Med CPD – A practical guide to using search

How to Search Med CPD Effectively

Med CPD helps healthcare professionals find CPD activities, educational resources, provider guides, jobs, and professional development opportunities in one place.

Search helps you move from “what is available?” to “what is relevant to me?”

By using keywords and filters together, you can spend less time scrolling and more time finding learning opportunities that match your profession, interests, scope of practice, and career goals.

What You Can Search For

You can use Med CPD search to find:

– CPD activities

– Courses, workshops, webinars, and conferences

– Educational resources

– Provider Guides

– Professional development opportunities

– Career and job opportunities

– Content related to your learning goals or professional interests

Search is most effective when you start broad, then narrow your results using filters.

Fastest Way to Search

If you are not sure where to start:

– Enter a broad keyword related to your area of interest

– Apply your profession filter

– Add a Primary Field if relevant

– Add a Topic filter if helpful

– Review related topics, providers, and resources

– Adjust your search if the results are too broad or too narrow

For example, instead of searching for:

– Managing Type 2 Diabetes in Rural General Practice

Start with:

– Diabetes

Then use filters such as profession, Primary Field, or topic to narrow the results.

Understand the Main Search Tools

Med CPD search works best when you combine keywords with filters.

Keywords

Keywords are the words or phrases you type into the search bar.

Useful keyword searches may include:

– Diabetes

– Mental Health

– Emergency Medicine

– Telehealth

– Women’s Health

– Aged Care

– Leadership

– Communication

– Wound Care

– Infection Control

Broad keywords usually work better at the start. You can narrow the results after searching.

Profession Filters

Profession filters help you find content relevant to your professional group.

Examples may include:

– General Practitioner

– Nurse

– Pharmacist

– Physiotherapist

– Occupational Therapist

– Psychologist

– Dentist

– Specialist Medical Practitioner

– Allied Health Professional

– Aged Care Worker

– Disability Support Worker

Using a profession filter can help reduce unrelated results and prioritise content designed for your role.

Primary Fields

Primary Fields help narrow your results by broad clinical, professional, or practice areas.

Examples may include:

– Cardiology

– Mental Health

– Rural Health

– Emergency Medicine

– Women’s Health

– Paediatrics

– Chronic Disease Management

– Rehabilitation

– Aged Care

– Disability Care

Primary Fields are useful when you know the general area of practice you want to explore.

Topics

Topics provide another layer of filtering based on learning themes or professional interests.

Examples may include:

– Communication

– Leadership

– Clinical Practice

– Telehealth

– Preventive Care

– Patient Safety

– Professional Development

– Quality Improvement

– Supervision

– Ethics

Topics are useful when your learning need is based on a skill, theme, or professional development area rather than a specific condition or specialty.

Search by Topic, Profession, or Learning Goal

There are several ways to approach search on Med CPD.

Search by topic

Use this when you know the subject you want to explore.

Examples:

– Diabetes

– ECG

– Trauma

– Dementia Care

– Medication Safety

– Behaviour Support

Search by profession

Use this when you want to see content designed for your professional group.

Example:

– Profession: Nurse

– Search: Chronic Disease

– Topic: Patient Education

Search by Primary Field

Use this when you want to explore a broad clinical or practice area.

Example:

– Profession: General Practitioner

– Primary Field: Mental Health

This may help surface CPD activities and resources relevant to GPs interested in mental health.

Search by learning goal

Sometimes the best search starts with what you want to improve.

Examples:

To improve clinical or practical skills, try:

– ECG

– Wound Care

– Vaccination

– Asthma

– Falls Prevention

– Functional Assessment

To improve professional skills, try:

– Leadership

– Communication

– Team Management

– Supervision

– Cultural Safety

To support CPD planning or review, try:

– Quality Improvement

– Reviewing Performance

– Educational Activities

– Measuring Outcomes

– Reflective Practice

Thinking about your learning objective can often produce better results than trying to search for an exact course title.

Use Provider Guides and Related Topics

Course Search isn’t the only way to find CPD activities.

Provider Guides can help you explore practical advice, career guidance, clinical insights, professional development resources, and learning pathways.

Try searching Provider Guides for topics such as:

– Career Development

– Private Practice

– Rural Health

– Clinical Documentation

– Supervision

– Quality Improvement

– Professional Standards

When you find a useful activity, resource, or guide, review the related topics, associated professions, Primary Fields, and provider information.

These can help you discover additional opportunities you may not have considered.

For example, a search for:

– Diabetes

may also lead to related content such as:

– Cardiovascular Health

– Lifestyle Medicine

– Obesity Management

– Preventive Care

– Chronic Disease Management

– Patient Education

Exploring related areas can help you find useful learning opportunities beyond your original search.

Search Ideas by Profession

Different health professionals may search Med CPD in different ways. The examples below can help you think about useful starting points.

Doctors and Medical Specialists

Try searching by specialty, condition, guideline, CPD category, or practice area.

Examples:

– Mental Health

– Emergency Medicine

– Diabetes

– ECG

– Women’s Health

– Reviewing Performance

– Quality Improvement

Nurses and Midwives

Try searching by care setting, clinical skill, patient education need, or safety topic.

