis.

A medical practitioner does not comply unless their PCS activity incorporates the full range of professional activity.

Source: Medical Council

NB: Requirements for the current PCS year are 40 CPD credits and 1 clinical/practice audit

Internal CPD credits relate to internal practice evaluation and development and all doctors are required to record a minimum of 20 internal CPD credits per PCS year. These can be recorded with 1 hour of activity = 1 CPD credit. Examples include:

Activities which can be recorded include (but are not limited to):

• Case presentation: presenting particular patient scenarios as a way of informing others about approaches to care/treatment. This can be a two-way process and include feedback on care or treatment regimes
• Clinical case discussion: where a discussion takes place with another healthcare professional regarding clinical issues and approaches to a patient's treatment and care
• Clinical club: forming a club with other GP colleagues in your locality for regular clinical case discussions
• Clinical risk meeting: for example, where a GP/GP practice develop a plan to deal with seasonal epidemics (e.g. influenza)
• Committee participation: the ICGP PCS committee has agreed that this can be recorded for 1 internal CPD credit per meeting (to a maximum of 6 per year)
• Locum handover: discussing patient cases, files and updates on the practice
• Patient survey: where a survey is conducted to obtain patient feedback (e.g. on the practice, waiting times, friendliness of staff, care provided etc.) View a sample survey template.
• Peer review group: where patient cases/issues/practice issues are presented to peers who provide comments and advice and suggest alternative approaches to care and treatment. CME small groups act as a peer support/review group.
• Practice-based meeting: practices often hold regular meetings to discuss patient issues, attendance at courses & how to implement findings to improve patient care. Our Template Section can help you.
• Professional Development Plan (PDP): please see www.icgp.ie/pdp for more details
• Quality improvement process: review of an approach to care/treatment, etc. and implementation of outcomes
• Significant Event Analysis: a template is available in our Template Section.

Remember! If you take learning back from a meeting and make subsequent changes to your practice as a result, you can record this for internal credits 

NB: Don't forget to always retain evidence to support your recorded activities. When recording internal CPD to your ePortfolio, you will need to enter a description (min. 50 characters) into the description box.

Evidence includes, at a minimum, the topics reviewed/discussed, the number of people in attendance (where relevant) and any practice changes made as a result of the activity. 

Educational activities that are recognised by Postgraduate Training Bodies will generate external CPD credits. These include regional and national scientific meetings, conferences and workshops. Credits from international conferences organised by equivalent bodies in other countries are also accepted.

External credits are also awarded for online courses if there is a formal assessment process.

Activities should be relevant to the individual practice of the RMP and reflect the domains of practice and it is possible to accrue credits from a diverse range of professional activity. Postgraduate Training Bodies are responsible for attributing CPD credits to various professional activities. 

The Training Bodies can assist the practitioner in accessing applicable activities for PCS and it will also be possible to access support in order to assess learning needs.

Source: Medical Council