Frequently asked questions

Enrolment for the 2023-2024 RCSI Continuous Professional Development Support Scheme (CPD-SS) will be open from 8 July to 30 September 2024. Enrolment applications received after the closing date will not be accepted.  

To enroll with RCSI CPD-SS, first check that you meet the eligibility requirements (below). Next, go to the RCSI CPD-SS website and complete the enrolment application form. To watch a video of these steps, click here.

To be eligible to enrol in the RCSI CPD Support Scheme, you must:

• Be enrolled in the relevant professional competence scheme applicable to your specialty and area of practice as required by law;
• Hold a current Non-Consultant Hospital Doctor (NCHD) contract;
• Work within the public health service;
• Not be enrolled in an intern training programme under the auspices of an Intern Training Network or a specialist training programme under the auspices of the one of the Irish postgraduate training bodies; and
• Be registered on the General Division or Supervised Division of the Register of Medical Practitioners maintained by the Medical Council.

Further details regarding eligibility can be found in the HSE guidance document.

No, enrolment with RCSI Professional Competency Scheme does not automatically enroll you in CPD-SS. You will need to also enroll in CPD-SS here.

No, as per the eligibility criteria as set out by the HSE Guidance Document, to be eligible for CPD-SS, you must not be enrolled in an intern training programme under the auspices of an Intern Training Network.

No, as per the eligibility criteria as set out by the HSE Guidance Document, to be eligible for CPD-SS you must hold a current Non-Consultant Hospital Doctor (NCHD) contract.

No, RCSI CPD-SS specifically supports surgical and emergency doctors. If you have registered for PCS with a different training body (e.g. College of Anaesthesiologists), you will be required to enroll with that training body for CPD support. Please see the HSE Guidance Document for more information on this.

No, as per the eligibility criteria as set out by the HSE Guidance Document, to be eligible for CPD-SS, you must not be enrolled in an intern training programme under the auspices of an Intern Training Network or a specialist training programme under the auspices of the one of the Irish postgraduate training bodies.

No, eligible NCHDs must register for CPD‐SS with the relevant postgraduate training body by the date outlined in the policy, in order to avail of the courses funded under this scheme.

Eligible NCHDs will be able to undertake training and educational activities of up to 20 external credits or three days per annum, whichever is greater.

Yes; however, once you have utilised all of your free CPD-SS credits (up to 20 external credits or three days per annum, whichever is greater), a booking fee is applicable. This fee can be fully recovered via the HSE Training Support Scheme.

Visit the CPD-SS programmes and courses website, where you can view all upcoming courses for 2024-2025 and apply for a place on any course.

1. Find the relevant course you would like to book in the CPD-SS course finder.
2. Click on the course title to view the course description and details.
3. Click the red 'Apply' button, then 'Apply now'.
4. Review the fees information displayed and click 'Register'.
5. Enter your personal details in the registration form:
   a. If have not yet created your RCSI CPD Hub account, complete the 'Create account form', and click 'Create and proceed'.
   b. If you are not logged in, click 'Login to existing account', enter your log in details and click 'Sign in'. You will then be taken back to the checkout page for the course. Enter the required personal details and click 'Proceed to checkout'.
   c. If you are already logged in to your RCSI CPD Hub account, simply enter the required personal details in the available fields and click 'Proceed to checkout'.
6. Enter your postal address under the billing address section.
7. Enter your unique voucher code in the voucher code box and click 'Apply'.
8. Once applied, the amount due should reduce to €0.00.
9. Tick the checkbox to accept our terms and conditions.
10. Click 'Review and confirm'.
11. Review your order details. If all appears correctly, click 'Confirm'.
12. You are now booked on to the course, and will receive a course booking confirmation email with all relevant course details.

Please note: If a course is fully booked, you will be prompted to add your details to the waiting list. You will receive an email confirmation of your place on the waiting list, and will be contacted automatically once a place becomes available.

1. Find the relevant course you would like to book in the CPD-SS course finder.
2. Click on the course title to view the course description and details.
3. Click the red 'Apply' button, then 'Apply now'.
4. Review the fees information displayed and click 'Register'.
5. Enter your personal details in the registration form:
   a. If have not yet created your RCSI CPD Hub account, complete the 'Create account form', and click 'Create and proceed'.
   b. If you are not logged in, click 'Login to existing account', enter your log in details and click 'Sign in'. You will then be taken back to the checkout page for the course. Enter the required personal details and click 'Proceed to checkout'.
   c. If you are already logged in to your RCSI CPD Hub account, simply enter the required personal details in the available fields and click 'Proceed to checkout'.
6. Enter your postal address under the billing address section.
7. Tick the checkbox to accept our terms and conditions.
8. Proceed to enter your credit card details when prompted.
9. Click 'Review and confirm'.
10. Review your order details. If all appears correctly, click 'Confirm'.
11. You are now booked on to the course, and will receive a course booking confirmation email with all relevant course details, along with a receipt of payment.

Please note: If a course is fully booked, you will be prompted to add your details to the waiting list. You will receive an email confirmation of your place on the waiting list, and will be contacted automatically once a place becomes available. No payment will be taken to add your name to a waiting list. Payment will only be requested when a place becomes available and you are offered same.

If you are enrolled with a different training body in CPD-SS you can still use that allowance to book courses in RCSI.

Please send an email to cpdss@rcsi.com and provide your full name, IMC number, your training body and a list of courses you wish to register for using your allowance – we will be able to confirm the booking with your training body for you.

Upon submission of a course application, you will receive an automatic email acknowledging your application. The CPD-SS team will receive your application and process it. Once your booking is secure, you will receive a Course Booking Confirmation email which will confirm your booking and place on the course.

