RCSI has launched the 2024/25 Continuous Professional Development Support Scheme (CPD-SS). This free education programme is designed to enhance the clinical knowledge and skills of all non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs). It has been developed by RCSI in collaboration with HSE National Doctors Training and Planning (NDTP).

To be eligible to participate in these free CPD courses, NCHDs must enrol on the programme before enrolment closes on Monday, 30 September. Further information on how to enrol is here. 

This year’s programme includes courses such as Debriefing in Simulation Based Education, Cross-Cultural Competence and Effective Communication Workshop, and Good Clinical Practice. The programme also includes self-paced online courses, including Adult Procedural Sedation and Analgesia in Emergency Medicine and Foundations in Robotic Surgery. 

Now entering its 14th year, the CPD Support Scheme supports NCHDs who are not on a structured training scheme to maintain their professional competence in line with Medical Council requirements. Over 950+ doctors took part in last year’s programme, which provides a structured means of achieving 20 external CPD credits. 

This year RCSI will offer more than 110 courses in the National Surgical and Clinical Training Centre in Dublin, in new regional centres, and online. Participants will be offered an expanded selection of classes in surgical skills and emergency medicine while also providing classes in clinical audit, quality improvement processes, research and ethics, IT skills, social media, personal development and a range of e-learning activities. 

The full programme of courses will be launched during August 2024 and those who enrol early will have exclusive access to CPD-SS courses beginning in September. 

An enrolee in the 2023/24 programme said: “The CPD Support Scheme has given me the opportunity to partake in various courses that have significantly benefited my everyday clinical practices in the field of emergency medicine. This programme offers a broad range of courses and topics that explore different realms within acute care, emergency medicine and surgery in both the pre-hospital, in-hospital and out-of-hospital setting. 

“All the courses that I have attended have had outstanding faculty members, where they provide you with adequate educational content and materials; with open floor discussions, group activities and simulations that replicate the closest scenarios to real-life events that occur both in and out of hospital”. 

To apply for the CPD Support Scheme programme, NCHDs must have a current HSE NCHD contract, be on the General Division or Supervised Division of the Medical Council Register and be enrolled with the RCSI annual Professional Competence Scheme (PCS) for 2023/24. 

Since 1 May 2011, it has been mandatory for all doctors to register with a PCS run by one of the postgraduate training bodies. RCSI has been designated by the Irish Medical Council to run PCS for surgery and emergency medicine. 

Information on the CPD-SS, including how to enrol, is available here. The scheme runs until April 2025. 

Launching the scheme, Kieran Ryan, Managing Director of Surgical Affairs at RCSI said: “This scheme is at the very centre of our supports for NCHDs, and we are pleased to be able to expand the range of courses again this year, reflecting the complex training needs of NCHDs working in a multitude of settings across the healthcare system. We are grateful to the HSE’s National Doctors Training and Planning unit for their continued support for this innovative programme.” 

Further information about the work of NDTP and other supports available to NCHDs is accessible here.