Library resource guides: CPD for clinical support roles: Professionalism and ethical practice

Guide index

Key areas to consider in planning your CPD in relation to professionalism and ethics include:

Ethical challenges and approaches
Expected behaviours and related challenges
Confidentiality and privacy obligations
Fulfilling regulatory and legal obligations for practice
Recognising and managing conflicts of interest - for example: in relationships with industry and commercial bodies, in the workplace, in assessment
Understanding own biases

Practice evaluation (category 1)

Undertake an annual structured conversation/performance appraisal with your department/practice, manager or a trusted colleague, as part of review of your professional activities, development needs, learning goals and plans for the following year. Raise professionalism and ethical practice.
Undertake a critical reflection on an aspect of professionalism or ethics in your work and develop a plan for practice change. Potential topics for reflection are listed under key areasEthical challenges and approaches; Expected behaviours and related challenges; Confidentiality and privacy obligations; Fulfilling regulatory and legal obligations for practice; Recognising and managing conflicts of interest; Understanding own biases.
Ask colleagues and co-workers to provide you with multi-source feedback (clinical support), with a trusted colleague collating the feedback and discussing it with you. The MSF-CS form covers professionalism and ethics in practice.
Participate in a peer support group of self-selected peers with expertise and interest in professionalism. Potential areas of focus for the group include those listed under key areasEthical challenges and approaches; Expected behaviours and related challenges; Confidentiality and privacy obligations; Fulfilling regulatory and legal obligations for practice; Recognising and managing conflicts of interest; Understanding own biases. Consider specific examples in your work, their management and outcomes.

Knowledge & skills (category 2)

Undertake a formal ethics or professionalism qualification and claim time spent doing this under formal courses.
Attend face-to-face or virtual learning sessions on ethics and professionalism relevant to your practice (for example: conferences, podcasts, webinars; see key areas to considerEthical challenges and approaches; Expected behaviours and related challenges; Confidentiality and privacy obligations; Fulfilling regulatory and legal obligations for practice; Recognising and managing conflicts of interest; Understanding own biases). Claim time spent doing this under learning sessions.

The college welcomes suggestions on additional resources and topics for CPD on professionalism and ethical practice.

Learn@ANZCA

Use the links below to access additional support resources contained on the Learn@ANZCA platform.

Note: Resources located in Learn@ANZCA require that you first register before accessing.

Bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment [Learn@ANZCA]
The module aims to help you improve your knowledge and understanding of unacceptable behaviours, enabling you to recognize when they occur and the adverse impact these have on individuals, team performance and patient safety.

CPD Note: CPD participants will automatically have this activity populated in the CPD portal.

ANZCA & FPM resources

CPD Activity Guide
This guide contains a list of all the activities associated with the ANZCA and FPM CPD Program, as well as links to associated individual activity guides and forms.
PS40(G) Position statement on the relationship between fellows, trainees and the healthcare industry 2012
This policy is intended to assist fellows and trainees of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (“the college”, which includes the Faculty of Pain Medicine), with professional and ethical matters that may arise from involvement with the healthcare industry.
ANZCA: Bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment: policies and resources.
The purpose of this policy is to describe the behaviour expected of all fellows, trainees, specialist international medical graduates (SIMGs) and other volunteers acting on behalf of the college.

Supporting Professionalism and Performance: A Guide for Anaesthetists and Pain Medicine Physicians 2024 by Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) The guide aims to assist fellows and trainees by providing a framework for understanding professionalism and performance as it applies to the practice of anaesthesia and pain medicine. The structure mirrors the ANZCA and FPM roles in practice and builds from the curriculum frameworks of the anaesthesia and pain medicine training programs under each of these roles.
Publication Date: Version 2.0, published in 2024

External resources

Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare (ACSQH).The Australian Open Disclosure Framework [Internet].
The Australian Open Disclosure Framework provides a nationally consistent basis for open disclosure in Australian health care.
Australian Medical Association (AMA): Code of Ethics
The AMA Code of Ethics articulates and promotes a body of ethical principles to guide doctors' conduct in their relationships with patients, colleagues and society.
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Code of Ethics 2004. Editorially Revised 2006. Revised 2016
Harvard: Project Implicit - Harvard implicit association tests
The mission of Project Implicit is to educate the public about bias and to provide a “virtual laboratory” for collecting data on the internet.
MCNZ: Informed consent
Patients are entitled to information about their health and the care they are receiving. This statement outlines what we expect of doctors when helping patients to make an informed decision about their care and treatment.
MCNZ: Professional boundaries
This statement outlines the doctor's responsibility to maintain professional boundaries with patients and covers the inherent power imbalance in the doctor-patient relationship, gifts, bequests and loans, other financial transactions, acting as a representative or enduring power of attorney, and social media.
World Medical Association (WMA): WMA International Code of Medical Ethics [Internet].
The World Medical Association (WMA) has developed the International Code of Medical Ethics as a canon of ethical principles for the members of the medical profession worldwide.
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Adopted by the 3rd General Assembly of the World Medical Association, London, England, October 1949
Revised by the 22nd World Medical Assembly, Sydney, Australia, August 1968,
the 35th World Medical Assembly, Venice, Italy, October 1983,
the 57th WMA General Assembly, Pilanesberg, South Africa, October 2006
and by the 73rd WMA General Assembly, Berlin, Germany, October 2022

Ethics in the Boardroom: A Decision-making Guide for Directors by Australian Institute of Company Directors Ethics in the Boardroom: A Decision-Making Guide for Directors is designed to support directors in considering ethical issues as they discharge their duties.
Publication Date: October 2019
Good Medical Practice: A Code of Conduct for Doctors in Australia by Medical Board Ahpra Good medical practice (the code) describes what is expected of all doctors registered to practise medicine in Australia. It sets out the principles that characterise good medical practice and makes explicit the standards of ethical and professional conduct expected of doctors by their professional peers and the community.
Publication Date: October 2020
Good Medical Practice [New Zealand] by Medical Council of New Zealand (Te Kaunihera Rata o Aotearoa) A doctor's first concern is to take care of their patient, and to do so with respect, honesty and professionalism. Our "Good Medical Practice" publication sets out the principles and values that define good medical practice, and provides guidance to doctors on the standards we expect of them in all aspects of their professional behaviour.
Publication Date: 1 November 2021