Course details are issued to all attendees in the Course Booking Confirmation email, as well as in the course reminder email, which is issued at least ten days before the course.

No, you must complete a course application form and receive the Course Booking Confirmation email. If you do not receive a Course Booking Confirmation email, you are not booked onto the course and you may not attend the course.

Please note that the course start times advertised on the RCSI website, and which are noted within the course confirmation emails and reminders, refer to the exact start time of the actual course.

Participants are expected to arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the course start time in order to complete sign in and registration.

If participants arrive more than 30 minutes late for a course without attempting to notify the CPD team (by email) they may be refused entry/access to the course. This is at the discretion of the CPD team and applies on a case-by-case basis.

Certificates of attendance are processed within one week of a course taking place. A PDF of the certificate is sent to the email address provided upon registration with CPD-SS.

All CPD credits for RCSI CPD courses will be uploaded to your PCS account within one week of a course you attend. This is dependent on you having an RCSI PCS account. If you are registered for PCS with an alternative training body, you will need to manually add the course to your PCS profile.

As per the HSE Guidance Document, if you do not attend a course you have booked, or cancel within 10 days of the course, the credits associated with the cancelled course will be deducted from the maximum 20 credits available to you in the CPD year.

CPD-SS does not support partial attendance of CPD courses. If you are unable to attend the full duration of the course, you will not receive the CPD credits or certificate of attendance for that course.

Yes. You must arrive at classroom-based courses at least 15 minutes before the specified start time. Access to the course will not be permitted more than 30 minutes after the course start time (e.g. access to a course with a 9:30am start time will be authorised up until 10am, thereafter no late attendees will be permitted access).

Email the RCSI CPD Support Team (cpdss@rcsi.ie) stating the name and date of the course, along with your full name and IMC number. This email must be sent on the day of the course. Any emails relating to failure to sign in which are received more than a day after the course date will not be accepted.

Upon application to a fully-booked CPD-SS course, you will receive automatic confirmation that your name and details have been added to the waiting list for that course. If a place becomes available, you will receive an email from the CPD-SS team, offering you a place on the course. Places are offered in order of date of initial application to the course.

You have two working days from the date of the offer to accept the place. If the CPD-SS team does not receive a reply within two working days, the place is offered to the next person on the waiting list for that course.

No. A course only counts as one of your free CPD-SS courses if you have received a Course Booking Confirmation email. If you are on the waiting list for a course, it will not count as one of your free CPD-SS courses.

As an enrolled NCHD, you are able to attend CPD courses offered by the other training bodies.

If you wish to attend a course run by a training body for which you are not registered, you must contact the CPD-SS department in that training body to enroll. They will contact the training body you are registered with (in this case, the RCSI CPD Support Team) to confirm your eligibility to attend.

Given that you have enough CPD course credits remaining, the RCSI CPD Support Team will confirm your eligibility to the other training body, and you will be confirmed to attend their CPD course.

CPD-SS is funded by the HSE to facilitate NCHDs who are not in training posts to continue to maintain and enhance their clinical knowledge and skills and also to maintain their professional competence in line with Medical Council requirements.

The HSE's financial support for enrolment in CPD-SS is a maximum of 20 external credits or three days per annum (whichever is greater), per eligible NCHD.

Upon payment for a CPD-SS course, you will receive an automatic email notification of your payment, along with a PDF of your payment receipt. This receipt can be used to claim back the cost of the course via the HSE’s Training Support Scheme.

No. Car parking costs are not covered by the RCSI CPD-SS.

If you cancel a course within 10 working days or do not attend a course you have paid for, the course fee is not eligible for a refund. There are, however, certain exceptions to this policy, which are applied at the discretion of the CPD Support Team.

If you need to cancel a place on a course which you have paid for, email the CPD Support Team (cpdss@rcsi.ie) with the course name and date, your full name and IMC number, as well as the reason for the late cancellation.

If you need to cancel a place on a course which you have paid for, email the CPD Support Team (cpdss@rcsi.ie) at least 10 days in advance of the course with the course name and date, your full name and IMC number, as well as the reason for the cancellation.

For courses booked by credit/debit card, where the participant requests that their CPD-SS voucher be utilised instead, a 10% administration fee applies to the processing of the refund.

If you have paid for a course by credit/debit card by mistake, and would prefer to use your CPD voucher to cover this cost, please email cpdss@rcsi.ie with the name of the course and course date requesting that we process a refund (less the above mentioned 10% administration fee) and apply your CPD voucher instead.

If you need to cancel a place on a course which you have paid for, email the CPD Support Team (cpdss@rcsi.ie) at least 10 days in advance of the course with the course name and date, your full name and IMC number, as well as the reason for the cancellation.

If you enrol on a course with a training body and wish to cancel, you may do so without penalty up to 10 working days before the course is due to take place. This will facilitate the RCSI CPD Support Team to offer the course place to another NCHD on the waiting list.

You are provided with a maximum of 20 credits in the CPD year that are funded directly by HSE-NDTP. If you cancel within 10 working days or do not attend a course you have booked, the CPD credits associated with the cancelled course will be deducted from the maximum 20 credits available to you in the CPD year.

Late cancellations or no-shows are permitted once only, if a second late cancellation or no-show occurs, you will be excluded from accessing further CPD-SS courses.

This will facilitate the RCSI CPD Support Scheme to offer the course place to another NCHD on the waiting list.

No, upon receipt of a cancellation request with enough notice, your name will be removed from the course and it will no longer count as one of your free CPD-SS courses.

Late cancellations or no-shows are permitted once only, if a second late cancellation or no-show occurs, you will be excluded from accessing further CPD-SS courses. This is to ensure fairness of access for all other NCHDs registered with the scheme.