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Supporting your CPD compliance

Understanding the differences between CPD Domains

Understanding CPD Domains
Continuing professional development (CPD) helps doctors stay confident and skilled throughout their careers, making sure they provide safe and effective care every step of the way. To maintain medical registration, the Medical Board of Australia* requires doctors to complete at least 50 hours of CPD each year, spread across two domains:
Educational Activities
Reviewing Performance
Measuring Outcomes
medicalboard.gov.au/Registration/Obligations-on-Medical-Practitioners.aspx
Within the AMA CPD Home Program, these requirements are organised into Domain 1 and Domain 2, creating a practical cycle of learning and improvement.

Domain 1: Educational Activities

Educational Activities focus on building knowledge and capability. Examples include, but are not limited to
  • conferences
  • courses
  • webinars
  • professional reading
  • research participation
  • structured learning such as grand rounds or postgraduate study
These activities are primarily input-focused, helping doctors stay current with clinical advances, strengthen diagnostic reasoning and broaden professional skills.
Domain 1 activities help doctors answer: “What have I learned?”
Mandatory Requirement: 12.5 – 25 hours per year

Domain 2: Reviewing Performance & Measuring Outcomes

Reviewing Performance and Measuring Outcomes translates your learning into real-world application. These components are linked into one domain because genuine improvement depends on both analysing and evaluating your professional practice and its impact. Reviewing Performance activities often involve reflection and feedback on how clinical care is delivered. This may include
  • peer review
  • case discussions
  • performance appraisal
  • procedural logbooks or developing a written CPD Plan and reflection.
These activities help doctors identify strengths, address learning gaps and refine professional behaviours.
This component is output-focused. CPD activities should analyse your current actions and behaviours for improving safety, efficiency or patient experience.
CPD activities in this domain help extend the learning further by answering: “How am I practising — and where can I improve?”
Mandatory Requirement: 5 – 32.5 hours
Measuring Outcomes goes further by assessing real-world impact. Activities such as:
  • clinical audit
  • analysing patient outcomes
  • multi-disciplinary meetings
  • quality improvement initiatives or patient feedback surveys demonstrate whether learning has improved safety, efficiency or patient experience.
This component is results-focused. It demonstrates whether learning and performance changes are improving safety, efficiency or patient experience.
Activities in this domain area answer: What measurable difference has my learning made to me, my practice or my patients?
Mandatory Requirement: 5 – 32.5 hours
Together, these domains foster a cycle for professional growth: learn, reflect, improve and demonstrate impact. Engaging in learning across both domains helps doctors:
  • maintain clinical confidence
  • meet regulatory expectations at registration renewal
  • contribute to better patient outcomes
With the AMA CPD Home Tracker, maintaining compliance is simple.