The Structured Annual Conversation (SAC) forms the core of the recertification process. Doctors review their achievements from the previous year, and through a process of reflection and discussion, formulate the direction their CPD will take in the coming years.
The conversation is guided in such a way as to extract all the relevant learning needs from the year just gone and enable a PDP to be developed for the coming years. The guide includes simple tools to support the conversation and to make the development of the next Professional Development Plan (PDP) easier. The College intends to provide an IS to support the SAC and PDP development.
The SAC should take place towards the end of your current year, so you can prepare your PDP and decide on your activities for the coming year.
Where at all possible, the conversation should take place in person, and ideally in a location away from clinical and workplace distraction. It must take place in a location in which privacy is always maintained. In exceptional circumstances, ill health or a global pandemic for example, teleconferencing will be acceptable.
The SAC should take place with an urgent care peer. A peer is someone who has a similar level of expertise, knowledge, and familiarity with the type of work that you are doing. The aim of the SAC is to facilitate a reflective conversation, so it is advantageous if the person guiding the conversation can provide feedback, make relevant comments, and offer suitable suggestions. A Fellow would typically have another Fellow (even if from another college) as their peer.
SAC overview
Completing the SAC requires:
- Preparation, by personally reviewing your last year’s targets (personally set or mandated) and PDP, and your actual activities completed.
- Peer-led, College-guided, coaching conversation discussing what you did and didn’t achieve or learn, with a discussion about what should be carried forward to satisfy mandated requirements and your own personal plans.
- Identifying and agreeing on what activities should comprise your coming year’s activities.
Reporting and monitoring
The peer is required to confirm with the College that they have led you through the structured conversation.
The College is required to monitor compliance with the recertification programme and report non-compliance to MCNZ. We will review progress annually, and conduct a more detailed audit at the end of each triennium.
Guidance on completing the SAC
A guide is available. It contains a template that could be used, including the form used by the peer to report to the College.
There is also a recording of a webinar tutorial given to College members in July 2022 click here to watch.