Mental Health CPD and Focussed Psychological Strategies CPD

Mental Health CPD and Focussed Psychological Strategies CPD

Mental Health CPD

Although it is not mandatory, the GPMHSC strongly encourages you to complete a variety of MH CPD courses as part of your ongoing professional development.

MH CPD courses aim to extend your skills in assessing and/or managing mental illnesses in the context of general practice and expand your knowledge of the areas addressed in MHST.

Completing clinical enhancement modules as part of your MH CPD is a good way of keeping your mental health skills and knowledge up to date and ensuring that you have a broad knowledge across several areas.

Finding and selecting MH CPD courses

You can find a list of accredited MH CPD courses on the GPMHSC website.

Strongly recommended MH CPD courses

The GPMHSC strongly recommends that you complete MH CPD that addresses:

• trauma-informed care and practice
• suicide prevention – undertaking risk assessments, recognising and responding to those at risk of suicide
• child and adolescent mental health
• domestic family violence
• intimate partner abuse and violence
• substance-use disorders
• other areas that are relevant to the community in which you practise.

Other useful MH CPD courses

The GPMHSC encourages you to consider completing MH CPD courses that cover:

• affective disorders
• anxiety disorders
• bodily distress disorders
• eating disorders
• mental health first aid training
• interpersonal skills training – relationships, rapport, communication skills, interview skills.

FPS CPD

FPS CPD expands on the skills and knowledge acquired in FPS ST.

Finding and selecting FPS CPD curses

You can find accredited FPS CPD courses on the GPMHSC website.

When selecting FPS CPD courses, please consider provision of FPS to specific populations, including:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
• those experiencing domestic family violence
• those experiencing intimate partner abuse and violence
• those living with addictions (such as alcohol and other drugs)
• people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
• children and adolescents.

Self-recording FPS you have learnt

You can also self-record any learning you believe extends your skills in FPS and therefore qualifies as FPS CPD. This might include peer-group learning, or completion of a mental health course not accredited by GPMHSC.

Contact the GPMHSC for more information on how you can self-record for FPS CPD.

Useful GPMHSC resources Mental Health CPD.  Focussed Psychological Strategies CPD.

 

Maintaining your FPS registration

To maintain your registration as an FPS provider with Medicare, each triennium after the triennium in which you first registered. For example, if you were registered as an FPS provider in the 2020–22 triennium, you must complete a minimum of six hours of FPS CPD during the 2023–25 triennium to remain registered, and one in every subsequent triennium.

You must complete FPS CPD that:

• is accredited by the GPMHSC
• equates to at least six hours of FPS CPD
• includes a course that is interactive structured learning with predisposing and reinforcing components.

If you do not complete ongoing FPS CPD, you may lose your access to claim MBS items for providing FPS.

Re-registering if your registration expires

If your FPS registration expired in the previous triennium, you can apply for re-registration without re-starting the whole process and will be required to complete two FPS CPD courses during the current triennium.

If your registration expired before the previous triennium, contact the GPMHSC Secretariat. The GPMHSC Secretariat will consider your circumstances and may consult with the GPMHSC Committee before deciding what you will have to do to regain your registration.

Recommended types of CPD

If you are choosing CPD,  you should consider CPD categories as defined by the Medical Board of Australia.

Table 4 shows how different modes of learning map to CPD categories as defined by the Medical Board of Australia’s Registration Standards..

Table 4. Recommended types of CPD

Modes of learning	Examples	Medical Board of Australia CPD categories
Courses	Workshops, seminars, lectures and conferences	Educational activities
Online learning	e-learning and webinars	Educational activities
Peer group learning	Balint groups	Reviewing performance
Higher education/professional certification	Graduate diploma or Master’s degree in psychology, psychiatry or another related field	Educational activities Reviewing performance
Audit	Systematic review of FPS skills in clinical practice	Measuring outcomes
Supervised clinical attachment	Working directly under a mental health practitioner, in a variety of settings, such as an inpatient psychiatric facility, community mental health service, or a drug and alcohol service	Reviewing performance
Research	Mental health research in the context of general practice (individual GP or group)	Educational activities Measuring outcomes

 

Useful resource Medical Board of Australia. Registration Standards.