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Allied Health Professions Act, 1982 (Act No. 63 of 1982)

Board Notices

Guidelines for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for the professions of Acupuncture, Aromatherapy, Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture, Chiropractic, Homeopathy, Naturopathy, Osteopathy, Phytotherapy, Reflexology, Therapeutic Aromatherapy, Therapeutic Massage Therapy, Therapeutic Reflexology and Unani-Tibb

6. Hierarchy of Learning Activities

 

Learning activity/ies, as per Annexure B for all allied health professions, means activities by the AHPCSA for CPD purposes, comprising three levels:

 

6.1. LEVEL 1 - THOSE ENCOMPASSING NON-MEASURABLE OUTCOMES.

 

These are activities that do not have a clearly measurable outcome or no formal evaluation process after the activity. These activities include, but are not limited to:

 

Small groups

(a) Formally organised meetings by the professional societies;
(b) Structured small group discussions, with a minimum of three (3) practitioners*;
(c) Case study discussions, with a minimum of three (3) practitioners*;
(d) Formally organised special purpose lectures that are not part of a business meeting; and
(e) Interest groups meeting less than six times per year.

*Such discussions may be conducted using any virtual meeting modus but shall be limited to a maximum of six (6) practitioners.

 

Large groups

(a) Conferences;
(b) Congresses;
(c) Symposia;
(d) Web-based seminars; and
(e) International conferences.

 

Other

(a) Membership of an association / society;
(b) Serving on professional bodies; and
(c) Community Service.

 

6.1.1. For informal meetings, each service provider will be required to keep a record of attendance with the following information: The names of fellow attendees; a short summary of the subject matter of the activity; the number of CEUs for that activity; and the attendance date.

 

6.1.2. For formal events, the facilitator will be required to issue an attendance certificate to each attendee with the following information: The name of the organisation; the topic of the activity; the number of CEUs for that activity; the attendance date; the full name and AHPCSA registration number of the attendee; and signature of the organisation’s representative.

 

6.1.3 Should practitioners wish to attend a professional or academic meeting or activity abroad, such meeting or activity may be recognised for CPD purposes and application shall be made by the service provider in the designated manner for approval by the CPD Committee or approval must be sought by the practitioner from the CPD Committee thirty (30) days in advance of the activity; and in the event that such professional or academic meeting or activity abroad is approved for CPD purposes by any accreditation body abroad, documentary evidence of such accreditation shall form part of the practitioner application.

 

6.2. LEVEL 2 - THOSE ENCOMPASSING MEASURABLE OUTCOMES.

 

These are activities such as Courses, Workshops, Education and Training, Research and Publications.

 

➢ These activities include those that have a clearly measurable outcome or formal evaluation process after the activity.
➢ Presenters/Co-presenters may only claim once for CEUs if the same presentation is given more than once.
➢ For practitioners involved in educational institutions, no more than 50% of the points may be related to employment-specific requirements.

 

6.3. LEVEL 3 - THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH FORMALLY STRUCTURED LEARNING PROGRAMMES

 

This is structured learning, namely a formal programme presented by an ETQA accredited, National Department of Higher Education registered and AHPCSA approved training institution, with a measurable outcome. Any other formally structured learning programme, such as may be offered by any foreign institution of higher education and training, may be considered by the CPD Committee and application for consideration may be made in the designated manner; the AHPCSA reserves the right to request the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) to provide an evaluation as to whether the foreign institution of higher education and training is lawful in the country of origin and, if not, to decline such application.

 

6.4. OTHER

 

Any matter not covered by any of the above may be considered by the CPD Committee and application for consideration may be made in the designated manner.

 

[Guideline 6 substituted by Board Notice 170, GG45536, dated 26 November 2021]