Profession-specific standards3 hours
Ethics for Doctors
Good medical practice and the Council's statements on self-treatment, prescribing, certification, commercial interests, AI and assisted dying.
NZ$139DetailsAdd to cart
Profession-specific standards
Professional Standards for Doctors
Practising to the Medical Council's standards: scope, clinical care, prescribing, supervision and competence in Aotearoa New Zealand
- 3hours (estimated)
- 9sections
- 20final questions
- 80%pass mark
- PDFcertificate
- Online and self-paced, on any device
- Reflective account template
- Knowledge checks in every section
- Instant certificate of completion
What you will learn
- Describe the Medical Council's role, doctors' scopes of practice and the rules on professional titles
- Explain the structure of Good medical practice, the meaning of 'must' and 'should', and how the Council's statements are used
- Apply Good medical practice to clinical assessment, competence, records, handover, results and emergencies
- Apply the Council's Prescribing statement to first prescriptions, repeat systems, standing orders and high-risk medicines
- Apply the Cosmetic procedures statement to competence, assessment, consent, reflection periods and vulnerable patients
- Describe PGY1 and PGY2 requirements and the responsibilities of supervisors of interns, international medical graduates and physician associates
- Protect patients' rights when learners, interpreters, support persons or observers are involved in care
- Practise culturally safe care and telehealth to the Council's standards
- Explain recertification for general and vocational scopes and the HPCA Act competence pathway
- Plan targeted remediation that demonstrates insight and sustained change
Who this course is for
Doctors registered with the Medical Council of New Zealand in any scope, including interns, resident doctors, general practitioners, specialists, international medical graduates and clinical supervisors.
After a concern
Structured learning and a written reflection to show insight after a complaint, an investigation or a responsible authority inquiry.
Routine CPD
Focused learning on a core standard of practice, with a certificate and reflection for your portfolio.
About this course
This course takes doctors through the Medical Council of New Zealand's standards of practice in practical depth: registration, scopes of practice and titles; Good medical practice and how its 'must' and 'should' duties are applied; good clinical care, working within competence, records, handover, results and the duty to help in emergencies; safe prescribing systems, high-risk medicines and standing orders; the Cosmetic procedures statement; prevocational training, supervision of interns and international medical graduates, physician associates and teaching; cultural safety, interpreters and others present in the consultation; telehealth; and recertification and the competence pathway.
It is written for doctors registered with the Medical Council in any scope, including interns and resident doctors, general practitioners, specialists, international medical graduates new to New Zealand practice, clinical supervisors and doctors working in cosmetic or telehealth services. Case studies are set in New Zealand hospitals, general practices, urgent care, outpatient clinics, cosmetic clinics and video consultations.
Most concerns about doctors' standards arise not from deliberate wrongdoing but from gaps in knowledge of a specific expectation, or from systems that make the unsafe option easy. By linking each Council statement to realistic cases, practice-level safeguards and the recertification framework, the course helps doctors practise to the standard the Council, the Health and Disability Commissioner and the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal expect. It complements the separate Ethics for Doctors course, which covers the Council's ethically focused statements.
