Author: Professor Henry Woo FRACS Chair, Professional Standards

With the end of the year fast approaching, many of us will be looking forward to spending time with family and planning new year celebrations. It is also a great time to finalise outstanding tasks, including making sure your CPD is complete.
 
With more than 96 per cent of RACS CPD participants compliant with their requirements for 2023, most of you will be familiar with the requirements and the online CPD portal/mobile app.

What was new in 2024
Compliance with the Cultural Safety, Addressing Health Inequity, Professionalism and Ethical Practice (CAPE) CPD requirement is being actively implemented this year. The requirement aligns to the regulatory standard set by the Medical Board of Australia (MBA) and  Te Kaunihera Rata o Aotearoa - Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ). To support you in completing the requirement, RACS has developed a set of reference documents that outline how you can meet this requirement.

If you haven't engaged in CPD related to cultural safety and addressing health inequity, RACS offers resources such as the Indigenous Health and Te Tiriti o Waitangi modules. For insights into professionalism and ethical practice, consider watching our webinar on AI and medical transcription. Keep an eye out for more CPD opportunities in our upcoming newsletter.
 
You may also have heard that participation in the Australian and New Zealand Audit of Surgical Mortality (ANZASM) is now an MBA mandated high-level specialist requirement for surgeons in Australia. This requirement is already a part of our program and except for New South Wales participants who must self-report, this information is automatically added to the CPD records of RACS CPD participants in Australia.

What’s coming up in 2025
We have listened to your feedback and are working on improvements to streamline your CPD for 2025 including:
•    Participation in RACS activities including professional development courses, supervision activities, exams, committees, faculties and more will be fully automated for 2025.
•    The ‘Add Activity’ fields will now be pre-populated for most activities, which means you will only need to review/adjust you CPD entries rather than enter all information in full for each activity.
•    We have made or we are making  improvements to the online dashboard to make it easier to see how you’re tracking with your CPD requirements
 
Need help?
 •    You can download the 2024 CPD Guide to help you complete your CPD (a 2025 guide will be released soon)
•    The RACS website has a wide range of resources including guidelines, standards and online activities.
•    The CPD team, based in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand are here to help and based in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia. You can email them or  call them on +61 3 9249 1282. If you cannot reach the team on the first attempt, please leave a message and they will get back to you as soon as they can.

On behalf of RACS and Council, I would like to thank you for your on-going support of the College and wish you a happy and safe New Year.

Dr Henry Woo