CPD Credit Requirement

Annual minimum requirement is 50 CPD credits, of which 25 credits must be External.

Definitions of categories of CPD

Clinical credits concern any event in which the educational content directly relates to clinical topics.

Non-clinical credits concern an education event that is not directly related to clinical issues, eg. Management courses, ethical and legal issues, appraisal training

External (Category 1) credits aregiven for events outside the hospital or trust such as attending conferences and study days. These may be regional, national or international meetings. Any external meetings not found by searching the database of approved activities within the CPD diary should be entered under "Self certified unlisted external meetings".

Internal (Category 2) credits are events within or organised by the hospital/trust (place of employment), or provided solely for local clinicians eg. Hospital grand rounds, journal clubs, clinico-pathological conferences, local evening medical meetings etc.

Personal (Category 3) credits relate to study such as private reading, preparing presentations, researching etc

Exemption credits may only be claimed in exceptional circumstances when a physician is unable to meet the annual minimum requirements due to illness, maternity leave or long absences from work. These can only be added at the end of a CPD year.

Credit structure for each year

• A minimum of 25 CPD credits must be external (category 1) CPD credits
• A maximum of 12 MSc external (category 1) CPD credits can count towards your annual credit score
• A maximum of 10 approved Distance Learning external (category 1) CPD credits can count towards your annual credit score, that appear in the CPD approved database
• A maximum of 12 MRCP (UK) or SCE Examining external (category 1) CPD credits can count towards your annual credit score
• A maximum of 10 personal (category 3) CPD credits can count towards your annual credit score.
• The remainder can be made up of internal (category 2) or external (category 1) CPD credits
• All non-approved distance learning will be added as self approved personal (category 3) CPD credits

The minimum requirement for physicians who are retired or part-time and still practicing medicine remains the same.

For more detailed breakdown about Credit Categories please refer to this booklet:

• CPD for UK Physicians ( PDF)