The Supervisor Professional Development Program (SPDP) is a high-quality training program designed for current RACP trainee supervisors. It strengthens your skills and strategies to effectively guide and support trainees.
The SPDP is also open to those preparing for future supervisory roles, including Advanced Trainees and Overseas Trained Physicians (OTPs) who are completing requirements for specialist registration.
Your participation in the SPDP can be claimed as professional development under 'Category 2: Reviewing Performance' of the CPD Framework.
Workshop registration
There are 3 SPDP workshops. You can complete them in any order in these formats:
| Format |
Duration |
Details |
| Online course |
5 weeks (~1–2 hours/week) |
Facilitated online by a trained RACP Fellow. You can choose when to view content and participate in written discussion forums and paired activities.
View courses
|
| Virtual workshop |
3 hours |
Facilitated by a trained RACP Fellow on Zoom. Group discussions are in real-time, with peer discussions of supervisory experiences, and group activities in breakout rooms.
Register
|
| Face-to-face workshop |
3 hours |
Facilitated by a trained RACP Fellow in person. Learning includes peer discussions of supervisory experiences and small group activities.
Register
|
Eligibility requirements
Become an Approved Supervisor
To become an Approved Supervisor and be eligible to supervise trainees in RACP physician training programs, you must complete all 3 SPDP workshops. This also ensures your training setting meets the requirements for accreditation.
Who must become an Approved Supervisor?
All current Directors of Physician/Paediatric Education, Training Program Directors, Advanced Training Supervisors, and Education Supervisors must be Approved Supervisors.
New supervisors have 12 months from the start of their supervision role to become Approved Supervisors.
Returning supervisors have 12 months from when they resume supervision to complete all 3 SPDP workshops and become Approved Supervisors.
A returning supervisor is someone who has supervised in the past but not within the last 24 months.
Ward Service Consultants (Rotational Supervisors) who supervise trainees are encouraged to complete SPDP 3.
Log in to MyRACP to check your supervisor status and register for a workshop.
Exemption
Some supervisors may be eligible for an exemption from completing SPDP 1 and 2 if they:
- have completed formal medical education studies or equivalent supervisor training with another medical college (e.g., RCPA), and
- have a minimum of 3 years’ experience as an RACP supervisor.
All supervisors must complete SPDP 3, even if exempt from SPDP 1 and 2. SPDP 3 covers RACP work-based assessment, which is specific to the trainee assessment process and can't be exempted.
Apply
If your application doesn’t include evidence of a relevant or equivalent training program, it won't be accepted.
We may contact you for more information to support your application
Outcomes
We’ll update you on the outcome of your application. If the outcome can’t be determined, the relevant committee will make the final decision. This process may take up to 6 months.