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Continued Professional Development

The NHAA requires members to meet the highest standards of education and training. Members must earn a set number of Continued Professional Development hours in a year to maintain their membership.

The NHAA offers a number of online and offline opportunities to earn CPD (Continued Professional Development) in house, and there are many more providers that conduct CPD-approved courses and training modules.

Please see CPD Guide the for detailed information on the NHAA CPD system and suitable activities. If you have any questions please contact the office, we are here to help.

Current members click here to submit your CPD

CPD is about keeping members up to date with their profession. Most professional associations require their members to complete a certain amount of CPD hours each year to ensure competency. This can take the form of activities such as seminars, ongoing formal study, or activities such as teaching, presenting, and mentoring, as well as the purchase of books and journals etc. 

The NHAA requires all full members to complete documented CPD annually. This includes practicing and non-practicing members, fellows, and life members.

CPD is also required as part of your application if you are joining us with qualifications more than 12 months old, and for re-joining members who have not provided us with their CPD for more than 12 months. 

Requirements

Overview

The CPD requirements are as follows: 

  • A minimum total of 30 hours CPD per financial year.
  • Compulsory minimum of 20 hours CPD from Formal Learning.
  • A maximum of 10 hours CPD from Informal Learning.
  • For current members, CPD is due by 30th June each year.

Ongoing CPD Requirements

A total of 30 hours per financial year (minimum) is required.

  • CPD is divided into Formal Learning (education normally delivered by trained teachers/professionals in a systematic intentional way) and Informal Learning (learning is unstructured and takes place away from formal learning settings). 
  • A minimum of 20 hours per year shall be from Formal Learning.  
  • A maximum of 10 hours per year shall be from Informal Learning.
  • All Formal Learning must be via health-related activities.
  • Informal Learning may include Clinical Practice and Business-Related activities. 

CPD Requirements on Joining NHAA

If you join within 12 months of graduating, you do not need to provide CPD with your application for membership.

You do not have to supply CPD for the rest of the membership year in which you join. CPD is collected on a financial year basis, so depending on when you completed your course you may get many or only a few months exemption. E.g., if you completed your studies in June, you get 12 months exemption from CPD, if you completed in December, you get only 6 months exemption from CPD.  

When switching from another Professional Association, CPD hours accrued for that CPD year via your previous Professional Association can be used to satisfy your CPD requirement on joining NHAA

For all others, you will be required to submit CPD, with evidence, with your membership application. Your next CPD diary will be for the remainder of the membership year in which you join, pro-rata at 2.5 hours per month. E.g., if you join in December, you will be asked for 15 hours at the end of the financial year, if you join in March, you will be asked for only 7.5 hours at the end of the financial year.  

Activities and Allocation of Hours

Most CPD activities and the hours they are allowed are covered in the CPD Guide. You will find below examples of individual activities / courses that have been submitted for CPD and the hour values that have been allocated for them. If you have an activity that you think should be added, please contact the office on nhaa@nhaa.org.au  

Individual Activities

  • Sitting the GAMSAT (Graduate Australian Medical Schools Admission Test): 5 hours Formal Independent Learning
  • Blackmores Distance Celloids Course: 6 hours Formal Non-Independent Learning
  • AJHNM CPD questionnaires – at the back of each issue of the AJHNM you will find a questionnaire consisting of an average of 8 multiple choice questions. By reading that issue and completing the related questions you will obtain 4 hours Formal Learning CPD.

Logbooks

Whilst some evidence is very straight forward to collect (attendance certificates, receipts etc), it can be challenging to find for activities that do not generate such easily saved paperwork. E.g., Peer group meetings; Mentoring / Supervision meetings; Research / Writing hours; Free journals / books / newsletters.

A logbook can be used as evidence for these activities – they are simple to keep and reflect an accurate record. We recommend that you set up a logbook at the beginning of each year – you can use one logbook for all activities that require it or have separate logbooks if you perform a specific activity a lot. You can use any book / notebook as your logbook, or print and use our logbook template below:

Download: Logbook template

Please note: this logbook is only for keeping track of activities such as mentoring sessions. This document CANNOT be used instead of the CPD Diary.