Course Spotlight: Be Well CPD Retreat at Bells at Killcare Boutique Hotel

CPD without the scramble

For many Australian and New Zealand doctors, CPD isn’t difficult because it lacks value – it’s difficult because it’s often expected to happen around everything else. When your weeks are shaped by clinical load, complexity, and the quiet accumulation of responsibility, CPD can slip into a reactive pattern: logging activities late, writing reflections quickly, and hoping it all adds up by year’s end.

The Medical Board of Australia’s CPD framework is designed for something more meaningful. It emphasises not only education, but also reviewing performance and measuring outcomes – the kinds of activities that support safer practice, clearer development priorities, and real-world improvement. The challenge is having a format that makes those components achievable in a way that fits real clinical life.

That’s the gap the Be Well CPD Retreat aims to address. It’s a facilitated, small-group retreat designed to help doctors complete key CPD requirements in a structured, supported environment – without the scramble.

Across the weekend, participants can complete 12 hours of CPD through:

– 2 hours of education

– 5 hours reviewing performance, including development of a personalised professional development plan and an annual professional conversation

– 5 hours measuring outcomes, guided through a structured Self-Care Audit and re-audit component

It’s CPD designed to feel less like admin – and more like a guided reset, with practical outputs clinicians can carry back into their work.

Why wellbeing belongs in CPD

Medicine can be deeply meaningful – and, at times, unnecessarily austere. Many doctors are trained to normalise high intensity, self-sacrifice, and “pushing through”, even when that approach has diminishing returns for the clinician and the people they care for.

Be Well CPD takes a different stance: that doctors deserve nurturing and protected time, and that wellbeing skills are not a luxury. They’re part of sustaining clinical judgement, communication, professionalism, and longevity in a demanding system.

Rather than treating wellbeing as separate from professional development, the retreat integrates it into CPD activities in a way that is practical and structured. The Measuring Outcomes component includes a guided Self-Care Audit, supporting clinicians to reflect on what’s helping, what’s eroding sustainability, and what needs to change – not as a moral project, but as a professional one.

Alongside the CPD workshops, participants have access to optional, restorative sessions such as mindfulness, relaxation, and yoga. These are offered without pressure or performative expectations. The intent is simple: to create a space where doctors can step out of role, reconnect with themselves, and return to their work with greater clarity and steadiness.

The retreat also embeds elements of cultural safety and professional and ethical behaviours across activities, recognising that safe practice is shaped by how clinicians communicate, reflect, and engage with the people and communities they serve.

About Ataraxia Collective

Be Well CPD is delivered by Ataraxia Collective, offering wellbeing-informed CPD retreats designed specifically for registered Australian and New Zealand doctors.

The retreat is hosted by two experienced clinician-leaders with deep grounding in wellbeing, leadership, and coaching-informed facilitation:

Dr Susannah Ward is a Specialist Physician in Rehabilitation Medicine in Newcastle, NSW, and Chair of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians Member Health & Well-being Committee. She is also Chair of the Well-being Advocates Webinars, has a research and publication background in medical culture change and doctor wellbeing, and incorporates evidence-based wellbeing tools (including mindfulness and lifestyle-focused strategies) into clinical practice. She is a qualified yoga and mindfulness teacher and founder of Ataraxia Collective.

Dr Sarah Dalton is a Paediatric Emergency Physician and past President of the Paediatric and Child Health Division of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. She has worked across NSW in clinical and leadership roles for more than two decades, from regional settings to tertiary units and retrieval services. She completed a Fulbright Scholarship in Clinical Leadership, has held executive leadership roles within NSW Health, and offers performance, leadership and wellbeing coaching to healthcare professionals, including completion of the INSEAD Coaching Certificate.

A defining feature of Be Well CPD is that the learning is professionally facilitated and coached. The goal isn’t simply to attend sessions – it’s to leave with completed outputs, clearer priorities, and practical self-coaching skills that support ongoing growth.

What to expect at Bells at Killcare

The retreat is held at Bells at Killcare Boutique Hotel on the NSW Central Coast, around 90 minutes from Sydney, with close access to beaches and Bouddi National Park. The venue is positioned as part of the learning environment: calm, restorative, and designed to support reflection – without needing to “be on” in the way clinicians often feel they must be in professional settings.

The retreat is intentionally intimate, with 12 places, to preserve depth of discussion and psychological safety. It also takes a “choose your own adventure” approach: outside the core CPD sessions, optional wellbeing activities (including mindfulness, gentle yoga, relaxation sessions, or time outdoors) are offered without judgement. Whether you use the breaks for coastal walks, quiet rest, or a moment to reset, the experience is designed to meet you where you are.

CPD structure (12 hours with full attendance):

Education (2 hours): pre-reading and talks incorporating cultural safety, wellbeing skills, and professional behaviours

Reviewing performance (5 hours): CPD requirements and preparation for the annual professional conversation, supported professional conversation, professional development planning and goal setting

Measuring outcomes (5 hours): guided Self-Care Audit and re-audit

Practical templates and handouts are provided to support documentation and upload to your CPD home – so you leave with tangible work completed, not just intentions to “do it later”.

Cost (as provided):

Registration $1900 + GST (excludes accommodation, breakfast, wine tasting)

Accommodation can be arranged on-site or locally, with the retreat structured to support both in-house and off-site participants.

Book now

If you’ve been avoiding CPD because it feels like one more obligation – or if you want CPD to be more than a last-minute scramble – Be Well CPD offers a structured, facilitated pathway to complete the core CPD components while also investing in sustainability, clarity, and professional momentum.

To learn more or book Be Well CPD Retreat at Bells at Killcare Boutique Hotel, visit https://app.medcpd.com/courses/4782.