Continuing Professional Development

Under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (HPCA Act), the Medicines Act and other legislation Registered Dietitians are obligated to maintain and enhance their competence as Registered Health Professionals.

The Dietitians Board provides a Continuing Competence Programme (MyCCP) for dietitians which is funded from Annual Practising Certificate revenue to enable them to meet the annual recertification requirements by providing a formalised procedure for Dietitians to demonstrate their participation in professional development activities.

The programme enables Dietitians to maintain and enhance their practice by:

ensuring their involvement in a range of continuing education activities directed at enhancing practice standards throughout their professional careers, so that dietetic practice and client care is of the highest quality.
demonstrating to clients, peers, government bodies and the community that they are committed to quality improvement in their work.
developing an approach that supports improvement of professional performance by encouraging review, reflection and evaluation of practice.
committing to lifelong learning.

The Dietitians Board MyCCP online platform is accessible to all Registered Dietitians through the Practitioner Portal.

This programme is compulsory for all practising Dietitians, including those who work part time, full time, in a locum position and in paid or voluntary roles.

Continuing competence is achieved by a commitment to learning and integration of new skills and knowledge into practise. Effective quality learning encourages the intellectual, emotional and social growth of learners over time. Four dimensions establish the essential elements of quality learning. These are:

Constant acquisition and maintenance of knowledge, skills and attitudes.
An understanding at a conceptual level.
An understanding of the legal, ethical and social implications of dietetic practice.
A lifelong process.

For a Continuing Competence Programme to be effective, these elements must be incorporated into the learning activities chosen by the individual. Practitioners then need to actively apply what they have learned into their practice.

Practitioners are required to engage in Continuing Education, Peer and Practice Review and Cultural Development activities.

Audit of a practitioners engagement in the Continuing Competence Programme

Each year ~20% of practitioners are randomly called for audit. The audit is the process by which the Board monitors compliance of practitioners to the Continuing Competence Programme.

The audit is not a form of performance appraisal or a measure of their competence.

Practitioners are not required to provide any additional work or evidence for an audit – they simply need to submit their completed annual requirements for recertification and demonstrate their engagement in professional development that maintains and enhances their dietetic practice. Information about the audit process can be found in the Practitioner Portal under Audit on MyCCP.