Course details
- Learning time
- Approximately 3 hours (estimated learning time including knowledge checks, reflection and assessment)
- Standards covered
- Medical Council Good medical practice (2021) and statements on Prescribing (2024), Cosmetic procedures (2017), Medical emergencies (2021), Doctor patient relationship when another person is present (2022), Cultural safety (2019), Telehealth (2023), Patient records (2020) and Resource constraints (2018); PGY1/PGY2 prevocational training requirements; Inpractice and vocational recertification; HPCA Act 2003 (incl. ss 34, 36–44, 100, 101); Medicines Act 1981 and Medicines Regulations 1984; Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights (Rights 5, 6, 7 and 9)
- Format
- Self-paced, gated lessons with knowledge checks, case studies and reflection
- Assessment
- 20 scenario-based questions, 80% to pass (16 of 20)
- Outcome
- Certificate of completion and a written reflection for your CPD record
- Alignment
- Mapped to the Medical Council of New Zealand's standards for doctors, prevocational training requirements and recertification framework (Inpractice and vocational recertification), within the HPCA Act 2003 and HDC Code of Rights framework
Course curriculum
9 sections · 21 lessons · 3 hours (estimated) · 20-question final assessment
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1The doctor's professional framework in Aotearoa New Zealand3 lessons
- The Medical Council, registration and your scope of practice
- Good medical practice: structure, language and status
- The Council's statement library and how to navigate it
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2Clinical care, competence and continuity3 lessons
- Good clinical care and the limits of your competence
- Records, handover and continuity: the doctor's specific duties
- Medical emergencies: a doctor's duty to help
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3Prescribing to the Medical Council's standards3 lessons
- Good prescribing practice: the core expectations
- High-risk medicines: assessment, safeguards and systems
- Cosmetic procedures: a standard for a commercial field
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4Supervision, training and teaching3 lessons
- Prevocational training: standards for interns and their supervisors
- Supporting doctors new to New Zealand practice, and new team roles
- Teaching, learners and patients' rights in teaching
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5The consultation: culture, communication and modality3 lessons
- Te Tiriti o Waitangi, cultural safety and health equity in medical practice
- When another person is present: support persons, interpreters, observers and students
- Telehealth to the Council's standard
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6Recertification, regulatory processes and remediation3 lessons
- Recertification: keeping your standards visible
- The competence pathway: inquiries, reviews and programmes
- Insight, remediation and rebuilding professional standing
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7Conclusion and key points1 lesson
- Conclusion and key points
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8References and further reading1 lesson
- References and further reading
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9Reflection1 lesson
- Your reflective account
Assessment and certificate
Final assessment
20scenario-based questions
- Pass mark 80%: 16 correct out of 20
- Knowledge checks in each section as you go
- Tests whether you can apply the standards, not recall a page
- Not passed yet? Review the sections and retake it
Certificate of completion
A certificate of completion for your learning portfolio.
- Your name, the course title and the estimated learning time (record the time you actually spend)
- Completion date and a unique certificate ID that can be verified
- Ready to download as a PDF as soon as you complete the course
Fitness To Practice
Certificate of Completion
This certifies that
Your Name
has successfully completed
Professional Standards for Doctors
3hours (estimated)
Continuing professional development record — New Zealand
Your reflective account
The course includes a structured reflective account template: guided prompts to record what you learned, how you will apply it and how the change will show in your practice. It gives you written evidence of insight after a concern, and a ready record for your CPD portfolio.
Write it in your own words and leave out anything that could identify a patient, a colleague or a case. If you have an open complaint or case, talk to your adviser before reflecting on it in writing.
Questions about this course
What do 'must' and 'should' mean in Good medical practice?
'Must' marks an overriding duty or principle; 'should' explains how to meet that duty or applies where it may not fit every situation, so any departure needs a clear, recorded reason. The course shows how the Council and the Tribunal use that difference and how Council statements sit beneath Good medical practice.
Does the course cover supervising physician associates?
Yes. Physician associates came under Medical Council regulation from 1 October 2026, and the course explains what that means for the doctors who supervise them, together with PGY1 and PGY2 requirements, supervising interns and international medical graduates, and the accountability the supervisor retains.
Is the Cosmetic procedures statement included?
Yes. The course applies the Council's statement on cosmetic procedures to competence, assessment, consent, reflection periods and vulnerable patients, for doctors who provide cosmetic treatments or are thinking about adding them to their practice. The aim is safe, well-documented decisions that respect the patient's time to reflect before agreeing to treatment.
How is this different from the medical ethics course for doctors?
The ethics course is about values and dilemmas such as self-treatment, certificates, commercial interests and assisted dying. This course covers standards of practice: scopes and titles, clinical care, records, results, prescribing systems, supervision, telehealth, recertification and the competence pathway. Many doctors take both.
Can the doctors' professional standards course help with a PAC or recertification programme?
It explains recertification and the HPCA Act competence pathway and ends with a targeted remediation plan. Programmes after a Performance Assessment Committee are set and supervised by the Council, so check with the Council or your supervisor first. It is 3 hours (estimated), NZ$139 and not Council-approved.
How this course was built
Official sources only
Every legal and regulatory point comes from primary sources: the HPCA Act 2003, the responsible authorities' standards and the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights. Anything we cannot confirm is left out.
Original, edition by edition
Lessons, scenarios and assessment questions are written by us for each edition separately, then checked for accuracy, teaching quality and fair assessment before publication.
Reviewed when rules change
When a code, standard or law changes, the affected courses are reviewed and updated. Reported errors in legal or regulatory facts are corrected first.
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