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How To

Access Continuing Medical Education (CME)

Continuing medical education (CME) or continuing professional development (CPD) refers to a range of educational activities that can help health practitioners develop or maintain their knowledge and skills.

The Library provides access to a number of subscription resources that may enable you to claim CME credits for time spent researching and reading about topics relevant to your clinical practice.

You will need to register for each resource and log in with your username and password for each session.

BMJ Best Practice is a clinical decision support tool providing guidance on diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

  • BMJ Best Practice automatically tracks your search activity and time spent reading topics
  • Receive 0.25 CME credits for every 15 minutes you spend
  • Download the monthly certificate for the activity you would like to claim credits for
  • Use your certificates to redeem credits through accredited Australian organisations
  • CME points can also be accrued through the BMJ Best Practice app found on the Apps & mobile options page

ClinicalKey is a database providing access to clinical information published by Elsevier. It is designed to answer clinical questions and covers every medical and surgical specialty.

  • Earn CME Time by reading peer-reviewed content such as books, published journal articles and clinical overviews
  • CME Time is automatically tracked and displayed on your dashboard
  • Claim CME Time through your dashboard and answer the mandatory evaluation questions to obtain your certificates
  • Use your certificates to redeem CME Time through your relevant accreditation body
  • Note that Australia and New Zealand ClinicalKey subscribers earn CME Time instead of CME credit.
  • For further information see the ClinicalKey page on Earning and Claiming CME Time
  • CME Time can also be accrued through the ClinicalKey app found on the Apps & mobile options page. However, it can only be claimed through the desktop version of ClinicalKey. 

UpToDate provides evidence-based information to help clinicians make informed decisions at the point of care. Articles are written by experts who address specific clinical issues and provide detailed recommendations.

  • Automatically earn time-based credits while searching for and reading clinical articles
  • Adjust UpToDate CME settings to record time-based hours instead of credits
  • Total hours earned are displayed on your dashboard
  • Select hours to claim your credit certificates – the minimum claim time is 0.25 hours
  • Credits may be claimed for up to two years after they were earned
  • Use your certificates to redeem time-based CME hours through accredited organisations
  • For further information see the UpToDate page on CME/CE/CPD Tracking
  • CME points can also be earned and claimed through the UpToDate app found on the Apps & mobile options page

Read by QxMD provides a single place to discover new research, read outstanding topic reviews and search PubMed. The simple interface provides seamless access to the medical literature by reformatting it into a personalised digital medical journal.

  • Register or login to Read with your existing Medscape account
  • Claim credits for papers read through your Read literature searches - receive 0.5 credits for each search
  • Claim CME credits by selecting your search and answering the mandatory evaluation questions to obtain your certificates
  • Read provides certificates that record the Aphra/MCNZ “time spent” to meet Australian accreditation requirements – 0.5 credits equals 30 minutes
  • Use your certificates to claim CME time through your accredited organisation
  • For further information on claiming credits in Read, see the CME/CPD Accreditation page

It is important to understand the requirements of your CPD Home or college prior to undertaking CME activities. Find out which activities you can claim credit for and their specific reporting requirements.

For additional information on continuing professional development, accreditation and CPD Homes see: