Collegial relationships
Collegial relationships are a component of recertification for general registrants, doctors working outside of their vocational scope of practice, and in select cases doctors limited to non-clinical practice.
Who should establish a collegial relationship?
You must establish a collegial relationship with a vocationally-registered colleague if:
- you are vocationally-registered but working outside your vocational scope, or
- your practice is limited to non-clinical practice.
The colleague you choose must be vocationally-registered in the area of medicine you are working in that is outside of your vocational scope.
General registrants
If you are registered in the General scope of practice, and not in a vocational training programme, you must participate in the Inpractice recertification programme administered by bpacnz. The monitoring of collegial relationships for general registrants is managed within the Inpractice programme.
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Inpractice is a recertification programme for doctors registered in the General scope of practice.
What is the purpose of the collegial relationship?
The main purpose is to ensure that your professional development plan (PDP) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities are appropriate for the area of medicine you are working in.
There are various aspects to your collegial relationship; it covers both the clinical and non-clinical aspects of your professional activities. The purpose of the relationship is help you maintain your competence by guiding and facilitating your planning for continuing learning and reflective practise.
Your collegial colleague will act as a role model, a sounding board for your ideas, a resource in times of difficulty, and help you in any way they can to enhance your professional skills and personal development. However, their key role is to help you develop a CPD plan every year, and actively support your ongoing professional development.
Guidance for Collegial relationship meetings
Collegial relationship meetings must be an interactive, mutual discussion, so they can't be conducted via email. They may be conducted face to face or at a distance, for example via teleconference or Skype.
Doctors must have six collegial relationship meetings within their first 12 months of practice, and four meetings per annum in subsequent years. Ideally these meetings should occur regularly throughout the year. The doctor is responsible for arranging these meetings and keeping records.
The guidance document below provides some prompts for guiding discussion in collegial relationship meetings.
You (the doctor) must keep a record of every collegial relationship meeting. The collegial relationship meeting record below can help guide your discussions, and you can use it to note down the outcomes of the meetings.
For more information on reviewing and developing a PDP refer to the PDP review and development guide.
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The main purpose of the collegial relationship is to ensure that a doctor's PDP and CPD are appropriate for the work they are doing. This guide is intended to outline what you need to do as part of this relationship including prompts for guiding discussion in collegial relationship meetings.
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It is recommended that in every Collegial Relationship meeting time is set aside to review and develop the doctor’s PDP. The goal of the PDP is to encourage reflective practice and to provide a means of addressing identified learning needs.
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if you are in a collegial relationship you should use this form to keep a record of the meetings you have with your colleague.
Collegial relationship forms
For doctors enrolled in the Inpractice recertification programme , contact bpacnz .
For all other doctors requiring a collegial relationship please use the forms below:
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The purpose of this agreement is to set out the terms of reference for the collegial relationship and clarify the objectives and responsibilities of each colleague.
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if you are in a collegial relationship you should use this form to keep a record of the meetings you have with your colleague.
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If you are in a collegial relationship, you should use this form to record the details of any audits of your medical practice.
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If you are in a collegial relationship, you should use this form to keep a record of the CME activities you complete.
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If you are in a collegial relationship, you should use this form to keep a record of any peer review you do.
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If you are in a collegial relationship, you should use this form to record any optional activities you complete - that is, activities that are not specifically required.
Search for a suitable colleague
Use the Online Register Search to find an appropriate colleague. The colleague you choose must be vocationally registered in the area of medicine you are working in that is outside of your vocational scope.
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Search the list of doctors registered in New Zealand.