Provider FAQs

Yes, there is a minimum requirement of 15 minutes per CPD activity as part of Optometry Australia’s Quality Assurance program. This may include lectures, videos etc.

A CPD activity relevant to scheduled medicines endorsement has been defined by the Optometry Board of Australia as an educational activity that meets the learning needs of the optometrist relevant to any stage of therapeutic management, as described below.

Therapeutic management involves the following stages:

• patient assessment
• differential diagnosis of conditions of the eye
• development of a management plan
• appropriate choice of medicines (this may involve writing a prescription, ceasing medicines, dose adjustment and advising on over-the-counter medicine)
• advice to the patient about the appropriate use of the medication
• development of a treatment plan
• monitoring outcome
• administration
• supply (if required) and completing any necessary documentation
• understanding and engaging in collaborative care models with other health professionals

In order for activities to be quality-assured as therapeutic CPD activities they must meet this definition. A CPD activity relevant to scheduled medicines endorsement shall be denoted with the descriptor ‘T’, which refers to the word ‘therapeutic’, if at least 50% of the educational content relates to any of the stages of therapeutic management as outlined above.

You will be asked whether you are offering attendees the opportunity for interactive discussion. This is defined by The Optometry Board of Australia (OBA) as learning that involves a two-way flow of information and occurs with other practitioners. Participants can accept that opportunity and reflect on the interactive discussion that took place.

If you click ‘yes’, CPD activities will be classified as interactive without further evidence or explanation required for quality assurance. Consider the below when deciding whether to give your CPD activity an interactive classification:

• Is a significant amount of time (the recommendation remains for at least 25% of the activity) set aside in the session for participants to engage in discussion with their peers and/or other health professionals? For example, a presenter may regularly invite participants to turn to their neighbour and discuss how they might respond to a case that has been presented.
• Is the format of your event appropriate for interactive discussion? Didactic lectures remain a highly valued educational format that can be delivered on a large scale, but with only 5 hours of CPD each CPD cycle required to be interactive, there remains a place for these activities without interactive classification.
• Will attendees be supported to engage in discussion that is relevant to their professional practice? I.e. it could improve patient outcomes, and it informs good practice and decision-making. This can be achieved through facilitation or by providing written prompts and/or other material to stimulate discussion.
• Will most attendees be able to confidently state that they participated in an interactive discussion and reflect on that discussion?

CPD activities or sessions will be classified as clinical in nature where the proposed content is related to ocular or systemic conditions involved in the care of a patient. This may include but is not limited to all aspects of a patient examination including history taking, diagnosis, management, referral and prescribing of optical or therapeutic appliances and agents. Clinical activities must deal with ocular conditions, systemic conditions with ocular effects, vision and visual perception, optometric management and/or ophthalmological management.

Non-clinical/Non-scientific activities must be relevant to practice and improve the management of patients in some tangible way. CPD activities or sessions may be classified as non-clinical in nature where the proposed content is not directly related to the clinical care of the patient. This may include but is not limited to topics such as patient billing, business management, law, psychology, foreign languages, first aid, occupational health and safety, cultural awareness and training business or personal development needs.

Each application will be assessed to ensure that the correct classification is attributed to each session and allocated accordingly.