Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is a professional requirement set by key regulatory bodies including the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), Medical Board of Australia (MBA), Australian Medical Council (AMC), and the Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ).

For private practitioners, particularly those working in obstetrics & gynaecology (O&G), many of the activities already performed in the course of daily work can contribute meaningfully to CPD hours.

This article explores how RANZCOG supports private practitioners in claiming CPD hours—including Outcome Measurement (OM) and Performance Review (PR)—using the RANZCOG CPD App or via the RANZCOG Integrate platform.

Morning

A typical day often begins early, either in consulting rooms or in theatre — where private O&Gs meet with patients for consultations, antenatal checks, or scheduled surgeries. But beyond these clinical interactions, lies a commitment to audit and quality improvement that underpins each decision.

Many clinicians dedicate time each week to auditing their own practice and maintaining high standards of patient care. These efforts may include:

• Reviewing patient satisfaction through surveys and individual feedback (PR – Self-Adapted Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire)
• Monitoring surgical outcomes and complication rates (OM – Audit Flyer and Template and Quality Improvement Cycle Flyer and Template)

Midday

In private practice, O&Gs play an active role beyond individual patient care. For clinicians involved in committee work, a day might involve some time spent:

• Reviewing or updating clinical guidelines or protocols on topics like induction of labour or post-operative care (OM – Guideline and Protocol Development and Review Template)
• Reviewing incident reviews such as a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) or reports on healthcare outcomes (OM – Incident Report Review Template)
• For those involved in training, developing exam questions for RANZCOG exams (OM/PR – these hours will be uploaded on your behalf by College Staff).

Afternoon

Amid a busy clinical schedule, education and peer engagement remain fundamental to the role of any specialist. For O&Gs, this often includes:

• Maintaining skills and knowledge via professional reading (EA – Professional Reading and Viewing)
• Supervising, teaching and assessing trainees (EA Teaching Flyer and Template and Supervision Mentoring Flyer and Template)
• Hosting and attending clinical meetings, including case reviews, M&M, MDT and clinicopathological meetings – both within their team and in a multidisciplinary setting to discuss complex cases. (OM/PR – Clinical Meetings Template)
• A retrospective audit of surgical or clinical practices (e.g., embryo transfer procedures conducted over a specified period, comparing clinical pregnancy rates against national benchmarks or internal historical data). (OM – Audit Flyer and Template and Quality Improvement Cycle Flyer and Template).
• Opportunities to operate jointly with colleagues to develop and refine skills. (PR – Operating and/or performing procedures with a peer)

Evening

Evenings might involve reviewing the multitude of resources to maintain knowledge and keep skills up to date.

• Completing medico-legal reports. (OM – Medical Legal Work Template)
• Involvement in reviewing and developing patient education resources (OM) to ensure best patient outcomes.
• Participation in RANZCOG’s quality assurance programs (e.g., CQUIP, NTUEMP and FSEP), (EA) providing an opportunity to be involved in quality improvement programs, and FSEP Certification (EA) awarded on completion of, or updating Fetal Surveillance Education Program training.

Reflection: A Lifelong Learner (PR)

Being a private practicing obstetrician and gynaecologist is much more than delivering babies and performing surgery, it’s about leadership, mentoring, system improvement, and lifelong learning. From auditing their work, mentoring and training the next generation of doctors, to contributing to system-level safety and fostering collaboration, these specialists wear many hats. Each day is grounded in a commitment to safer, more responsive, and compassionate patient care.

Self-reflection plays a critical role here (PR). Time dedicated to developing case review reports for complex or challenging cases can be logged under OM using the Clinical Case Review Template. Time dedicated to reflection on one’s practice of the activities they have completed can be logged by completing the Self-evaluation and Reflection Worksheet online.

Private practitioners have a wealth of CPD opportunities often embedded in day-to-day work. By adopting a reflective mindset and documenting engagement, practitioners not only meet CPD requirements but continuously enhance the quality of care they provide.

For more tools and templates, visit the Resource section of the RANZCOG CPD Portal or contact the CPD team via [email protected] or +61 3 9412 2910.

Health and Wellbeing:

Taking care of ourselves allows us to be in the best physical and emotional state to look after our patients. Health and wellbeing courses that teach us skills can be included in EA hours, or with reflection and review can become PR hours. Courses are regularly promoted on RANZCOG’s Events website. Please check individual listings for eligible CPD hours and domains.

For a full list of recognised CPD activities and templates, visit the Resources section on RANZCOG Integrate.