Stepping into consultant practice within the Victorian public health system often brings a significant increase in responsibility, autonomy and expectation. It is also the point at which many doctors gain access to one of the most valuable professional benefits available under the Enterprise Agreement: Continuing Medical Education (CME) Support.
For many early career consultants, the years immediately following fellowship are professionally formative. You are consolidating your identity as a specialist, building credibility, refining clinical judgement and stepping into broader leadership and professional responsibilities. This is why understanding and using your CME entitlement well matters.
Importantly, CME is not simply about attending conferences. The intent of the entitlement is much broader. It exists to support your ongoing professional development and growth as a specialist doctor.
One of the most important things to understand early is that CME is largely a “use it or lose it” entitlement. Unlike annual leave, it does not meaningfully accrue year on year. If it is not planned for and utilised within the relevant period, the opportunity can simply disappear.
This is why some forward planning can be extremely valuable.
Many consultants become understandably focused on service delivery, departmental demands, increasing workloads and establishing themselves professionally. Before long, CME can become reactive rather than intentional, reduced to a late year conference booking simply to avoid losing the entitlement.
A more useful approach is to think about CME as protected investment in your professional development.
The early consultant years are often an ideal time to think more broadly about the type of specialist you want to become over the next five to ten years. This may include:
Developing a subspecialty interest.
Building leadership capability.
Strengthening research, teaching or supervision skills.
Developing communication and team leadership capability.
Exploring management or executive interests.
Building private practice capability.
Expanding procedural or technical expertise.
Strengthening professional sustainability and work-life integration.
When viewed through this lens, CME becomes much more than conference attendance. It becomes an opportunity to deliberately support your future professional direction.
It can therefore be helpful to think ahead about the areas of development that are likely to become increasingly important in your future role.
Ask yourself:
What capabilities will become increasingly important in my role over time?
Where do I currently feel underprepared?
What type of consultant or leader do I want to become?
What experiences or education would support that development?
What opportunities may become harder to pursue later once workloads increase further?
This type of thinking allows you to use CME more strategically and intentionally.
Importantly, some of the most valuable professional development opportunities are not always the most obvious ones. While major conferences absolutely have value, so too can smaller targeted courses, leadership education, communication training, supervision training or structured professional development programs aligned to your evolving role.
Many consultants also find value in professional coaching as they transition into increasingly complex professional environments. The move from registrar to consultant often involves far more than a change in clinical responsibility. It can involve navigating leadership expectations, professional confidence, team dynamics, organisational politics, conflict, career direction and balancing competing demands across public and private work.
AMA Victoria’s professional development, leadership education and coaching programs can also represent a valuable use of CME entitlement for early career consultants.
Designed specifically for doctors, these programs support areas that often become increasingly important in consultant practice including leadership, communication, navigating complex teams and systems, professional confidence and long-term career sustainability.
Importantly, these programs are recognised as accepted CPD activities within the AMC CPD Home framework, allowing consultants to align their professional development, CPD requirements and CME utilisation more strategically.
For consultants wanting to utilise their CME entitlement more effectively, these types of programs can complement traditional clinical education and support broader professional development.
There is also a broader wellbeing aspect to CME that should not be underestimated. Protected time away from clinical service to think, reflect, learn and reconnect with the broader profession can help maintain perspective and sustainability in increasingly demanding healthcare environments.
CME is a valuable professional benefit secured through enterprise bargaining and it is worth planning how to use it well. Used strategically, it can become an important investment in both your professional development and long-term sustainability as a consultant doctor.