At PREP, this is a question that comes up frequently - usually somewhere between “Does this count?” and “Can I just watch the recording later?”
It’s a fair question. The registrar program is busy, life in general is busy, and CPD can sometimes feel like something to fit in around everything else.
But there are a couple of important principles to keep in mind, and they relate directly to the requirements set by the Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA).
It is important to remember that CPD is not an optional extra to the registrar program. It is a core and structured component of your training pathway.
In fact, registrars are required to complete the same number of CPD hours as supervision hours across the program, reflecting the Board’s expectation that ongoing learning, reflection, and skills development are central to becoming an endorsed psychologist.
PsyBA is quite clear on this. In the Guidelines on Area of Practice Endorsement, they state:
“CPD for the purposes of the registrar program must be active CPD. This means written or oral activities that engage the psychologist in active training designed to enhance and test learning.”
Examples of active CPD that PsyBA lists include:
• Attending seminars where there is a written test
• Reading a structured series of professional psychology articles followed by completion of an online assessment
• Giving an oral presentation or tutorial to a group of peers on a new topic in psychology (that is, a topic the registrar has not previously researched and presented)
• Attending a workshop that requires role play of skills
• Studying a new technique, then trialing the technique in the workplace, and a review and evaluation of the effectiveness and implementation of that technique.
The key distinction here is between active engagement with the content and passive consumption.
Reading, watching, or listening on its own is not enough. There needs to be something that tests, applies, or deepens that learning.
Live CPD creates the conditions that PsyBA is describing and will count towards active CPD.
You are required to think on your feet, engage in discussion, ask and respond to questions, reflect in real time, and apply ideas to clinical scenarios.
These are exactly the kinds of processes that enhance and test learning.
Recordings are useful. They are excellent for revision, catching up on missed content, and reinforcing learning. But watching a recording on its own does not automatically meet PsyBA’s criteria for active CPD.
Why? Because the elements that make learning active - discussion, interaction, being challenged in the moment - are often missing.
We get it though that sometimes attending live just isn’t possible, or that you may come across a webinar on a topic that feels particularly relevant to your learning needs after the live date has passed. If you are completing CPD via a recorded webinar for your registrar program, here are some examples of how you can engage further with the content to support active learning:
• Apply the learning to your clinical work and discuss this in supervision
For example, using a new formulation approach, assessment strategy, or intervention with a client and reflecting on this process with your supervisor.
• Write a reflection on your learning
This could include reflecting on therapist factors, themes, challenges in applying the model, how this relates to the work you do, or how the learning may influence your practice moving forward.
• Complete a skills practice or role-play
For example, practice a skill learned from the webinar with a peer or your supervisor. Even better, get some feedback on how it went.
• Present the content verbally to others
Delivering a brief oral presentation or discussion about the topic can demonstrate engagement, integration, and understanding of the material.
• Record and review your clinical skills
With appropriate consent and ethical considerations in place, you may record yourself using a skill learned in the course and review this with your supervisor to reflect on strengths, challenges, and areas for growth.
One of the easiest ways to stay on top of your registrar CPD is to plan it proactively, rather than trying to fit it in later around an already full schedule.
To help with this, we’ve created a simple Active CPD Learning Plan template to help you map out your learning goals. Registrars with PREP can find this through their My Program > Useful Documents page.
The template helps you map out your learning across a full year(s), guiding you to review the PREP CPD calendar in advance and intentionally identify which live topics you would like to prioritise attending, as well as which on-demand modules are most relevant to your current learning goals and worth scheduling into your calendar.
Our on-demand CPD has also been intentionally designed to align with PsyBA’s expectations of active learning.
These courses have specifically been designed to have registrars actively engage with the content, with things like reflections throughout, practical activities to apply the learning, quizzes to test understanding, and suggested supervision discussions or implementation tasks.
The registrar program is a unique period in your career.
It is one of the few times where your learning is explicitly prioritised, structured, and supported.
While it might be tempting to catch up later, there is real value in engaging with the learning in real time.
The registrars who tend to get the most out of their program are usually the ones who approach CPD as an ongoing learning process and plan ahead.
