Why Am I Paying Over $4,000 for CPD?

“Why am I paying thousands of dollars each year to an organisation that no longer feels like it speaks for me?"

“Why do I feel professionally underrepresented despite being a specialist?”

“Who is actually fighting for the future of obstetrics and gynaecology?”

They are uncomfortable questions, but increasingly they are being asked quietly in doctors’ lounges, operating theatres and private practice corridors across Australia.

Many specialist O&Gs have recently received their annual RANZCOG renewal notice asking for more than $4,200 for ongoing membership and CPD.

For many doctors, that figure arrives at a difficult moment for the profession. Many practitioners are part-time. Practice overheads continue to rise. Compliance pressures are increasing. Private services are contracting nationally. Regional workforces are becoming increasingly fragile. At the same time, specialists are facing growing scrutiny around out-of-pocket fees during ongoing Medicare freezes while O&Gs are continuing to carry one of the most complex and exposed scopes of practice in medicine.

In this environment it is unsurprising that many colleagues are beginning to ask important questions:

What exactly do I need for compliant CPD?

Which organisations are genuinely advocating for the future of specialist obstetrics and gynaecology?

Many specialists still view college membership and CPD as inseparable. However, under the current national framework, they are not.

Under the Medical Board of Australia’s CPD framework, doctors are required to maintain CPD through an AMC-accredited CPD Home. That CPD Home does not need to be college-based. The Medical Board explicitly recognises both college and non-college CPD Homes, provided they are appropriate for the doctor’s scope of practice.

NASOG now offers specialist O&Gs membership options that include ongoing access to AMA CPD Home, providing a compliant and practical alternative for doctors seeking both CPD compliance and professional advocacy.

AMA CPD Home is an AMC-accredited, non-college CPD Home for Australian doctors. It includes annual CPD tracking, automated progress reporting, reminders, templates, mobile and web access, educational resources and the ability to self-record activities relevant to specialist practice.

Through NASOG, members can access:

• One-year membership including AMA CPD Home: $880 (renews annually)

• Three-year membership including AMA CPD Home: $2,750

• Lifetime membership including ongoing AMA CPD Home access: $10,500 upfront. One payment. CPD for Life.

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For many specialists, the lifetime model represents not simply a CPD solution, but long-term certainty at a time when annual subscription costs across medicine continue to escalate.

For others, trying an alternative in conjunction with continuing College CPD may feel more comfortable.

However, this discussion is about far more than CPD administration.

Specialist obstetricians and gynaecologists are currently navigating profound pressure across both public and private healthcare.

In that context, many are asking whether their professional subscriptions should support not only CPD compliance, but active advocacy for the future of specialist-led women’s healthcare.

Many specialists increasingly feel there is a growing disconnect between the realities of specialist practice and the organisations traditionally assumed to represent them.

NASOG’s focus is access, affordability, workforce sustainability, continuity of care and the long-term viability of specialist O&G practice. The issues that directly affect private specialists and their patients.

Under national regulation, specialist status is defined by specialist registration with the Medical Board of Australia through AHPRA. For O&G specialists practising in the public sector; hospitals credential specialists and define their scope of clinical practice according to their qualifications, registration, experience, competence and the capability of the health service. Ongoing financial membership of a specialist college is distinct from specialist registration and is not, in itself, the national regulatory test of whether a doctor is a specialist.

To absolutely confirm this position, NASOG has sought clarification from state governments regarding specialist employment requirements. The responses received to date have consistently confirmed that specialist recognition within public hospital systems is linked to AHPRA specialist registration and hospital credentialing, separate from ongoing college financial membership requirements.

This discussion is not about lowering standards or diminishing the significance of fellowship. Becoming a FRANZCOG represents commitment, more than a decade of training and clinical expertise. Maintaining high standards of CPD, clinical governance and professional accountability remain key elements of our day-to-day practice.

It is about ongoing professional support being directed towards organisations actively advocating for the sustainability of specialist-led women’s healthcare in Australia.

CPD is only one part of professional life. Representation matters too.

Increasingly, many specialists are deciding to support organisations prepared to advocate unapologetically — first, second and thirdly — for the future, sustainability and professional interests of their membership and their profession.

The future of Australian women’s health is being decided now. We need you to care and we need you to join our growing army of engaged specialists willing to defend and represent our specialty, our patients and the future of specialist led care in Australia.

Dr Elizabeth Jackson President

Specialist Obstetrician Gynaecologist NASOG, MBBS (Monash), MRepoMed (UNSW), MMIS (UoA), MBA (UoA) FRANZCOG attained 2015

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