Doctors in Different Working Circumstances

There are no special requirements for doctors occupying several roles simultaneously or for doctors who work in less than full time situations. Once registered, a doctor has the right to practice medicine. From the public perspective, the responsibility to maintain professional competence must apply to all doctors, regardless of their working arrangements.

Maintenance of professional competence is based on your day-to-day practice. You should enrol in a professional competence scheme, and engage in activities that relate to your day-to-day practice of medicine. The Irish College of GPs PCS is suitable for those who are working 50% or more of their time in general practice.

No. All doctors registered with the Medical Council should meet the annual PCS requirements, regardless of working status. This includes retired doctors, doctors on leave and part time/locum doctors.

Once registered, a doctor has the right to practice medicine. From the public perspective, the responsibility to maintain professional competence must apply to all doctors, regardless of their working arrangements.

Yes, in order to maintain registration with the Medical Council you must enrol on a Professional Competence Scheme. Once you are enrolled you can notify the PCS team on Professional.Competence@icgp.ie about leave of 3 months or more in the PCS year (May to April). The College will enter a note on your record, and you will not be required to engage in PCS during your leave or meet the annual requirement. 

If you do wish to engage with CPD while on leave you are welcome to do so, and to continue recording it in your ePortfolio. 

If you have been on sick leave for 3 months or more in a PCS year (May to April) please notify us on Professional.Competence@icgp.ie and we will make a note on your record. You will not be required to engage in PCS during your leave or meet the annual requirement.

If you are on maternity leave, sick leave or other statutory leave from active practice in excess of 3 months during a Professional Competence year you should Contact Us.

The College will enter a note on your record, and you will not be required to engage in PCS during your leave or meet the total annual requirement. If you do wish to engage with CPD while on leave you are welcome to do so, and to continue recording it in your ePortfolio, but this is not required. 

Please note: the Irish College of GPs can make a note on your record only where you are enrolled on the PCS year in question, so please be sure you are enrolled before contacting us.

Retired GPs are required to achieve the same CPD requirements set down for all doctors registered with the Irish Medical Council. Note that the labels ‘Practice Review’ and ‘Work-based Learning’ do not mean that you must be working in a practice; instead they should be understood to refer to whatever kind of medical activity you are engaged in.

As of May 2025 the Medical Council has introduced a category of “not engaged in the practice of medicine” for PCS. Doctors who declare themselves “not engaged” may complete additional Work-based Learning hours in place of some or all of the Practice Review Activity category. See more guidance here.

For those who remain engaged in the practice of medicine per the Medical Council guidelines, the Irish College of GPs is aware of the challenges that can in trying to meet the PCS requirements.

The Irish College of GPs hosts a Retired and Semi-Retired GPs Discussion Group that takes place once a month. If you would like to be added to the mailing list for details of these meetings please Contact Us.

If you are acting in a professional advisory capacity, then the meetings relating to that role can also be recorded as internal credits. Likewise, you can record any meetings you might participate in to discuss medical legal cases. If you find yourself advising/mentoring younger colleagues, or people working in your former practice, this can be included where content is appropriate. A summary of the activity/topics discussed should be recorded as evidence.

You may also consider joining a relevant committee as a means of keeping up to date with general practice issues and as a way to contribute the benefit of your experience. The Irish College of GPs is frequently approached for experienced GP input onto a wide range of State and Voluntary organisations. If you have an interest in this work, please Contact Us.

You could also form a journal club with other GPs. Articles read could be discussed, including how learning could be applied to real-life cases.

If you are an assessor or a board member or involved in another similar activity, you can record meetings for Work-based Learning credits.

Likewise, your Practice Review should focus on whatever activity you are currently engaged in. So, if you are involved in voluntary work related to your role as a doctor, you could do an audit or quality improvement around this, comparing your activity to best practice guidelines. Record keeping/retention may be another area to examine. Practice review resources are available on our website. 

While it is sometimes difficult for single-handed GPs to have internal practice meetings, any discussions you engage in with a pharmacist, counsellor, GP colleague or other health professional about patient care can still be recorded. This can include telephone discussions where relevant. Practice meetings with administration staff can also be recorded, as can any locum handover meetings.

You might also find it useful to get in touch with other single-handed GPs in your locality and set up a Clinical Club where you meet on a weekly or monthly basis to discuss cases. You could perhaps bring along and discuss a paper on some aspect of primary care / general practice (e.g. Irish College of GPs Library monthly recommended reading).

Evidence to support this activity should include who the meeting/discussion was with, what date it took place, a brief summary of what was discussed and any reflections on practice as a result of the meeting.

Yes, all doctors need to enrol on a Professional Competence Scheme within 30 days of completing their training scheme, regardless of whether or not they are on leave. The only time that this does not apply is where they have removed their name from the Medical Council register.

