Guide to comply – MBA Professional Performance Framework

The Medical Board of Australia’s (MBA) Professional Performance Framework has begun. Aiming to ensure competent, ethical, and safe practice, it’ll empower health professionals to deliver high quality healthcare. This article will answer your questions regarding the changes to continuing professional development (CPD) requirements for the 2023-25 triennium. Additionally, four steps will be outlined for medical professionals to follow to help meet the new rules.

Does the MBA Professional Performance Framework apply to me?

Registered medical practitioners who are engaged in any form of practice are required to meet the Professional Performance Framework (PPF). A list of exclusions can be found on the Medical Board of Australia website.

What are the new MBA registration requirements?

The MBA’s new Registration Standards alter how medical professionals go about their CPD. These Registration Standards define requirements for AHPRA registration. In the 2023-25 triennium, the four key changes impacting practitioner CPD requirements are:

• Mandatory CPD Homes
• Minimum 50 hours of CPD recorded annually (distributed between educational activities, measuring outcomes, and reviewing performance)
• Requirement to submit a personlised Professional Development Plan annually
• Requirement to meet CPD requirements annually

What changes have been made to CPD requirements for the 2023-25 triennium?

Figure 1: Comparison of 2020-23 triennium and 2023-25 triennium MBA Registration Standards for CPD activities

What types of CPD am I required to do?

A major shift for medical professionals due to MBA’s requirements is the need for varied CPD activities, such as:

• Educational activities (12.5 hours) – activities that expand your knowledge skills and attitudes, related to your scope of practice
• Measuring outcomes (5 hours) – activities that utilise work data to ensure quality results
• Reviewing performance (5 hours ) – activities that require reflection on feedback about your work
• Reviewing performance and/or measuring outcomes (15 hours)
• Any activity type (12. 5 hours)

A learning experience can cover a combination of two or more of these activity types. This is referred to as a hybrid activity.

Figure 2: Breakdown of minimum requirements by CPD activity type and hours

Four steps to meet the new MBA Professional Performance Framework

Step 1: Find your CPD home

The MBA has created CPD homes to improve the quality of medical professionals’ CPD activities, encouraging consistency in learning, structure and standards. An accredited CPD Home is one that is recognised by the MBA’s Australian Medical Council (AMC). The organisation may be a medical college, university, health service, professional indemnity provider, professional association or society.

If you are part of a medical college, this is your CPD Home.

Those not in a college can use independent platforms such as DoctorPortal Learning to fulfill their CPD requirements.

Step 2: Identify your CPD activities

In your daily routine, you likely already do CPD that can be added to your hours – e.g. practice meetings, developing patient or practice resources, and multi-source feedback. Refer to your CPD home for further activities you can record as CPD.

Step 3: Create your Professional Development Plan (PDP)

Medical professionals must now do an annual PDP.

This will assist you in recognising your learning requirements and customising your CPD to improve patient care. Making a plan can help you consider your unique learning and development requirements based on your strengths and weaknesses. It will allow you to monitor your activities, consider what you learnt in the previous year and plan for the future.

We suggest that you start this early as it will set you up for the year.

Step 4: Establish a CPD timeframe (and stick to it)

The suggested CPD schedule below will help you meet your annual requirements. It will also help you notice activities you haven’t previously recorded as CPD.

Figure 3: Timeframe for CPD in the professional performance framework

Find out how CFEP Surveys can help you reach up to 72% of your annual CPD requirements.