Our commitment to supporting the health and wellbeing of all our members throughout all stages of their career remains strong. Introducing doctor’s health and wellbeing concepts into the CPD program supports our efforts to embed a college-wide member wellbeing culture by making educational activities and learning resources that can become part of a doctors lifelong planning and career development. 

This new category, 4.8 under Self-guided Learning of the CPD program, centres on educative components of wellbeing activities as a tool to assist with knowledge translation and behaviour change, and normalise and encourage physicians to prioritise their own health as a necessary component of good medical practice. Wellbeing education is not about finding quick fixes, but learning about, applying, and promoting practical strategies that psychiatrists can adopt to support their personal and professional wellbeing, as well as their peers, over the course of their careers.

Why address doctor wellbeing through education?

It is recognised that experiences of psychological distress, mental ill-health and burnout as an occupational hazard not only negatively impacts the individual doctor but has consequences for the broader healthcare system and is frequently associated with reduced quality of patient care and safety. Awareness of, and efforts directed towards the health and wellbeing of medical professionals have increased in recent years.

As a College, we acknowledge that strategies to improve and maintain the health of all psychiatrists and those in training are required on organisational, systemic, and individual levels, and we have participated in and continue to undertake advocacy efforts together with other specialist medical colleges to raise the profile of doctors wellbeing issues in psychiatry and medicine overall.

Wellbeing education as CPD is just one thread in the fabric of these efforts to improve the safety and wellbeing of the psychiatric workforce. 

What types of activities can I claim towards this new category?

The format of wellbeing education activities can range from attending webinars and Conference or College Congress scientific or educational sessions, to podcasts, e-Learning modules and journal articles. 

There is a cap of 8 hours of CPD that can be claimed under this new category.

Topics that are eligible for wellbeing education include reflective supervision, fostering psychosocial safety in work environments and peer support strategies. For more information and guidance on what you can include in your CPD program under this new category, see the Wellbeing Education as CPD Member Guide.

Below is also a quick access list of just some of the available resources and content that our members and colleagues in medicine have produced, as an example of what you could consider adding to your CPD program this year:

The truth about suicide and its impact on clinicians
Dr Rachel Gibbons, 2024
(Webinar, 60 mins)

Connections and Community in Psychiatry
Dr Ashlea White and Dr Roderick McKay, 2024
(Podcast, 29 mins)

Psychosocial workplace safety in mental health services – Commentary and considerations to improve safety
Jeffrey CL Looi, Paul Maguire, Steve Kisely, Stephen Allison, Tarun Bastiampillai, 2024
(Journal article, Australasian Psychiatry)

Breaking the stigma: Treating doctors with major mental illness
Dr Israel Berger, Dr Sabrina Ritom Davidson, Dr Monica Vogiatzis, Dr Anthe van Koch, Dr Kym Jenkins, Dr Maureen Krasnoff, 2023
(e-Learning module/webinar recording)