All doctors on the Medical Council register must be either on a training scheme or enrolled on a Professional Competence Scheme. Once you are registered you can notify the PCS team on Professional.Competence@icgp.ie about leave of 3 months or more in the PCS year (May to April). The College will enter a note on your record, and you will not be required to engage in PCS during your leave or meet the annual requirement.

Some potential Work-based Learning CPD activities include:

• CME Small Group: participation in a CME Small Group can be recorded for 2 Work-based Learning and 2 Accredited CE Activity CPD credits.
• Committee participation: the Irish College of GPs PCS committee has agreed that this can be recorded for 1 Work-based Learning CPD credit per meeting (to a maximum of 6 per year).
• Peer discussion group: You may know of other doctors on leave and you could form a journal club or clinical club to discuss readings or cases.
• Personal learning: including reading journals or other clinical publications, watching recorded webinars or talks, and listening to medical educational podcasts.

If you are on maternity leave, sick leave or compassionate leave from active practice in excess of 3 months during a Professional Competence year you are not required to meet the full CPD requirement for the year. You must contact us on Professional.Competence@icgp.ie to notify us of your leave and we will enter a note on your record. 

If you are intending to leave Ireland for a short period of time (a year or less) to practice overseas, then you should still enrol on an Irish professional competence scheme and record credits toward the annual requirement. You can include professional competence activities that you engage in while practicing overseas.

If you are overseas for a longer period of time, then you can participate in a professional competence scheme in the country where you are practicing. When completing your retention of registration form with the Medical Council, you will be required to declare that you are maintaining your professional competence in the country where you are practicing.

NB: If you intend to practice for 30 days or more in Ireland during a professional competence year (1 May-30 April), you should enrol on an Irish professional competence scheme and meet the annual requirement. You can include professional competence activities that you engage in while practicing overseas.

You can find further information in relation to this on the Medical Council website.

Yes. All doctors registered with the Irish Medical Council retain the right to practice medicine and therefore have a legal obligation to maintain competence. Doctors retired from clinical practice who engage on behalf of Professional Bodies in mentoring, supervision of trainees, examining and other such activities that have direct impact on clinical activity should maintain their IMC registration.

If a doctor withdraws their name from the register voluntarily, they can retain the title of "Dr" and engage in college activities that have no direct impact on clinical activity such as fundraising etc.

If you are retired from active practice but wish to remain on the Medical Council register, we have prepared some guidelines to help you fulfil your PCS requirements. As of May 2025 the Medical Council has introduced a PCS category for those “not engaged in the practice of medicine” which allows doctors to replace some or all of their Practice Review credits with Work-based Learning. Read further guidance here.

If you have removed your name from the Medical Council register, please Contact Us so that we can update your record accordingly.

First, ensure that you are registered on the scheme for the current year, and that you have notified the PCS team on Professional.Competence@icgp.ie about any period of leave of 3 months or more. You are not required to have completed any CPD during your leave, but if you have (for instance, attending webinars), be sure to record it in your ePortfolio.

We recommend completing the Professional Development Plan (PDP) as a first priority in returning to practice. This is a required part of your annual PCS as well as a useful tool in planning next steps. You can access the template for the PDP in your ePortfolio, and it is worth up to 5 credits.

The Irish College of GPs PCS team is here to support you. Have a look at the resources and information on our website for ideas of ways to fulfill your requirements, and get in touch if you need more personalised help. We are happy to talk to you about your circumstances and answer any questions.

You may find the suggestions below useful:

• Accredited CE Activity: If getting out and about is an issue, (e.g. if you have young children or live in a rural area), online learning offers a great opportunity to achieve CPD without having to travel. You will find a range of eLearning modules on the Irish College of GPs website and these are available to members free of charge. You could also participate in our webinars.
• Work-based Learning: You could consider forming a journal club with GP colleagues who are in a similar situation to discuss how you might apply topics to practice. These discussions can take place at a time and place that suits you or via an online conference system.
• Practice Review: You could consider undertaking a quality improvement project such as a review of record keeping, updating practice software or carrying out a review of health and safety standards in the practice.  

Not all doctors see patients. Some doctors work in health and clinical service policy development and oversight roles, clinical leadership and management roles, medical advisory roles, medico-legal roles, education and training roles, and many more.

If you are doing work like this, you should confirm with the person or organisation for which you are filling this role that they require you to fulfill this role as a registered medical practitioner. If this is the case, you must maintain competence in line with your medical practice. You should engage in relevant maintenance of professional competence activities. If your role is entirely comprised of non-patient-facing services, the principles of audit can be applied to your professional practice as an improvement project.