Examples:

– Wound Care

– Chronic Disease

– Infection Control

– Maternity Care

– Medication Safety

– Patient Education

– Aged Care

Pharmacists

Try searching by medicine safety, chronic disease, prescribing, patient counselling, pharmacy practice, or professional standards.

Examples:

– Medication Safety

– Diabetes

– Vaccination

– Patient Counselling

– Prescribing

– Chronic Disease Management

– Professional Standards

Allied Health Professionals, including Physiotherapists

Try searching by client need, therapy area, rehabilitation goal, service setting, communication, supervision, or professional development topic.

Examples:

– Rehabilitation

– Pain Management

– Falls Prevention

– Musculoskeletal

– Communication

– Supervision

– Professional Development

Psychologists

Try searching by client presentation, therapy approach, ethics, supervision, assessment, or communication.

Examples:

– Mental Health

– Trauma

– Ethics

– Supervision

– Risk Assessment

– Neurodiversity

– Communication

Dentists and Oral Health Professionals

Try searching by oral health topic, clinical update, patient safety issue, infection control need, or practice management area.

Examples:

– Oral Health

– Infection Control

– Dental Pain

– Radiography

– Patient Safety

– Practice Management

– Clinical Updates

Occupational Therapists

Try searching by functional need, client-centred practice area, rehabilitation topic, disability support, assistive technology, or service setting.

Examples:

– Functional Assessment

– Assistive Technology

– Rehabilitation

– Disability Care

– Mental Health

– Paediatrics

– Aged Care

Aged Care and Disability Support Workers

Try searching by training need, care setting, communication skill, safeguarding topic, or support area.

Examples:

– Manual Handling

– Infection Control

– Dementia Care

– Disability Support

– Behaviour Support

– Communication

– Safeguarding

If You Are Not Finding Results

If your search is not returning useful results, try adjusting your search.

You can:

– Use a broader keyword

– Remove one or more filters

– Try a related term

– Search by profession instead of topic

– Search by topic instead of course title

– Check spelling or use a shorter phrase

– Review Provider Guides for broader resources

– Explore related topics from a useful listing

For example, if a search for:

– Advanced management strategies for uncontrolled Type 2 diabetes in older adults

does not return useful results, try:

– Diabetes

or:

– Chronic Disease Management

Then narrow the results using filters.

Common Search Mistakes to Avoid

Being too specific too early

Very specific searches may return fewer results.

Start broad, then narrow with filters.

Not using filters

Filters help you find relevant content faster.

Whenever possible, combine:

– Search terms

– Profession filters

– Primary Fields

– Topics

Searching only by exact course title

You do not need to know the exact name of a course or resource.

Try searching by:

– Topic

– Condition

– Skill

– Profession

– Area of practice

– Learning goal

Ignoring related content

Some valuable learning opportunities are found through related topics, provider pages, and adjacent areas of practice.

If you find one useful activity or guide, use it as a starting point to explore further.

Not revisiting searches

New CPD activities, resources, jobs, and guides are regularly added to Med CPD.

A search you performed a few months ago may return new results later.

Search Examples

GP looking for women’s health education

Search:

– Women’s Health

Profession:

– General Practitioner

Primary Field:

– Women’s Health

Nurse seeking chronic disease education

Search:

– Chronic Disease

Profession:

– Nurse

Topic:

– Patient Education

Pharmacist looking for medication safety education

Search:

– Medication Safety

Profession:

– Pharmacist

Topic:

– Patient Safety

Allied health professional exploring leadership skills

Search:

– Leadership

Profession:

– Allied Health Professional

Topic:

– Professional Development

Psychologist looking for supervision-related learning

Search:

– Supervision

Profession:

– Psychologist

Topic:

– Professional Development

Aged care worker looking for dementia training

Search:

– Dementia Care

Profession:

– Aged Care Worker

Topic:

– Clinical Practice

Summary

The most effective way to search Med CPD is to start broad, then narrow your results using filters.

A strong search usually combines:

– A keyword

– A profession filter

– A Primary Field, where relevant

– A Topic, where relevant

By using search and filters effectively, you can spend less time browsing unrelated listings and more time finding CPD activities, resources, guides, jobs, and professional opportunities that support your role, interests, and learning goals.

Feedback

Med CPD is designed to help health professionals find relevant CPD activities, resources, guides, jobs, and professional development opportunities as accurately as possible.

Our profession filters, topic tags, Primary Fields, and content structures are peer-reviewed and organised to help match learning opportunities to the people they are most relevant for.

However, healthcare education is broad, and different professionals may search, describe, or categorise learning in different ways.

If you find that a profession, topic, tag, Primary Field, or search result does not feel accurate, relevant, or useful for your role, we would appreciate your feedback.

Please contact us if:

– A profession or role is missing

– A topic or Primary Field could be improved

– A search result does not seem relevant

– A useful area of learning is not represented

– A category, tag, or filter does not match how your profession describes that area

You have suggestions for improving how Med CPD organises or displays learning opportunities

You can provide feedback through our contact page or email us at support@medcpd.com.

Your feedback helps us improve Med CPD for all health professionals and make search results more accurate, relevant, and useful over time.