Training course providers

Information Sheet

The Osteopathic Council requires that practitioners complete a stipulated amount of continuing professional development (CPD) courses each year. All courses that practitioners wish to count towards their CPD total must be approved by the Council. It is usual for either the practitioner or the course provider to seek approval in advance of attending/running the course. Nevertheless, retrospective approval will always be considered.

The process for course providers and for individual practitioners to gain approval is the same. The person applying for the approval (the applicant) downloads and completes a form – Criteria for Approval of CPD training.

The completed form is then forwarded to the Osteopathic Council, PO Box 10-140, Wellington with the supporting material for consideration. The applicant will be advised of the outcome, and the Council will add the details of the course (if approved) to the List of Approved CPD Courses on its website. In this way other osteopaths will be able identify that the course has the approval of the Council. Whilst the Council is not able to place advertising material on its website, it is able to provide details of your website address to enable interested osteopaths to contact you.

CPD courses/seminars/workshops will be allocated into one of two categories, dependent upon their content and how closely the content aligns with the Council’s competency framework. Category One CPD is the higher category and is awarded one CPD credit for each hour of learning. Category Two is (generally) allocated to a less formal style of learning, or learning which is not so closely aligned to the competency framework. It is awarded one CPD credit for every two hours of learning. By allocating categories in this way it is hoped that practitioners will be exposed to varying styles of learning in varying environments, and that practitioners are able to develop their individual specialties within the CPD regime rather than outside of it.

As the CPD regime requires practitioners to provide proof of attendance at the events for which they claim CPD credit, it is important that course providers provide a signed certificate of successful completion at the conclusion of the course. The certificate should contain the name of the course and the organisation providing the course, the practitioner’s name, the date of the course, and should verify successful completion. If the course provider has obtained Council approval in advance of running the course then the certificate may also contain the following notation: Approved by the Osteopathic Council for [# ] Category [ 1 or 2 ] credits.